Valentine Day

Hey, it's Valentine day! Have you bought any presents for your loved one? If you heard the word valentine, you will almost immediately think about roses. Why is that? What is the story behind Valentine day and what is the connection with roses? If you want to know about it then please continue to read. According to Brownielocks, there are three versions of Valentine day history:

1. When the Romans invaded France they were not just invaded the French physically but also socially. So they introduced a festival. In this festival's day, every Roman boy picks a Roman girl's name out an urn. These couple then exchanged gifts. This festival soon became a tradition or pagan, so in 469 C.E., a pope named Gelasius decided to put a Christian faith in it by declaring that the tradition was an honor to St. Valentine.
2. The second version related to a man named Valentine who was imprisoned for helping persecuted Christians. He then became good friend with his jailor then ended up the jailor's entire family to Christians. The jailor had a girl named Julia, that Valentine fell in love with. But the story did not end well. On the morning when Valentine was executed, he sent a love letter to Julia signed, "From your Valentine".
3. The last version of Valentine day does not related with Romans but Norse. The Normans had a god called St. Galantin. The name meant "lover of women". In the English language the "G" is pronounced like a "Gah". It was also pronounced like a "V" thus the word sound like "Valantin". So the Normans believe that it is also contributed to the confusion over the true history behind Valentine day.

Why roses? Flowers were always thought as a token of love even before there was Valentine day. The Romans believed that their god, Bacchus (The God of Wine and Joy) and Venus (The Goddess of Love and Beauty), both considered flowers with their beauty and fragrance related to romance and love. But since the Solomon era, the flower which was primarily linked to romance was only roses. If you watched movies of Cleopatra, there was a scene where she welcomed Marc Anthony. Guest what, the floor was covered with roses. It was a show of her affection to Marc Anthony. There is also a Roman myth saying that when Cupid was carrying a vase of sweet nectar to the Gods on mount Olympus, he spilled some of them on the ground. It was believed that roses grew from the spot of that spilled nectar.

Enough with the history lesson, I know I had enough of reading a very long history on Valentine day. The essence here is that Valentine day is a day to love and be loved. So go and be with your loved ones. As for the gifts, I personally think that love is not only expressed with gifts but really by the way you treat your loved one. But if you have extra bucks does it matter to buy your sweetheart a present once and a while?