It wasn’t always chocolate and roses. Valentine’s Day had some shaky beginnings…
While certain details vary according to who is telling the story, the legend of Valentine’s day goes something like this…
Valentine’s Day began during the Roman Empire, as a day to honor Juno, Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses, and Goddess of women and marriage. To celebrate her livelihood, the young Romans would participate in ‘dating roulette’ during her festival. All young women’s names were written on slips of paper and collected in a jar. The young men would then choose a name from the jar and would be partnered with that woman for the remainder of the festival. Many times the pairing would lead to a romantic involvement and even marriage.
Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II, Rome was involved in many unpopular war campaigns, and Roman officials had a hard time enlisting young men in the army. After some consideration, they believed the romantic pairing of young love birds was the culprit. Claudius II proceeded to annul all marriages and ban the festival’s ‘dating roulette.’
At the time, Saint Valentine was a priest in Rome who continued to secretly marry young couples. Eventually he was found out, and was sentenced to be clubbed to death. He suffered martyrdom on February 14th.
So yes, our consumeristic society has capitalized on his gruesome goodbye, and yes, we secretly love it, as it is just another excuse for wine, chocolate, and frivolous gifts, but we have to laugh at holiday’s bloody beginnings…
Who will you be spending your Valentine’s day with?
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