The Dark Origins Of Valentine s Day

Valentine's day signifies love and romance; it is the day of lovers and hopeless romantics. Chocolates, hearts, and those lovely marvelous gifts for the beloved, all indicate the arrival of the day.

In fact, the color red is strongly associated with Valentine's day because red is the color of love. But have you ever wondered that the same Red shade depicts blood and cruelty?

Valentine's day was not always the day of love, but more of cruelty and beating. Yes, that's right!

Unfortunately, the day was not always associated with chocolates and hearts. Today we will talk about the dark origins of this day, how the day got the name "Valentine," and other things.

How Valentine's Day Got Its Name?

In the third century, during the emperor of Claudius II, there was a Roman saint named Valentine. At that time, in Rome, it was prohibited for young soldiers to get married. This is because the authorities there considered that married life obstructs a soldier's full potential on the battlefield, and hence all soldiers were prohibited from getting married.

Saint Valentine was helping these soldiers to secretly get married and instructing people about converting themselves into Christians. The saint was then helping these soldiers to enter the army. Claudius tolerated the saint until he knew that Valentine was trying to convert the emperor. Hence on 14th February, Valentine, along with another saint with the same name, was terminated. They were first hit with clubs and stones and then beheaded.

However, later the Catholic Church, to pay respect to these saints, honored their death and named the day Valentines Day.

The Dark and Bloody Valentine

Now you might have got an idea that what actually happened on 14th February was not the exchange of hearts and chocolates. All of this started with the Roman celebration called Lupercalia. During the festival, they used to sacrifice a goat, a dog, and several other animals.

After that, they would drag the name of a woman from a jar one by one. These women would line up where the men used to beat these women with the hides or skin of the sacrificed animals, the dog, and the goat. It was believed to make the women fertile. Hence in no way was this the celebration of the day of love; it was always associated with blood, beating, nudity, and drunkards.

The Arrival of Shakespeare and Poetry

Later after the execution of the saint Valentine, the day was started to be celebrated as his memorial. The day was then named Valentine's day. As the centuries passed, poets like Chaucer and Shakespeare came forward and romanticized Valentine's day in their creations. These poets considered the sacrifices of Valentine rather than the cruelty of Romans. In the same ages, handmade paper cards became famous, and the day became a resemblance of love.

This tradition of love and handmade cards made its way to the world and became a revolution. The industries came forward, and they started producing these Valentine's day cards which were factory-made and fancier than the handmade cards. Mass production of these cards began, and the day was considered as the day of love. People cared less about the original history of the day, and they mingled their thoughts with the glorious side of Valentine's day.

Valentine's Day in Today's Age

Over the years and centuries, things changed drastically, and today, Valentine's day is the day of love. This is the celebration of lovers where they express their love with chocolates, flowers, stuffed hearts, movie dates, candlelight dinners, and whatnot.

However, the day has become a matter of business and expectations. Businesses make a big amount of money by selling all the stuffed hearts, teddies, chocolates, and all the lovey-dovey stuff. Today people start the celebration from the 7th February itself, and they carry it on till 14th February.

Despite being beautiful and lovely from the outside, the day still carries some darkness along. It is a day of expectations where a lover expects things from their lover. It is also a day that breaks many relationships simply because one person might fail to fulfill or understand the other's expectations.

Also, those who are single or don't have a partner feel left alone and lonely. These people self-gift the chocolates, and they crave a lover. However, this is not the case with every single person out there, but many people wish to have a partner by their side.

So this was about the dark history of Valentine's day that we hope you enjoyed reading about and getting in knowledge. The New Year is on the verge, and right after it, Valentine's day. It is a whole new era, and hence one can celebrate the day however possible. You can go out with your friends or best friend; if you have a partner, you can celebrate the day with them.