By David S Edge

[spacer height=”03px”]

For all you lovers out there, February can mean one thing; heart-shaped candy boxes and roses for a loved one, and cards, cards, cards! Don’t forget Cupid with his quiver of arrows!

[spacer height=”03px”]

Remember when we were kids and gave out hand-made valentines to our classmates? Who got what, from who? Who is going to be this one’s boyfriend or girlfriend? Candy and cooties! Then there was the little sing-song rhyme, “Jane and Jim sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes”…well…you remember.

[spacer height=”03px”]

Valentine’s Day actually started back in Greece with Cupid. He was the son of Venus and Mars who fell madly in love with a mortal maid, by the name of Psyche. Now old mamma Venus was insanely jealous of Psyche’s beauty and ordered Cupid
to punish her. Instead, Cupid fell in love and married her!

[spacer height=”03px”]

There is a whole story of how they separated and got back together after a long list of tasks to prove their love ordered by Venus, including a trip to the underworld, but in the end…they lived happily ever after. Venus even made Psyche a goddess so she could live with them in the heavens. Concerning the events surrounding the  date of Valentine’s Day, ancient Romans
had a festival of fertility that was usually held February 13-15. As Christianity became popular, Pope Gelasius I renamed the holiday Feast Day and declared the holiday be moved to February 14^th where it is still held today.

[spacer height=”03px”]

The added romance came along during the Elizabethan era featuring the sonnets and plays of Shakespeare and the like. The commercialization of the holiday didn’t begin until 1913, when Valentines’ Day cards were introduced by who else…Hallmark!

[spacer height=”03px”]

So, hug your sweetie, send a card, have an extra piece of candy, and hopefully you’re the recipient of someone’s affections. No one special in your life? Then be bold and make the first move! Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[spacer height=”03px”]

Happy Valentine’s Day!