A SLAP HERE, A SLAP THERE IN HONOR OF ST. VALENTINE
ACCORDING to the History.com, “the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
“To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.”
Today we indulge in a gentle chocolate slap, given to a friend or lover on Valentine’s Day, 14 February, even in Saudi Arabia where, according to Alarabiya News, “a Saudi newspaper [recently] published a Valentine’s Day dining guide and flower shops have been busy booking orders for romantic bouquets.
‘You never used to see people wearing anything red around Valentine’s Day,’ Rania Hassan, a Riyadh resident told Al Arabiya English. ‘Even if people were coincidentally dressed in red, the religious police used to stop them’.”
Royal Wholesale Chocolate adds, “we have the Aztecs to thank for the well-known concept of chocolate as an aphrodisiac; specifically, emperor Montezuma who said he would consume cocoa to fuel romantic urges…Spain brought this idea over to Europe, using the cocoa ‘love potion’ as a way for their gentlemen to woo the ladies. By the Victorian Era in England, it became almost a matter of fact that chocolate was the way to someone’s heart. In fact, Victorian etiquette books would even warn women from accepting chocolate from men they weren’t engaged to. And to Montezuma’s credit, scientists say that chocolate does, in fact, contain two chemicals, phenylethylamine and serotonin, that are associated with heightening romantic urges, happiness and overall energy.”
Irrespective of social inclination, Valentine’s Day will always have a place in my heart as it is a celebration of love, romance and cooperation rather than violation, war and competition (though some individuals competing for one heart may claim otherwise). Happy Valentine’s Day!
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“To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.”
Today we indulge in a gentle chocolate slap, given to a friend or lover on Valentine’s Day, 14 February, even in Saudi Arabia where, according to Alarabiya News, “a Saudi newspaper [recently] published a Valentine’s Day dining guide and flower shops have been busy booking orders for romantic bouquets.
‘You never used to see people wearing anything red around Valentine’s Day,’ Rania Hassan, a Riyadh resident told Al Arabiya English. ‘Even if people were coincidentally dressed in red, the religious police used to stop them’.”
Royal Wholesale Chocolate adds, “we have the Aztecs to thank for the well-known concept of chocolate as an aphrodisiac; specifically, emperor Montezuma who said he would consume cocoa to fuel romantic urges…Spain brought this idea over to Europe, using the cocoa ‘love potion’ as a way for their gentlemen to woo the ladies. By the Victorian Era in England, it became almost a matter of fact that chocolate was the way to someone’s heart. In fact, Victorian etiquette books would even warn women from accepting chocolate from men they weren’t engaged to. And to Montezuma’s credit, scientists say that chocolate does, in fact, contain two chemicals, phenylethylamine and serotonin, that are associated with heightening romantic urges, happiness and overall energy.”
Irrespective of social inclination, Valentine’s Day will always have a place in my heart as it is a celebration of love, romance and cooperation rather than violation, war and competition (though some individuals competing for one heart may claim otherwise). Happy Valentine’s Day!
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