and/or www.mantra.com/jai (Dr. Jai Maharaj)
2014-02-14 16:52:50 UTC
The Dark Origins Of Valentine's Day
By Arnie Seipel
NPR
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate romance and love
and kissy-face fealty. But the origins of this festival
of candy and cupids are actually dark, bloody -- and a
bit muddled.
Loading Image...
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
A drawing depicts the death of St. Valentine -- one of
them, anyway. The Romans executed two men by that name on
Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D.
Though no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the
holiday, one good place to start is ancient Rome, where
men hit on women by, well, hitting them.
Those Wild and Crazy Romans
From Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of
Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then
whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just
slain.
The Roman romantics "were drunk. They were naked," says
Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at
Boulder. Young women would actually line up for the men
to hit them, Lenski says. They believed this would make
them fertile.
The brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which
young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple
would then be, um, coupled up for the duration of the
festival -- or longer, if the match was right.
The ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name
of our modern day of love. Emperor Claudius II executed
two men -- both named Valentine -- on Feb. 14 of
different years in the 3rd century A.D. Their martyrdom
was honored by the Catholic Church with the celebration
of St. Valentine's Day.
Later, Pope Gelasius I muddled things in the 5th century
by combining St. Valentine's Day with Lupercalia to expel
the pagan rituals. But the festival was more of a
theatrical interpretation of what it had once been.
Lenski adds, "It was a little more of a drunken revel,
but the Christians put clothes back on it. That didn't
stop it from being a day of fertility and love."
Around the same time, the Normans celebrated Galatin's
Day. Galatin meant "lover of women." That was likely
confused with St. Valentine's Day at some point, in part
because they sound alike.
Loading Image...
Perry-Casta-eda Library, University of Texas
William Shakespeare helped romanticize Valentine's Day in
his work, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and
the rest of Europe. Shakespeare In Love
As the years went on, the holiday grew sweeter. Chaucer
and Shakespeare romanticized it in their work, and it
gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of
Europe. Handmade paper cards became the tokens-du-jour in
the Middle Ages.
Eventually, the tradition made its way to the New World.
The industrial revolution ushered in factory-made cards
in the 19th century. And in 1913, Hallmark Cards of
Kansas City, Mo., began mass producing valentines.
February has not been the same since.
Today, the holiday is big business: According to market
research firm IBIS World, Valentine's Day sales reached
$17.6 billion last year; this year's sales are expected
to total $18.6 billion.
But that commercialization has spoiled the day for many.
Helen Fisher, a sociologist at Rutgers University, says
we have only ourselves to blame.
"This isn't a command performance," she says. "If people
didn't want to buy Hallmark cards, they would not be
bought, and Hallmark would go out of business."
And so the celebration of Valentine's Day goes on, in
varied ways. Many will break the bank buying jewelry and
flowers for their beloveds. Others will celebrate in a
SAD (that's Single Awareness Day) way, dining alone and
binging on self-gifted chocolates. A few may even be
spending this day the same way the early Romans did. But
let's not go there.
More at:
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj
o o o
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used
for the educational purposes of research and open
discussion. The contents of this post may not have been
authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the poster. The contents are protected by copyright
law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely
not be read, considered or answered if it does not
contain your full legal name, current e-mail and postal
addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views
expressed by others are not necessarily those of the
poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted
material the use of which may or may not have been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This
material is being made available in efforts to advance
the understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and
cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the
material on this site is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research, comment,
discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to
USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article
for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one
or more net terrorists, this post may be reposted several
times.
By Arnie Seipel
NPR
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate romance and love
and kissy-face fealty. But the origins of this festival
of candy and cupids are actually dark, bloody -- and a
bit muddled.
Loading Image...
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
A drawing depicts the death of St. Valentine -- one of
them, anyway. The Romans executed two men by that name on
Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D.
Though no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the
holiday, one good place to start is ancient Rome, where
men hit on women by, well, hitting them.
Those Wild and Crazy Romans
From Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of
Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then
whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just
slain.
The Roman romantics "were drunk. They were naked," says
Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at
Boulder. Young women would actually line up for the men
to hit them, Lenski says. They believed this would make
them fertile.
The brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which
young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple
would then be, um, coupled up for the duration of the
festival -- or longer, if the match was right.
The ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name
of our modern day of love. Emperor Claudius II executed
two men -- both named Valentine -- on Feb. 14 of
different years in the 3rd century A.D. Their martyrdom
was honored by the Catholic Church with the celebration
of St. Valentine's Day.
Later, Pope Gelasius I muddled things in the 5th century
by combining St. Valentine's Day with Lupercalia to expel
the pagan rituals. But the festival was more of a
theatrical interpretation of what it had once been.
Lenski adds, "It was a little more of a drunken revel,
but the Christians put clothes back on it. That didn't
stop it from being a day of fertility and love."
Around the same time, the Normans celebrated Galatin's
Day. Galatin meant "lover of women." That was likely
confused with St. Valentine's Day at some point, in part
because they sound alike.
Loading Image...
Perry-Casta-eda Library, University of Texas
William Shakespeare helped romanticize Valentine's Day in
his work, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and
the rest of Europe. Shakespeare In Love
As the years went on, the holiday grew sweeter. Chaucer
and Shakespeare romanticized it in their work, and it
gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of
Europe. Handmade paper cards became the tokens-du-jour in
the Middle Ages.
Eventually, the tradition made its way to the New World.
The industrial revolution ushered in factory-made cards
in the 19th century. And in 1913, Hallmark Cards of
Kansas City, Mo., began mass producing valentines.
February has not been the same since.
Today, the holiday is big business: According to market
research firm IBIS World, Valentine's Day sales reached
$17.6 billion last year; this year's sales are expected
to total $18.6 billion.
But that commercialization has spoiled the day for many.
Helen Fisher, a sociologist at Rutgers University, says
we have only ourselves to blame.
"This isn't a command performance," she says. "If people
didn't want to buy Hallmark cards, they would not be
bought, and Hallmark would go out of business."
And so the celebration of Valentine's Day goes on, in
varied ways. Many will break the bank buying jewelry and
flowers for their beloveds. Others will celebrate in a
SAD (that's Single Awareness Day) way, dining alone and
binging on self-gifted chocolates. A few may even be
spending this day the same way the early Romans did. But
let's not go there.
More at:
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj
o o o
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used
for the educational purposes of research and open
discussion. The contents of this post may not have been
authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the poster. The contents are protected by copyright
law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely
not be read, considered or answered if it does not
contain your full legal name, current e-mail and postal
addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views
expressed by others are not necessarily those of the
poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted
material the use of which may or may not have been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This
material is being made available in efforts to advance
the understanding of environmental, political, human
rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and
cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the
material on this site is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research, comment,
discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to
USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article
for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one
or more net terrorists, this post may be reposted several
times.