Legend of St. Valentine isn’t exactly a love story: You have to hand it to Father John Spratt, the man who in 1835 brought love to Dublin in the form of St. Valentine’s corpse. Or what was left of St. Valentine’s corpse… Valentine was martyred in either 269 or 270 AD during the reign of the Emperor Claudius II… (John Bogert – www.Dailybreeze.com)
The above may be so however, the history (video) and tradition of Valentine’s Day can also be attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer, in terms of a holiday celebrating ‘romantic love’. If we take the religious celebration of venerated individuals in faiths such as the catholic religion, the tradition goes back even further.
When you start to look deeply into the subject matter, the factual history becomes slightly blurred with colloquial traditions and, a large element of (typically OTT) North American commercialism… You can bet your bottom dollar if there is one to be made someone will find a way!
Thanks, mainly to concerted marketing efforts, Valentine’s Day is now celebrated in countries across the world. Countries where you would least expect it and, despite their religious background. Some of the largest sales of cards and gifts are actually in the Far East where, people like the Japanese and Chinese are clamouring to get their fill of Western ‘culture’!
Just like Christmas (see previous post); another piece of family or national tradition, that was originally based upon religion, is loosing its original meaning. It has succumbed to the mighty machine of commercialism, to the extent that last year, the BBC h2g2 magazine asked; Valentine – Saint or Slave to Commerce?
Did I get a card? Yes! And, did I send a card? Also yes! However, even grumpy people can get caught up in the commercial clap trap, if only for medical reasons i.e. The prevention of earache!
BBC Report: “Look to the living, love them, and hold on”! – Edinburgh’s ‘Rock Solid’ Poetry
I don’t need some high flying entrepreneurial marketing executive to tell me I need to love my wife, I just do and, for 365 days per year, not just on February the 14th…
Dave's Bankside Babble 