BY ALDONA BIRD
For many years, I didn’t have a valentine. But don’t pity me — while I enjoy relationships as much as the next person, I always preferred celebrating this holiday on my own.
My college roommates usually had dates on Feb. 14, so I had the apartment to myself. I developed a nice routine; I went shopping for ingredients to cook a nice meal, a bouquet of flowers, some chocolates and (before streaming) pick up a romantic comedy at the library.
One year I even made myself a personal serving of chocolate fondue and dipped a variety of fruit while enjoying a sappy movie.
I figured I could date any night, but why not enjoy the plethora of pretty flowers and sweet treats of this holiday myself. I liked my solitary celebration much more than scrambling for a date and hoping for the best.
On occasions when I was in a relationship on Valentine’s Day, my dates typically labeled Valentine’s Day a super commercialized holiday and a bit silly. Yes, it is super commercialized (Americans spent about $2.7 billion on the holiday in 2019), but for me that doesn’t take away the fun of celebrating.
This holiday was not created by greeting card companies, although Americans send nearly 200 million cards for Valentine’s Day, second only to Christmas.
This holiday dates back through history and probably has pagan roots rebranded by the Christian church, as so many of our holidays were. Many sources point to Lupercalia, a fertility festival held by the ancient Romans in mid-February, as the possible origin of Valentine’s Day.
This three day festival involved animal sacrifices, feasting and pairing off of men and women by lottery. Lupercalia was predated by a Greek festival at the same time of year celebrating the coming of spring, cleansing and fertility.
However, only the date and the theme of love and fertility ties these festivals to our Valentine’s Day. I wish I could learn more about celebrations at this time of year in other cultures, but my online research yielded little information.
Christian origins of the holiday are also murky. There are two or possibly three Saint Valentines — some say one married couples when it was illegal to do so, ended up in jail where he fell in love with his jailor’s daughter and wrote her a letter signed “your Valentine” before he was beheaded on Feb. 14.
Others say these events are conflated from the lives of all three saints. Saint Valentine is the patron saint of lovers, epileptics and bee keepers (I do appreciate a jack of all trades).
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote of Valentine’s Day in 1382 in The Canterbury Tales, which was the first literary mention — but definitely not the last.
The tradition of greeting cards to celebrate love in mid-February became popular in the Victorian era. Along with love notes, the Victorians also sent “vinegar valentines” — hate mail disguised as love letters. I have to say, I’m glad this tradition fizzled out.
Chocolate owes its valentine connection to the Cadbury company, which began manufacturing heart shaped boxes filled with chocolate in 1868.
ALDONA BIRD is a journalist, exploring possibilities of local productivity and sustainable living in Preston County.
