Tuesday, February 13, 2007

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!!

11 comments:

Unknown said...

hey rayna!!
all romantic n all eh?? "i believe one can express his or her luuv at ne tym" n all???
not bad..if d X's stand for kisses den wht do s o's??
neways..hope u lyk d surprise u gna get tom..keep w8in..d clock is tickin..

xoxo
Dolly

Unknown said...

i mean the** o's

*reshma* said...

k i noe this may sound silly...but after reading ur post my heart feels all fluttery :S :S...i dun noe, i love reading books on love and watchin romance movies :S :S yes call me a looser!...wat to do, blame it on my soft heart..though in real life i have theories when it comes 2 love, though for fantasy sake, theres nothing better than seeing couple totally in love...ok then...right..moving on (!..sheesh i cud get real sappy at times...yes, i personally hve nothing against valentines day, its a day 2 celebrate luv, n there so many ppl that i do luv...so this goes out 2 allllaaallll of u. I LOVE YOU VErY MUCH!! *gigglegiggle* nyway, i loved ur post!! some gud research was done n very informative n not 2 mention very loveydovey..very cute post...me like it!!

*reshma* said...

o's stands fer huggiee!!

Rayna said...

dolly - Your surprises haven't always been pleasant :P...

*reshma* said...

im dumb as dumb as can get!! 4got 2 sayy................................................................... I LOVE YOU!!!hehehe

Anonymous said...

hi!!
clearly...sumones dun their homework n i think that 'sumone' is feeling a bit down that they dont hav a valentine!!
anyway..great post!
happy valentines day rayna!!

Anonymous said...

oyiee shaddap!!
u luved d surprise so dnt tok 222 much!!
nd all my surprises r VERY pleasant..is jus dat u dnt find em pleasant!! :P
biee..luvv yahh..n happy v-tine once agn

Shalaka said...

heyy!

NICE POST!

Well-done (referring to the research) and well-presented.

THANK YOU for advertising our blog! And to certain people who will go like, "?! the blog's not been updated on V'day i.e. today.. WAIT! Cause today is far from over..! Hehe..

XOXOXOXO
(:P)

Seoulful Sagas said...

hiii Rayna,

another grt post and extrememly gud research.
belated happy valentimes day.

byee.

Radhii said...

Hey Rayna !!
Sorry I'm so late to comment

Don;t have much time to write so all I'm going to say is Happy V day .. Love you !!
Thanks for the warm hug today ! (even though I thoiught you were nikita at first) =P

Oh .. And nice post. As Krishnoo said .. Looks like someone's done their homework =)