Cupid Hearts & Valentines

Till date I couldn’t exactly understand what the hype was all about. Valentines day never really mattered that much to me cause I believe you can express your love for your loved ones at any time you want. So to understand all the hype I decided to do a little research…For those of you who have absolutely no idea why this “oh-so-special” day is celebrated, read on!

The origins of Valentine's Day trace back to the ancient Roman celebration of Lupercalia. Held on February 15, Lupercalia honored the gods Lupercus and Faunus, as well as the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.

In addition to a bountiful feast, Lupercalia festivities are purported to have included the pairing of young women and men. Men would draw women's names from a box, and each couple would be paired until next year's celebration.

While this pairing of couples set the tone for today's holiday, it wasn't called "Valentine's Day" until a priest named Valentine came along. Valentine, a romantic at heart, disobeyed Emperor Claudius II's decree that soldiers remain bachelors. Claudius handed down this decree believing that soldiers would be distracted and unable to concentrate on fighting if they were married or engaged. Valentine defied the emperor and secretly performed marriage ceremonies. As a result of his defiance, Valentine was put to death on February 14.

Another legend has it that Valentine was an imprisoned man who fell in love with his jailor's daughter. Before he was put to death he sent the first 'valentine' himself when he wrote her a letter and signed it 'Your Valentine', words still used on cards today.

According to Roman mythology, Cupid was the son of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. Cupid was known to cause people to fall in love by shooting them with his magical arrows. But Cupid didn't just cause others to fall in love - he himself fell deeply in love. As legend has it, Cupid fell in love with a mortal maiden named Psyche. Cupid married Psyche, but Venus, jealous of Psyche's beauty, forbade her daughter-in-law to look at Cupid. Psyche, of course, couldn't resist temptation and sneaked a peek at her handsome husband. As punishment, Venus demanded that she perform three hard tasks, the last of which caused Psyche's death.
Cupid brought Psyche back to life and the gods, moved by their love, granted Pysche immortality. Cupid thus represents the heart and Psyche the (struggles of the) human soul.

Facts

-->Over 1 billion Valentine cards are sent in the U.S each year. 85% of all valentines are purchased by women. Parents receive 1 out of every 5 valentines.

-->About 15% of women in the US send themselves flowers on Valentines (?!?)

-->Worldwide, over 50 million roses are given for Valentine's Day each year.

-->Red roses are the single most popular flower to give on Valentine's Day. Although they may all look the same to the untrained eye, there are actually more than 900 varieties of dark-red and medium-red rose

-->Chinese Valentine's Day is not celebrated on February 14, but on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar. This year it will be August 25.

-->It's traditional to sign a Valentine's Day card with Xs to represent kisses, but what's the origin of this practice? It's believed to have started in Medieval times, when people who could not write were allowed to sign documents with an X, which they then kissed to prove their sincerity. Over time, the Xs became associated with kisses.

For all you valentine-less people please go visit http://www.stupidcupid77.blogspot.com/ :)

Happy Valentines Day!!

Holes, Voids and Empty spaces

Holes, voids and empty spaces. They split you into a million different pieces.
They can shatter your sanity. They can rip your soul out.
They can make you feel abandoned and unwanted.
They make you feel like no one identifies with you.
They make you realize how saline your tears taste and how bad they sting.
Or,
They motivate you to get back together the bits and pieces that were split at one point of time. They inspire to become emotionally stronger, keep you sane and protect your soul beneath the underlying layers of mended holes and closed empty spaces. They make you feel wanted, if not by anyone else but at least by yourself. They inspire you to identify with yourself and instead of other people identifying with you, you start wanting to identify with other people. They make you realize that your tears aren’t worth for something you have lost but have a high value of making you tough.
These empty spaces, lie in each one of us…Ready to be exposed and it’s up to us to mend them and put them behind us. Some of us cover them up but in reality we are to scared to fix them.
I have seen a few of my friends, who have covered, unfixed souls and they suffer silently. I pray for them to secure themselves and give themselves a chance. A real chance.