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The
origins of Valentine's Day are as much of a mystery as love itself.
There
are several stories of how this celebration started. Each
version seems to be a mixture of history, tradition and hearsay.
 Pagan
fertility festival
Valentine’s Day is said to have its first roots in the pagan Feast
of Lupercalia. This Roman love fest started in the third century and
was held on February 15 for Lupercus, the god of shepherds.
Each year the
shepherds would gather to praise Lupercus in the hope that he would
protect their flocks from the wolves that prowled around Rome.
The fertility
goddess Juno was also honoured as part of this ritual. Love-hungry
adolescents would enter a lottery and pick a girl's name out of
a box. The match-made lovers would then be expected to romance for
a year.
The
birds and the bees
 Another
popular legend of how Valentine’s Day begun is based on medieval
folklore. It was said that birds chose their mates on February 14,
so this became the day for sweethearts to express their amorous
feelings.
The first reference
to St Valentine and his role as a patron saint for lovers was probably
made by Chaucer (1343-1400) in his poem The Parliament of Fowles.
"For
it was on St Valentine’s Day
when every
fowl cometh to choose his mate."
Who
is St Valentine
It
is still unknown who the real St Valentine was. There are at least
two saints called Valentine. But the common myth
is that our St Valentine was a priest
and a doctor who flouted the rules.
St Valentine
is said to have conducted marriage ceremonies which were banned
by Emperor Cladius II. Cladius the Cruel ordered that no weddings
should take place and demanded all engagements to be called off.
He wanted men
to stay single so they would fight more passionately in his kingdom’s
bloody wars.
Beheaded
People
refused to obey the despot's love ban and St Valentine was caught
secretly marrying a couple. For this, he was slung into jail and
sentenced to death. Perhaps rather unromantically, lovers celebrate
February 14 - the day when St Valentine was beheaded.
Love
letters
The myth continues that the saint also penned the first valentine
note. From his cell, St Valentine is said to have fallen in love
with his jailer’s blind daughter. The power of his love miraculously
cured her blindness.
Just before
he was executed he sent her a message signed: "From your Valentine".
This phrase,
coined around 270 AD, is still used in valentine’s cards today.
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