LOVE

“The rose is red, the violet’s blue,

The honey is sweet, and so are you.

Thou art my love and I am thine;

I drew thee to my Valentine:

The lot was cast and then I drew.

And Fortune said it shou’d be you.

(From: English Nursery Rhyme (1784)

By the time this article is read, Valentine’s Day will have passed.  However, curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back.  Thus, my interest was aroused to find out the origin of Valentine’s Day.  Historically, the holiday emerged as a religious event.  One might say that it really started as a very ancient pre-Roman festival called Lupercalia observed from February 13 through February 15 to avert evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility.  Interestingly enough, the Latin word for fever (febris) is associated with the same idea purification or purging, commonly related to fevers.  Hence comes February, the English from the Latin, Februarius. 

The holiday of Valentine’s Day eventually began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints.  However, the first recorded association of the holiday with romantic love is noted in the High Middle Ages by Geoffrey Chaucer (1382), when the tradition of courtly love flourished.  Its customs developed in 19th century England and have spread to other countries as well as American culture.

The concept of love has many variations and does not appear to be just romantic love. Think of the love expressed for parents, sisters, brothers, other relatives and friends.  As it has been said, “Love is a Many Splendored Thing”. There was a time when a young lady shared her unhappy feelings toward her parents and related how for years she never felt that she met their expectations of love and devotion.  Eventually, after extended counseling, she and her family really bonded in their relationship.  Many changes in their attitude toward each other occurred.  One thing the young lady did was that she came to the realization that sending greeting cards such as Valentines, birthday or anniversary cards were always nice to underscore her love to her family.  However, they were expected notices of devotion.  So, she decided that during the year, on no special occasion, she sent them a card or made a phone call just to let them know how much she was thinking of them and told them of her love for them.  The fact that her overture was not expected and spontaneous reinforced her authentic love.

Sometimes the spontaneous sharing of one’s love has a tremendous impact on validating one’s love.  Yet, it is sill nice to recognize special occasions.