Valentine’s Day has it’s roots
in an ancient pagan festival
The Lupercalia Festival
Ancient Romans celebrated Lupercalia Day
A fertility festival on February 15
St. Valentine, the Catholic Church established
February 14 asValentine’s Day
To separate the church from pagan rituals
Dedicated to the Roman, god of agriculture
For The founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus,
it was celebrated with animal sacrifices,
The ritual; Men gently slapping women
With crop fields and raw dead goat, hide strips
dipped in blood, which is thought to help fertility
(Hence the Blood Red color was a major contributing factor to the ritual)
Medieval beliefs
lovers recited verse of prose to each other
on Valentine’s Day,
some believed birds chose their mate on that day
The poet Geoffrey Chaucer linked Saint Valentine with romantic love in the Middle Ages
with his poem The parliament of the fouls
Saint Valentine was a Catholic priest
in Rome in the third century.
He was known for performing secret marriages
for young couples, which was against
the emperor’s orders.
He was executed for defying the emperor’s
band on marriage and for trying to convince
the emperor to accept Christianity
Medieval celebrations
Valentine’s Day is celebrated by
exchanging cards, flowers, and gifts.
It’s a day to recognize the ties
that link people whether couples
friends or family member.
Valentine’s Day
Has its roots in an ancient pagan festival
In the 1300s it officially became a holiday associated with love
Cupid has roots in Greek mythology
You may be struck by Cupid‘s arrow
according to the ubiquitous cherub.
Origins can be traced back to 700 B.C.
An ancient Greek hero.
The Greek god of love was depleted as a handsome young man and had power
to make people fall in love overtime.
He was adopted by the Roman’s
and became known as a cherub, his image changing to the little boy with the bow and arrow because of his love inspired powers
He became linked to Valentine’s Day
by the turn of the century.
Big Business Commercialized the holiday.
A profitable venture evolved over time.
They preyed on the human heart
The tradition of giving Valentine’s Day
Flowers dates back to the 17th century
Not until the 1840s
Did we get the First mass produced
Valentine’s Day cards
Nearly 250,000,000 roses are grown
In preparation for Valentine’s Day each year. Millions of flowers are grown around the world and shipped to the US specifically for February 14.
They come from Ecuador Kenya in Columbia.
While RED is the traditional symbol of love
Other colors ; deep pink, purple and white, symbolize, happiness, royalty, and sympathy
Americans spend a lot on LOVE
America spend nearly 26 billion on Valentine’s gifts In 2023 people spend on the average
Of $193 for Valentine’s Day
Americans send 145 million on
Valentine’s Day cards each year
Booklets were created to
Help people write Valentines
People spend millions of dollars
on gifts for their pets
in fact around 27.6 million American households gave Valentine’s Day presents to their pets in 2020
more than 17.1 million spent for gifts were for cats
American household spend estimated $751.million
on gifts for their pets on Valentine’s Day
That number grows every year..
Candy is the most popular gift to give
The first heart shaped box of chocolates was introduced in 1861
Conversation hearts
got their start as medical lozenges
( sweet tarts with little sayings on them)
But it wasn’t until 1866 that we first got
Sweet messages on conversation hearts
More than 8 billion conversation hearts are given with 45 different sayings included; true love,
hug me, and you Roc. personalized orders began to escalate, sales sword no one could get their hands on convention hearts until 2019 new words of encouragement were added to sweethearts in 2022
Way to go ,crush it , high five
It’s one of the most popular days for proposals
It’s celebrated differently all around the world
Valentine’s Day horror movies
are a growing phenomenal
XO did not always mean hugs and kisses. The Washington Post reported that symbolize the Christian cross in the letters, ended
every love letter with the sign of the cross
XO meant sealed with a kiss.💋
Love birds are actual birds
Birds are a very significant part of Valentine’s Day
There is an official Valentine’s Day
alternative for singles
International QUIRKY-ALONE DAY
it is a holiday for single people on the same day
.
The holiday isn’t an anti-Valentine’s Day event, but rather a moment to celebrate
self love and platonic relationships
Quirky Alone Day
has been celebrated globally since 2003.
William Shakespeare inspired the tradition by writing a Billet-doux a letter to Juliet
Inspired by tradition
four states have a city
named valentine
Although this holiday is a hodgepodge
loosely put together with no real tradition
other than rituals it has flowered into
an significant part of society culture
Inspired songs
1)Were have all the flowers gone
By Johnny Rivers
2) Valentine written by Jim Brickman
Song by Martina McBride
BLT Webster’s Word of the day challenge
2-14-25 Billet-doux is a love letter