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People the world over have been celebrating love long before Valentine’s Day became commercialized. Miss Esther Howland, an American, is credited with sending the first Valentine’s Day card. In the 1800s, Valentine’s Day cards were commercially produced.

Valentine’s day is best known as a day for lovers, but it’s also a time for remembering others close to your heart. In schools in the West, for instance, children often exchange Valentine’s Day cards. Even in Asia, Valentine’s Day has become increasingly popular. Flowers and GIFTS are now commonly given on Valentine’s Day all around the world.

The Valentine’s Day story below tells of how the day of love originated among the ancient Romans.

 

The Story Of Valentine’s Day

How did Valentine’s Day originate? A popular belief traces it to a Roman called Valentine who lived at the time of the early Christian church. He was martyred for his beliefs, apparently on February 14, 269 A.D. Just before his execution, he wrote a letter to his friend, the jailor’s daughter, signing it off as “from your Valentine”, a phrase often seen in Valentine’s Day cards today.

In another variation of the story, Valentine was a priest who defied the Roman emperor’s ban on marriages (love supposedly made men reluctant to join the army). He performed marriage ceremonies secretly and was put to death for his trouble.

February 14 coincided with the ancient Roman holiday honoring the Goddess Juno, the patron goddess for women and marriage. This day also marked the eve of the Feast of Lupercalia, when the names of Roman maidens would be written on pieces of parchment and placed into jars. Roman youths would then draw a name from the jars, and be paired off with their chosen maidens for the duration of the festival. Love often blossomed. It is said that the Church eventually named this feast after St. Valentine in order to rid it of its pagan roots. Another version has it that Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honor St. Valentine.

As time passed, St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers and Valentine’s Day became an opportunity for lovers to exchange messages and GIFTS.

 

The Chinese Valentine’s Day

The Chinese have been marking the day of love for centuries. The Chinese Valentine’s Day falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which is sometime in early August.

Chinese folklore tells of the love between the seventh daughter of the Emperor of Heaven and an orphaned cowherd. The youngest child, Zhi Nu was so skilled at weaving that she was called the Weaving Maid. Together with her sisters, she wove beautiful clouds and rainbows which made the world lovelier.

Niu Lang, the cowherd, was lonely and dreamed of sharing his life with a sweet wife. His only friend was his old cow who, as it turned out, was an Immortal sentenced to live out his life as a cow. This cow told him that the seven heavenly sisters would be bathing in the river one evening. Niu Lang went to spy on them and was captivated by Zhi Nu. He decided to steal her clothes, so that she would not be able to fly back to Heaven with her sisters.

Stranded, Zhi Nu found herself wooed by the handsome cowherd. He promised to return her clothes to her if she would marry him. Zhi Nu agreed, and many happy years on Earth with the handsome Niu Lang followed. Two children were born to the couple.

Meanwhile, in heaven, only a few days had passed. The Emperor of Heaven , noticing that the sky was not as beautiful as before, discovered that his youngest daughter was missing. The Queen of Heaven was sent to bring Zhi Nu back. Terrified at seeing his beloved wife snatched away into the sky, Niu Lang put on the hide of his enchanted cow (who had passed away by then), and set off together with their two children in hot pursuit of Zhi Nu,

Niu Lang had almost caught up with his wife when the Queen of Heaven used her hairpin to draw a line in the sky to separate the two lovers. The Chinese call this line the Silver River, while it is known in western circles as the Milky Way. Since then, Zhi Mu has been confined to the east of the Milky Way (the star Vega), while her handsome husband and their children pine for her on the western side (the star Altair, also known as ‘The Flying One’). The Chinese know Vega as the Weaving Maid star and Altair as the Cowherd star.

If the sky sometimes looks dreary, it is because the Weaving Maid misses her husband terribly, so she has trouble creating beautiful skies. Hence, once a year, the lovelorn couple are allowed to meet on the seventh day of the seventh month. It is said that magpies are difficult to find in China on that day, because they are all up in the heavens forming a bridge for the lovers to cross. Should rain fall on Chinese Valentine’s Day, it’s really the tears of the beautiful Weaving Maid and the handsome Cowherd.

 

Surprise Someone Special This Valentine’s Day!

Do you know how the term “to wear your heart on a sleeve” came about? In the Middle Ages, young unmarried people drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week.

This Valentine’s Day, let that special someone in your life know how much they mean to you. Treat them to exquisite art, collectibles and gifts from Cherish Collectibles. Award-winning artist Edna Hibel is famed for creating art which speaks of love and devotion. Give a gift this Valentine’s Day which will warm every heart, and bring happy memories for years to come. Choose from wearable art jewelry, collectible porcelain dolls, miniature art reproductions, collectible plates and much, much more!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!