VALENTINE'S DAY

On Valentine's Day, February 14, couples around the world give each other gifts to declare their love. But is it a business invention or is there a backstory?

Let's deep a little into history to see the origin of Valentine's Day. What about myth, reality or business.

Some historians place the origin of the Valentine's Day in ancient Rome, in the celebration of lupercales, also called lupercalia, which were celebrated on February 15 lupercales, también llamadas lupercalia, las cuales se celebraban el 15 de febrero.

Acabamos prácticamente de pasar la Christmas and Three Kings have just passed, consumerist dates par excellence. Next holiday is Easter and in between is Valentine's Day, February 14, the day of love and gifts.

ROMAN ORIGIN

In ancient Rome there was a celebration called lupercalia, which was celebrated on what was equivalent to February 15 (ante diem XI Kalendas Martias) .

In these celebrations, the acolytes met in a sacred cave and a priest sacrificed a goat, afterward the children went out into the streets to whip women with animal skins to encourage the fertility

There is another theory placing this celebration in a Roman festival called Juno Februata (Roman goddess of purification and fertility). Consisting of young men taking out a piece of paper with the name of a young woman from a box for temporary sexual relationships, sometimes ending in marriages.

VALENTINE

The character of Valentine is located in Rome in the 3rd century, a period in which Christianity begins to spread. At that time a law was enacted prohibiting marriages so young men could enlist in the army.

The young priest Valentine, challenging the prohibition of Emperor Claudius II the Gothic, began to secretly celebrate marriages between young lovers.

He was discovered, arrested and confined in a dungeon. He was finally stoned and beheaded on February 14, 269

Although in the year 494 he was elevated to the altars and declared February 14, the day of his martyrdom, as Saint Valentine's Day, in 1969 Saint Valentine was eliminated from the Catholic calendar due to the doubts that existed about the pagan origin of his story.

NOWADAYS

The first information known regarding the celebration of this day is in the mid-1840s, when Esther A. Howland popularized the Valentine's Day greeting cards with romantic motifs and drawings of lovers.

February 14 is celebrated in many countries, however not all of them celebrate Valentine's Day, in some places the meaning changes.

In some countries Valentine's Day is the friendship's day and for example in Finland is called 'Sobrapäev' and in Estonia 'Ystävän Paiva'. ‘Ystävän Paiva‘.

In Denmark and Norway the tradition is to give'Gaekkebrev', which are funny little poems that men send to women anonymously. The sender puts as many points as the letters in his name. It is a game to see if the woman guesses who sends the poem.

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In the end, the legend has joined with business and what the church wanted to silence has emerged with more force.