I know that there are a lot of people that feel that Valentine's Day is a Hallmark card invention, and more about commerce than love, which may be partly true, but according to an article this week in the Telegraph, its origins are most likely traced back to ancient Rome, among other places.
Apparently in the days of old Rome 13-15 February was a pagan fertility festival called Lupercalia. And, OK, so it seems that the main part of these festivities centered around young men running naked in the streets using goat or dog skin whips to smack young women's bums in order to improve their fertility, but you know, it was a festival, and, all festivals usually include some wild aspect... uhm, haven't we all been to Burning Man, or heard the stories...
So, more history in a nutshell for you (PLEASE NOTE: irreverence ahead): in the very early years of A.D., there were several martyrs with the name Valentine or Valentina, who probably perished in some unspeakable ways, and then the Catholic church came along and called the 14th of February a saints day, no doubt to upstage those naughty pagans. Fast forward quite a few centuries and Chaucer comes along to write something naughty (again) in old english about the engagement of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia (mm-hmm). Now, fast forward another century and we have the first Court of Love, in Paris (of course), which deals with legal matters of the heart, and ya da ya da, and now onward a few more centuries to Shakespeare mentioning Valentine's Day in his play Hamlet - a long soliloquy by Ophelia, before the drowning.
So, that's probably more than enough to give you the idea, that the symbols and beginnings for Valentine's Day were around long before Hallmark opened their doors, I guess they saw a good thing and jumped on board, so to speak.
I want to say too, that I know there are people who loathe this day because they are single. For me - someone who has spent many a Valentine's Day without a true-love - this day has always been less about romance and flowers and having an "other", and so much more about carrying along that tradition begun in elementary school of giving a valentine to any and everyone that you love or even just like a lot.
I loved the day of the Valentine at school. We would tape paper bags to the sides of our little desks, and everyone would put valentine's in each others bags. Most were handmade and handwritten, some the hallmark variety, but all of them were so very sweet. Did you all do this too? I remember coming home with all my Valentine's in my little paper bag, and sleeping with them under my pillow, until they got all ratty and bent, and my mother probably whisked them away.
And so in the tradition of my elementary school experience, I give you a Valentine, along with an envelope for you to print and use to your heart's content. You can download it here: Download Valentine Gift. Or leave me a comment here and I will send the file directly to your in-box. It is a 3 page document, one page for the card, one for the envelope and a page of instructions for printing and cutting and pasting.
Happy Valentine's Day, and may all your heart's be full to overflowing.
PLEASE NOTE: This card is for your personal use only, please do not re-sell, change or modify the artwork in any way. Thanks.
