By Bruce Holland, Publisher
The many ways to say LOVE! February is the month of Love, a time to say “I LOVE You” in a special way to someone you are close to, but it can also be a time to show kindness and generosity to others, by doing something special, you wouldn’t ordinarily do.
Some cynics say Valentine’s Day is just a manufactured holiday to sell greeting cards, chocolates and flowers. And while it’s true that Valentine’s Day sees a big rush of spending, the holiday actually has a long history dating back to Christian martyrs and Roman fertility festivals.
How many roses are grown for Valentine’s Day each year? Nearly 250 million roses are grown in preparation for Valentine’s Day each year.
Giving red roses may be an obvious romantic gesture today, but it wasn’t always! In the late 1700s, Lady Montagu was the wife of the British ambassador to Turkey. She misunderstood a local custom of using rhyming words to convey secret messages and thought the flowers themselves that were used in the rhymes represented a secret meaning. This idea of “ flower language” caught on in Europe, where specific flowers could represent feelings of love, hate, regret and more. Over time, red roses became more and more linked with romance.
Valentine’s Day, also called St. Valentine’s Day, a time when lovers express their affection with greetings and gifts, has origins in the Roman festival of Lupercalia, held in mid-February. The festival, which celebrated the coming of spring, included fertility rites and the pairing off of women with men by lottery. At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I, replaced Lupercalia with St. Valentine’s Day. It came to be celebrated as a day of romance from about the 14th century.
Naturally, Valentine’s Day would not be complete without Cupid, the most recognized symbol of love. No, we are not talking about one of Santa’s reindeer. We are speaking of Cupid, the “god of love”. It is said that if Cupid shoots his arrow of love and hits you, that you will fall helplessly and madly in love with the next person you meet. In Roman mythology, Cupid is the son of Venus, the goddess of love. In Greek mythology, he was known as Eros and was the son of Aphrodite. According to Roman mythology, Cupid fell madly in love with Psyche. While these are all interesting takes on Love, in today’s world, the best way to express love, whether it is to a spouse or partner, a family member, a friend or a colleague, is to be kind and generous to others.
However, flowers, chocolates, and a night out for a nice meal go a long way to saying I love you! Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
