Love me, love me not…

As many traditions that were not very well-known until not long ago in Europe, or at least in Spain, Saint Valentine´s Day is growing more and more popular every year. Although there is a local “love” day (Sant Jordi, that is also the regional book day in Catalonia), many shops sell different things for February 14th. But I bet that if I ask you who Saint Valentine was, most of you don´t have a clue. We have investigated a little and here you have what we found.

Version I: A martyr in love with his faith
Some experts say that this idea of celebrating the “Lovers day” had its origin in a Roman martyr, who became so for refusing to give up Christianity. And the poor soul died on February 14, 269 A.D. This man was called Saint Valentine. It is also said that the jailer´s daughter received a note from the martyr, signed “From Your Valentine” (have you read this anywhere?). After this, time did its work, and February 14th became a date for the exchange of love messages (remember this happened much before the sms and chat) and our martyr became the “patron saint of lovers”. It is also believed that the first commercial Valentine greeting cards produced in the United States were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland (but I´m not sure: something COMMERCIAL invented in the USA? Mmmmm…)

Version II: The Romans that invented Romance
In the Old Roman Empire, February 14th  was a holiday dedicated to Juno, the queen of the Roman gods and goddesses. And as if she didn´t have enough work, she was also the goddess of women and marriage. But, as you may know, these Romans weren´t satisfied by one party at a time: on February 15th they had the Feast of Lupercalia. It was during this feast that the boys and the girls (who had to live apart, strictly separated) invented something to have fun: the girls wrote their name on slips of paper and put them into jars. Then, each young man had to draw a paper from the jar and became the partner of the girl whose name he picked up. This lasted as long as the festival did. (In some cases, even longer, up to marriage, but with young people you never know!)

Version III: The Roman that hated Romance
But not every Roman was romantic. The Emperor Claudius III (known as Claudius “The Cruel”) had a strange theory: as he had problems to recruit men for his bloody campaigns, he reached the conclusion that this was due to the unwillingness of the Roman men to leave their love or family. So instead of thinking something creative, he simply cancelled and banned all marriages and engagements in Rome!!!    But lovers were not alone: it was not Superman, but a priest, Saint Valentine. He, with Saint Marius´ help, secretly married couples. When he was discovered, he was condemned to be beaten to death!! (And, for the record, also to have his head cut off). Nice ending for the Martyr of love, if you ask me… Believe it or not, it was a Feast Day on the Roman Catholic Calendar until 1969.

Who is Saint Valentine for the Catholics?
For the Patron Saints Index, Valentine of Rome was “a priest in Rome, possibly a bishop. Physician. Imprisoned for giving aid to martyrs in prison, and while there converted the jailer by restoring sight to the jailer's daughter. While Valentine of Terni and Valentine of Rome sometimes have separate entries in martyrologies and biographies, most scholars believe they are the same person”. 
And they go on: “There are several theories about the origin of Valentine's Day celebrations. Some believe the Romans had a mid-February custom where boys drew girls' names in honour of the sex and fertility goddess, Februata Juno; pastors `baptised´ this holiday, like some others, by substituting the names of saints such as Valentine to suppress the practice. Others maintain that the custom of sending Valentines on 14 February stems from the belief that birds begin to pair on that date. By 1477 the English associated lovers with the feast of Valentine because on that day `every bird chooses him a mate.´ The custom started of men and women writing love letters to their Valentine on this day. Other `romance´ traditions have become attached to this feast, including pinning bay leaves to your pillow on Valentine's Eve so that you will see your future mate that night in your dreams.” (So leave the leaves and try to concentrate at least in Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie!!)

And last but not least… Valentine Traditions
Nearly as hey still do in Halloween in some countries (and in Spain during Christmas), many years ago many children used to dress up on Valentine´s Day and went singing from door to door. Here you have a verse they sang:

“Good morning to you, Valentine;
Curl your locks as I do mine
Two before and three behind.
Good morning to you, Valentine”.

In some countries, a young woman may receive a gift of clothing from a young man. If she keeps the gift, it means she will marry him. So if you´re looking for a fiancée, rush to Zara or HM, you may still find something from the sales season!!!

I have to tell you that I used to do this when I was a young girl (but not on Valentine´s Day, but every time I ate an apple. Was I so desperate? God!). Well, here is what you have to do: Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry, As you twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off. You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell off.

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be (and also in the Roman Empire, now we know…) They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. “To wear your heart on your sleeve” now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.
Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire. (Please, who knows if Barcelona is a good area for the goldfinch??????)

Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem. That is the number of children you will have. (Too romantic for me; I´ll go on the pill, just in case…)
In Wales wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favourite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, "You unlock my heart!" (Well, there are no rules for decoration taste, are they?)
A love seat is a wide chair. It was first made to seat one woman and her wide dress. Later, the love seat or courting seat had two sections, often in an S-shape. In this way, a couple could sit together - but not too closely! (Mmmm, so how do we end up with the children and the dandelion?)
If you cut an apple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will also know how many children you will have. (Uf, again. I´m off to the drugstore!)