On February 14, the ancient Romans celebrated the Feast of Lupercalia in honor of Juno, the queen of the Roman gods and goddesses. Juno was also the goddess of women and marriage, so, honoring her was thought to be a fertility rite.
At the feast held the next day, the women would write love letters and stick them in a large urn. The men would pick a letter from the urn and for the next year, pursue the woman who wrote the chosen letter. This custom lasted until the 1700s when people decided their beloveds should be chosen by sight, not luck.
The Dailyloaf blog informs that, the festival of Lupercalia in Rome celebrated fertility and purity in advance of the coming spring season. Roman priests traveled to the cave where the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were said to be cared for by a she-wolf.
“The priests would sacrifice goats for fertility and dogs for purification. Young boys would then take strips of the goat’s hide and dip them in blood. Running naked down the streets of Rome, they would lightly slap women with the hides. Women welcomed the tradition because they believed that this would bring them fertility throughout the year. Rome’s love lottery occurred later in the afternoon. All eligible women would place their names in a huge urn. The young bachelors of Rome would then pick a slip. These women would then spend the rest of the year with the man who picked out their names.”
In recent times, celebration of Valentine Day has taken on a new dimension. It is a celebration for all, which is manifested in red roses, chocolates, cards, clothing and other usually expensive gifts that have sometimes taken one year to plan towards.
Many have wondered and asked why so much preparations goes into February 14 and what happens with the other days of the year especially when they say that love is the essence of life. Should everyday not be a celebration of love?
Kenneth Umar does not see anything wrong in celebrating Valentine in the manner that it is observed. “There is nothing wrong in setting a special day aside to celebrate love. It is a day that the world has agreed that it should be celebrated and there is nothing wrong in that. It is like saying we should celebrate Christmas everyday because the birth 0f Jesus is significant in a Christian’s life.”
Although Christmas Day is on every Christian calendar to be observed Valentine has not been since the 1600s.
In this regard, Engr. Etuk Udo believes that, “Anyone in love or in a relationship doesn’t need to be preached to about the beauty of doing things for or buying gifts to a loved one. The climax in the pleasure of showering gifts is in the reaction of the recipient.
“Valentine’s Day as it’s universally accepted, is when one expects to be showered with gifts and affection as proof of one’s love. The commercialisation of the day and the idea that gifts, as signs of affection are obligatory, kills the true joy I would feel regardless of how much my partner means to me. Another ‘wrong’ side to it is that the act of giving is seen to be a man’s duty.
“Only yesterday, a lady said if her man would not buy her flowers on Valentine’s Day, she would go out and buy herself some. Quoting the bible, I asked her to do unto others as she wished them to do to her and see what that brings back. True love in my opinion, is the expression of emotion, verbally, physically, materially and spiritually without the demand or expectation of reward. There is no price too high for a man to pay in honouring a woman he deems fit especially if she does not demand it.”
Blessing Magaji said, “I don’t wait until valentine to show love and gratitude because as far as I am concerned, every day, every hour and every moment of life is a chance given to me by God to express my love and gratitude.
“They say ‘opportunity comes but once’. So why wait? Showing love and gratitude is something I derive pleasure doing with no strings attached. Whether the recipient reciprocates or not doesn’t matter to me at all, because I believe strongly that the life you live will soon be past but the things you do with love will last.
Moreover life is too short to waste waiting for February 14th every year, when you can make every day of your life a February 14th. Also, “if we express gratitude/ love for what we have, we will have more to express gratitude/love for.”
It is estimated by Greeting Card Association that “over 160 million greeting cards will be purchased this year for Valentine’s Day. Flowers, candies and stuffed animals all in pinks and reds line shelves in stores across.”
The general idea is that there should be no special day reserved to celebrate love or make a loved one feel special. Such efforts should be exercised more often than on one day in a year.
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