The truth behind st valentine's day celebration

Valentine's Day 2023:

• Valentine's Day falls on February 14. People celebrate this occasion with their partners or crushes by pampering them with special tokens of love, grand surprises, handmade gifts, and more. Moreover, Valentine's Day is a celebration of love, and it is also necessary to express your love and gratitude for that special someone through meaningful words. Sending them heartfelt messages or romantic greetings could be one way to go.

HISTORY OF VALENTIE'S CELEBTION :

• Valentine’s Day, also called St. Valentine’s Day, holiday (February 14) when lovers express their affection with greetings and gifts. Given their similarities, it has been suggested that the holiday 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 forbid the celebration of Lupercalia and is sometimes attributed with replacing it with St. Valentine’s Day, but the true origin of the holiday is vague at best. Valentine’s Day did not come to be celebrated as a day of romance until about the 14th century.Discover what makes the history of Valentine's Day so complicated.

3 symbols of Valentine's day :

• A symbol is something that makes you think about something else. Roses, hearts, doves and the colours red and pink are all associated with Valentine's Day.
• Although there were several Christian martyrs named Valentine, the day may have taken its name from a priest who was martyred about 270 ce by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus. According to legend, the priest signed a letter “from your Valentine” to his jailer’s daughter, whom he had befriended and, by some accounts, healed from blindness. Other accounts hold that it was St. Valentine of Terni, a bishop, for whom the holiday was named, though it is possible the two saints were actually one person. Another common legend states that St. Valentine defied the emperor’s orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from war. It is for this reason that his feast day is associated with love.
• Formal messages, or valentines, appeared in the 1500s, and by the late 1700s commercially printed cards were being used. The first commercial valentines in the United States were printed in the mid-1800s. Valentines commonly depict Cupid, the Roman god of love, along with hearts, traditionally the seat of emotion. Because it was thought that the avian mating season begins in mid-February, birds also became a symbol of the day. Traditional gifts include candy and flowers, particularly red roses, a symbol of beauty and love.
• The day is popular in the United States as well as in Britain, Canada, and Australia, and it is also celebrated in other countries, including Argentina, France, Mexico, and South Korea. In the Philippines it is the most common wedding anniversary, and mass weddings of hundreds of couples are not uncommon on that date. The holiday has expanded to expressions of affection among relatives and friends. Many schoolchildren exchange valentines with one another on this day.

Practicing Love on Valentine's Day February 14 :

• Love is not something that you just fall into, as the romance novels and hit songs suggest. Love is a spiritual practice. You can get better at it over time. Here's how.
• Love is not something that you just fall into, as the romance novels and hit songs suggest. Love is a spiritual practice. You can get better at it over time. Here are eight ways to practice expressing love.

Personal Explorations :

• In the morning, ask yourself: "Who and what am I going to let aboard the ark of my heart today?" In the evening, review your day, warmly greeting all your loves.

• Go to the library or a bookstore and get a book of art by Marc Chagall. Take a long look at the deliciousness of romantic love as portrayed in the painting The Birthday. A man floats in a room after greeting his future bride with a kiss and a bouquet of flowers.

Prayers & Mantras

The Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh suggests two mantras that can be spoken by those in intimate relationships. One partner says, "Darling, I am here for you." The other responds, "I know you are there, and I am very happy."

Spiritual Practices

• Try the Quaker practice of "holding someone in the light" by visualizing that person in the circle of God's love and presence.

• The rose was called the "queen of the flowers" by the Greek poet Sappho. It is known as an herb of love. Take time to smell the roses today, or use some rose essential oil for aromatherapy.

• According to Rabbi David Cooper, love is based on a desire for completion — "to be whole, to be in harmony, to be connected, and to be free." As a Valentine's entry in your journal, write about what completes you. It does not have to be a person; it could be your work, an experience in nature, a hobby, or something else.

Films

Love is the spiritual prescription to counter the personal problem of fear. Rent the video Defending Your Life. After an accident, Daniel (Albert Brooks) finds himself in a place called Judgment City where he watches episodes from his life projected on a screen. He sees how constant anxiety has ruled his behavior and prevented him from being able to have meaningful relationships. Then he meets Julia (Meryl Streep), a radiant and confident woman, and he gets another chance to move from fear to love.

Music

Create a playlist of some of your favorite love songs, and give it to your partner.