Another Valentine's Day has come and gone. It's a day that has never really bothered me. Sure, I've bought into the whole "it's cool to hate Valentine's Day because I'm single" thing every once in awhile. But really, to me Valentine's Day is just a commercialized holiday that makes people compelled to give each other chalky little heart candies. I feel just as love-sick (or just as happy) on Valentine's Day as any other day of the year.
One thing I can appreciate though, is the history behind Valentine's. The day is named after St. Valentine who, legend has it, continue to perform marriages even after Roman Emperor Claudius II banned marriage in the third century AD, and was martyred for doing so. That's how the holiday got it's Christian name, but the celebration goes farther into pagan Roman history. It has it's roots in the festival called Lupercalia-- a celebration in which naked men would whip young ladies in hopes of increasing their fertility. Those crazy Romans! What didn't they do?
If you want to check out more fun facts and history about Valentine's Day, go here. Ok, love you! Mean it!
2 comments:
I think it's funny that marriage was banned because Claudius wanted the men to focus on war instead of their wives and families. Like war would ever be more appealing than women.
Word. Women are where it's at.
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