Valentine's Day: Gifts, history and love

John Roach

Where did the origins of Valentine's Day come from? (Think of nude Romans, pagans, and whips). What is the cost for this holiday? And why do we pursue it, year after year?

Valentine's Day history: Roman origin

Not just a holiday, Valentine's Day, like Halloween, originated from the pagan party (atheist).

Valentine's Day originates from the annual Roman festival, when men are naked, using goat or dog skin whips and beat young virgin girls in the hope of increasing their fertility, according to Professor Noel Lenski of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The annual pagan celebration, called Lupercalia, is held annually on February 15 and very popular in the 5th century AD - at least 150 years after Constantine officially became a Christian worker. an official religion of the Roman Empire.

Lenski said: 'It is obviously a very popular event, even in an environment where Catholics try to remove it. So there is a reason to think that Christians may have said, okay, we will call this a Christian festival. '

The church has attached this festival to the legend of Saint Valentine .

According to the story, the 3rd century AD Roman Emperor Claudius II, seeking to stabilize his army, banned young men from being married. Valentine mocked the ban and still performed weddings in secret.

Because of that, Valentine was executed in AD 270 - February 14.

Although it is unclear whether the legend is true or not, Lenski explains, 'but it is a convenient explanation for a Christian version of what happened in Lupercalia. "

Valentine's Day 2009: Depression?

Even when the economy stagnates, celebrating Valentine's Day today is expected to cost 14.7 billion dollars in the United States.

An average US consumer is expected to spend $ 102.50 on Valentine's Day gifts, meals, and entertainment, according to the annual survey of the US National Retail Federation - a decrease from $ 122.98 a person in 2008.

Ellen Davis, the vice president of the federation, said: 'People can focus on really needed purchases, so they can spend comfortably on Valentine's Day.'

About 92% of Americans who are married and have children will spend most of their money on their partners: $ 67.22.

The rest will be spent on gifts for children, friends, colleagues, and pets, according to the survey.

Valentine card

Greeting cards, as usual, will be the most purchased item in this Valentine. 58% of US consumers will send at least one greeting card.

The greeting card association said 190 million Valentine cards will be sent. This number does not include hundreds of millions of cards exchanged by school-age children.

Barbara Miller, a spokesperson for the Association, said: 'Send a lover or someone a Valentine's card that is a long-standing cultural tradition for Americans. We do not think this can change. '

The first Valentine's card was sent in 1415 from Duke of Orléans, French, to his wife. He was a prisoner at the Tower of London at the Battle of Agincourt.

Valentine cards - often handwritten words - started popular in the United States during the Revolution. Mass production began in the early 1900s.

Valentine Day

Hallmark appeared in 1913, according to spokeswoman Sarah Kolell. Since then - probably not coincidentally - the market for Valentine's cards has expanded beyond lovers to include parents, children and friends.

 

Candy on Valentine's Day

About 45.8% of US consumers will exchange Valentine's Day candies, according to a Retail Federation survey - adding billions of candies sold.

About 75% of that money comes from selling chocolate, which is associated with romance at least from Mexico's Aztec Empire, according to Susan Fussel, a spokesman for the Association.

The 15th century Aztec Emperor Moctezuma I believed that "eating chocolate regularly made him more manly and served his concubine better."

Nothing related to chocolate in candy represents Valentine's Day: small white heart-shaped candies decorated with words like 'EM (UK)',. 'KISS EM (UK)', 'CALL EM (UK)'.

About 8 billion candy hearts will be made in 2009, the association said - enough to cover Rome, Italy, Valentine, Arizona, and return 20 times.

What is love?

Valentine's Day completely about love, But what exactly is it?

Helen Fisher is an anthropologist at Rutgers University, New Jersey and author of several books on love, including Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love.

Fisher divides his love into three separate brain systems that allow the search for partners and reproduction:

• Sexual needs

• Romantic love (obsessive, passionate, crazy)

• Attachment (assurance and attachment to a partner)

These are brain systems, not stages, Fisher accepts, and all three have a role in love.They can work independently, but people need all three elements for an ideal relationship.

She said: 'I think sexual needs grow and make you look for a partner.'

'In that sense, romance allows you to focus on mating at a time, and the attachment factor so that you can tolerate your spouse at least long enough to be able to raise your children together' .

Valentine's Day, Fisher added, usually includes only two of the three brain systems: n sex, and romance.

However 'on Valentine's Day, you should get the real expression of a romantic and long-lasting love.'