Valentine's Day

There's Cupid...arrows in hand...gazing into the sky along with the the wishful female who seems to be sitting on the sands of time.  The clouds have joined in, adding their hearts to the to the moment. "OH, BE MY VALENTINE" is the wish of so many at this time of year.  How all this got started is somewhat of a mystery.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica states:

            "St. Valentine's Day as a lovers' festival dates at least from the 14th century."

That would be from the 1300s onward when the idea of romantic love had its roots in the age of chivalry. [King Aurthur and his knights started big time by Geoffrey of Monmouth and picked up by the Normans in 1155 AD]  More elaborate, more ceremonious, and more romantic as the sands of  time moved forward.

However, the earliest St. Valentine's Day celebrated on February 14 was not related to romance.  It was associated with martyrdom.  A early Roman priest and physician was put to death because of his beliefs during the reign of Claudius II [268-270 AD].  Can you imagine what sort of clouds he was gazing into on this first St. Valentine's Day.