Thoughts on Valentine's Day

Love, Cupid, hearts, chocolates, cards and flowers are everywhere--it's Valentine's Day! On February 14, Americans celebrate love and friendship. But where did this holiday of affection come from?

The origins of Valentine's Day are murky. We do know that the ancient Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia, a spring festival, on the 15th of February. With the introduction of Christianity, the holiday moved to the 14th of February--the saint day that celebrated several early Christian martyrs named Valentine. But somewhere along the way, Valentine's Day came to represent romance. You can watch a romantic movie right here, "The Kiss," produced by Thomas Edison back in 1900. The romance we associate with Valentine's Day may spring from the medieval belief that birds select their mates on February 14th. During the Middle Ages, human lovebirds recited verse or prose to one another in honor of the day. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" wrote William Shakespeare. 
Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning expressed love this way:

How do I love thee; let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach. . .

Do you write poetry? We also hear these sentiments in love songs, such as this funny old tune, "Aba Daba Honeymoon." How many love songs can you think of that could send your message on Valentine's Day? 

"Will you be my Valentine?" Nowadays, people often ask this of their loved ones in greeting cards. Probably the first greeting cards, handmade valentines, appeared in the 16th century. As early as 1800, companies began mass-producing cards. Initially these cards were 
hand-colored by factory workers. By the early 20th century even fancy lace and 
ribbon-strewn cards were created by machine. Perhaps you will give or receive a card today or celebrate your family or that special someone in another way. Valentine's Day also gives people a chance to reflect on the meaning of love. What do you think makes true love? 

Source: America's Library

Come express YOUR love to your special someone with a unique, one of a kind, jewelry piece from Handmade Jewelry Haven. You will forever have her heart!

Heart Bracelet

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Happy Valentines Day!

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source: American Gem Society


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The Dark Origins Of Valentine's Day

So many of us celebrate Valentines day, however, so few of us take the time to research it. 
Well....when you blog...you research.
I came across this article, which had a slightly different twist on the origins of this celebrated world wide holiday, which I just felt had to be shared.
So without further preamble....here we go......

The Dark Origins Of Valentine's Day By Arnie Seipel

Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate romance and love and kissy-face fealty. But the origins of this festival of candy and cupids are actually dark, bloody — and a bit muddled.

Though no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the holiday, one good place to start is ancient Rome, where men hit on women by, well, hitting them.

Those Wild And Crazy Romans

From Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just slain.

The Roman romantics "were drunk. They were naked," says Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Young women would actually line up for the men to hit them, Lenski says. They believed this would make them fertile.

The brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be, um, coupled up for the duration of the festival — or longer, if the match was right.

The ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of our modern day of love. Emperor Claudius II executed two men — both named Valentine — on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D. Their martyrdom was honored by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine's Day.

Later, Pope Gelasius I muddled things in the 5th century by combining St. Valentine's Day with Lupercalia to expel the pagan rituals. But the festival was more of a theatrical interpretation of what it had once been. Lenski adds, "It was a little more of a drunken revel, but the Christians put clothes back on it. That didn't stop it from being a day of fertility and love."

Around the same time, the Normans celebrated Galatin's Day. Galatin meant "lover of

women." That was likely confused with St. Valentine's Day at some point, in part because they sound alike.

William Shakespeare helped romanticize Valentine's Day in his work, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of Europe.

As the years went on, the holiday grew sweeter. Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized it in their work, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of Europe. Handmade paper cards became the tokens-du-jour in the Middle Ages.

Eventually, the tradition made its way to the New World. The industrial revolution ushered in factory-made cards in the 19th century. And in 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City, Mo., began mass producing valentines. February has not been the same since.

Today, the holiday is big business: According to market research firm IBIS World, Valentine's Day sales reached $17.6 billion last year; this year's sales are expected to total $18.6 billion.

Pink Floral Bracelet

But that commercialization has spoiled the day for many. Helen Fisher, a sociologist at Rutgers University, says we have only ourselves to blame.

"This isn't a command performance," she says. "If people didn't want to buy Hallmark cards, they would not be bought, and Hallmark would go out of business."

And so the celebration of Valentine's Day goes on, in varied ways. Many will break the bank buying jewelry and flowers for their beloveds. Others will celebrate in a SAD (that's Single Awareness Day) way, dining alone and binging on self-gifted chocolates. A few may even be spending this day the same way the early Romans did. But let's not go there.

Source: National Public Radio

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source: American Gem Society


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Valentines Day - When Did All This Gift Giving Begin, Anyway?!!

Everyone is aware of the religious aspect of Valentines day but it was not until the 14th century that this Christian feast day became definitively associated with love. According to UCLA medieval scholar Henry Ansgar Kelly, author of Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine, it was Chaucer who first linked St. Valentine's Day with romance.

In 1381, Chaucer composed a poem in honor of the engagement between England's Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. As was the poetic tradition, Chaucer associated the occasion with a feast day. In "The Parliament of Fowls," the royal engagement, the mating season of birds, and St. Valentine's Day are linked:

'For this was on St. Valentine's Day, 

When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate.'

Over the centuries, the holiday evolved, and by the 18th century, gift-giving and exchanging handmade cards on Valentine's Day had become common in England. Hand-made valentine cards made of lace, ribbons, and featuring cupids and hearts eventually spread to the American colonies. The tradition of Valentine's cards did not become widespread in the United States, however, until the 1850s, when Esther A. Howland, a Mount Holyoke graduate and native of Worcester, Mass., began mass-producing them. 

Cherry Blossom Bracelet and matching earrings

Today, of course, the holiday has become a booming commercial success. Still have not found that 'perfect' way to say I love you? Visit Handmade Jewelry Haven's Etsy page to see some of our beautiful and affordable jewelry. 
Express shipping is available and remember that even if you do not have a 'significant' other, there are plenty of special people that should be remembered on this day, such as teachers, mentors, or even that barista that remembers your Choca-Mochalata-Double-Shot-Latte before you even make it to the counter!

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Source: http://www.infoplease.com