5 Valentine’s Day Myths

“Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectedly…” (D.H. Lawrence).

Love is indeed the best thing that ever happened to mankind. Because it is not just a feeling, as I see it, but the reality of nature, the source of relations and the rhyme of every beat a heart produces. Love is about caring, sharing, being together, being faithful and being friends. It is simply the most satisfying, enriching and most enlivening feeling one can experience. And how can one not think of Valentine’s Day, a day chosen to celebrate this joyous temptation in special ways. It is the day of wishing love and making our loved ones feel special. But Valentine’s Day is not treated as a wishing day in general. Various myths have traveled through time and people literally work themselves up according to them. Don’t believe me? Here they are…

You get Bad Luck if you sign a Valentine’s Card

Cards continue to be the most favorite and reasonable way of wishing your loved one, aren’t they? It is a fact that about 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged every year. But there was time when it was not as popular as today. Because according to a myth, which generated from the Victorian Era, it was considered bad luck to sign a Valentine’s card. When the numbers of racy valentines increased, many countries literally banned the practice of exchanging Valentine’s Days cards.

Sight of bird, decides the kind of partner

Following signs from birds is a practice made from ancient times, probably since Greek and Roman times. But according to a myth, the sight of the first bird by an unmarried woman decides the character of her husband to be. This means, if a young girl saw a particular bird on Valentine’s Day, then she would marry a particular type of man! This idea most likely generated in the middle ages, when it was believed that birds chose their mates on Valentine’s Day leading to the idea that boys and girls would do the same. A bird gets what sort of life partner is as follows:

Blackbird… A man of the cloth (Priest)
Bluebird… A man of laughter
Crossbill… A man of argument
Dove… A man of kindness
Goldfinch… A man of wealth
Gull… He travels a great deal for work
Birds of prey…He is a businessman, politician or leader
Robin… A man of the sea
Sparrow… A man of the country
Woodpecker… no marriage will take place
Yellow Hammer/ Wagtail… A man of wealth
Pigeon…He will eventually return to the place where he grew up

*Another myth, related to this one is that if a young girl sees a hen and a cockerel together on Valentine’s Day then she will marry soon. No wonder farms were popular places amongst young girls on this day!!

Valentine’s Day is based on St. Valentino

Although it would have been just as good if Valentine’s Day was just a day to celebrate love, and nothing else, but it holds to it the most famous myth of St. Valentine. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentine established by a Pope in 500 AD. Everything ever known about Saint Valentine is uncertain, except that his feast was on February 14. It is even uncertain whether the feast of that day celebrates only one saint or more saints of the same name. But according to this famous myth, (regardless of its historical backgrounds) St. Valentine along with Saint Marius and his family assisted the martyrs during the injustice. It is believed that while imprisoned, St. Valentine fell in love with a young woman who visited him through his imprisonment. Some sources believe that this young woman was blind and was also the daughter of the man who had captured him. The date of his birth is not known. But another popular fact about this myth is that although the lovers had suffered a great deal, God enabled Valentine to miraculously reinstate the girl’s sight. The most famous belief indicates that Valentine’s goodbye message to his love enclosed a finishing that has now gone beyond time: “From Your Valentine.”

Perfect Gift to unlock Love

Flowers, chocolates, dinner or diamonds are all very commonly used as gifts for our beloved valentines. But you will be surprised to know that at one time spoons were used and known to be the most desired gift. In Wales, wooden spoons were known as the ‘love spoons’ were specially carved and given as gifts on February 14th. The more special ones even had love messages engraved on them. In those times, a young man would spend hours carving the spoon with his own hands, in the hope that the girl would accept it. If the girl accepted the spoon, she would reveal her concern in him, which is the origin of the word ’spooning’. With time, gifts advanced to hearts carved with keys and keyholes. This key and keyholes were favorite decorations on the spoons. The adornment meant, “You unlock my heart!” Today with time, our modern Valentine’s Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid.

Red, the symbol of Valentine

Red rose is the symbol of love and fidelity. And on Valentine’s Day, giving cut roses as gifts adhere to a time-honored principle that takes into account rose color meanings. Valentine’s Day is primarily a lovers’ holiday, and red is traditionally reserved for lovers. Red Valentine roses, dresses, sweets and all such gifts enjoy an iconic status, even though other colors too have their place on the holiday.

Red color has been a symbol of love through histories. In older times, people even used their blood to write letters to their loved ones to show the depth and intensity of their love. It was previously supposed that the gifting of a heart indicated the noble act of giving everything to your love. Most probably the ancients never actually knew that the heart was responsible for pumping blood though the entire physical system, but they definitely knew that the heart was the center of all feelings. This ancient belief has literally traveled through the ages.
Don’t we prefer giving different colored flowers to our friends or close family, than ‘red’ ones to avoid any misunderstandings? Red rose is dedicated to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Red color carries a largely positive connotation in China, being associated with courage, loyalty, honor, success, fortune, fertility, happiness, passion, and summer.
On this note, here’s wishing you all not just a day, but a life time full of joys, passion and the nobility of true love.

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