{"id":99595,"date":"2024-02-14T06:00:11","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T06:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/?p=99595"},"modified":"2024-02-14T06:52:18","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T06:52:18","slug":"valentines-day-origins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/valentines-day-origins\/","title":{"rendered":"Cults, Babies & Priests: The Origins of Valentine\u2019s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s much speculation about the origins of Valentine’s Day, who St. Valentine actually was and how the fat naked baby (cherub) fits into the story. The origins of Valentine\u2019s Day are somewhat dark and blurry. Many tales surrounding Valentine\u2019s Day exist, the better-known association with the Cupid actually derives from Roman mythology\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cupid \u2013 The God of Love<\/h3>\n

According to Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of love, desire and affection. He is often depicted as a cherub \u2013 a handsome, winged, unearthly\/angelic being (usually a baby), but cherubs can take on different forms. Cupid usually carries a bow and arrow; it\u2019s believed that darting people with his arrow made them fall in love \u2013 even the gods called on this matchmaking assassin. Both versions have slight variations, but are similar for the most part since Roman mythology was translated into Latin from Greek mythology.<\/p>\n

\"Cupid
\nIn the Greek mythology version, Cupid is likened to Eros, the Greek god of love. He\u2019s described as a primordial god having existed since the beginning of time. Eros is thus referred to as a man, a young male or a baby in many stories. Most texts suggest that Aphrodite is Eros’ mother \u2013 being the Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty, the father’s identity is not quite clear, but it could be a toss-up between Chaos, Zeus and Ares. As for Saint Valentine, there are a couple of tales linked to Valentine\u2019s Day\u2019s origins\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

The Legends of St. Valentine<\/h3>\n

The festival of Lupercalia was an ode to Juno Februata, the goddess of feverish love. During this celebration, men sacrificed animals \u2013 mostly goats and dogs \u2013 to perform fertility rituals; the story gets more grim… after sacrificing and slaughtering the animals, men would use the hide to violently whip women in a ‘fertility ritual’.<\/p>\n

\"Valentine's
\nThe barbaric festival also involved picking women’s names out of a jar in an unlucky draw. If they were compatible, the women were paired (more like \u2018stuck\u2019) with the men for the duration of the festival. Christian believers denounced the festival, as it conflicted with their beliefs. A different way of celebrating Lupercalia was proposed, but this was denied.<\/p>\n

Who is St. Valentine?<\/strong> One of the more popular legends suggests that Valentine\u2019s Day was named after two men murdered at the hands of Roman Emperor Claudius II during the third century (circa 270 C.E.). Sadly, these men were ordered to be executed on the fourteenth of February, but in different years. Both men also shared the name \u2018Valentine\u2019, one of whom was a priest.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Emperor apparently opposed marriage \u2013 he believed it ‘made men weak’, as soldiers were required to be physically and mentally fit for battle and thus banned all marriages. However, this didn\u2019t stop the Roman priest, St. Valentine from secretly officiating weddings. The Emperor learned about this and subsequently jailed and sentenced the priest to death. In 496 C.E., Pope Gelasius and the Catholic Church decided to honour the Christian martyrs for their saintly love and acts of bravery, and so the holiday became Valentine\u2019s Day<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

The Evolution of Valentine’s Day<\/h3>\n

\"Valentine's<\/p>\n

What once was a barbaric festival has become a holiday synonymous with love. Today, Valentine\u2019s Day is celebrated by people all over the world and is ultimately a day to express love through gifting chocolates, roses, personalised presents, and other romantic gestures.<\/p>\n

Although traditionally observed by those in romantic relationships, modern society has made this holiday more inclusive by recognising that platonic love is also worth celebrating \u2013 this is known as Galentine\u2019s Day<\/a>. Children also show their love to parents with handmade crafts, similar to Valentine\u2019s Day traditions in Estonia and Finland.<\/p>\n

Some people don\u2019t celebrate it and choose not to buy into the commercialisation of this holiday for personal reasons. Whether you celebrate this Valentine\u2019s Day or not, it doesn\u2019t hurt to spread a little love.<\/p>\n

Learn all about these Valentine\u2019s Day traditions from around the world<\/a>.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s much speculation about the origins of Valentine’s Day, who St. Valentine actually was and how the fat naked baby (cherub) fits into the story. The origins of Valentine\u2019s Day are somewhat dark and blurry. Many tales surrounding Valentine\u2019s Day exist, the better-known association with the Cupid actually derives from Roman mythology\u2026 Cupid \u2013 The God of Love According to Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of love, desire and affection. He is often depicted as a cherub \u2013 a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8133,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4098],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"acf":[],"brand_slug":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99595"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99606,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99595\/revisions\/99606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}