Hearts & Other
Symbols of Love
by
Nancy (aka ND4OLDIES)
There are so many symbols that
show love for Valentine’s Day. Have you ever
wondered where these symbols originated? Well, read
on!
HEART
Emotions are feelings such as
love, happiness, anger, or fear. A long time ago,
people believed that all the emotions were found in
the heart. In later years, they thought only the
emotion of love was connected with the heart. The
heart is still a symbol of love, and because of
this, it is also a symbol of Valentine's Day
RED ROSE
The rose was the favorite flower
of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. Red is a color
that stands for strong feelings. This is why the
red rose is a flower of love.
LACE
Lace is a pretty fabric made by
weaving together fine threads. Hundreds of years
ago, women carried lace handkerchiefs. If a woman
dropped her handkerchief, a man nearby might pick
it up and return it to her. Sometimes a woman might
see a man she wanted to meet. She might drop her
lace handkerchief on purpose to encourage romance.
Soon people thought of romance when they thought of
lace. They began using paper lace to decorate
chocolate boxes and Valentine cards.
GLOVES
Years ago, when a man proposed
marriage to a woman, he "asked for her hand." The
hand became a symbol of marriage and love. Soon
gloves also became a symbol of love.
RINGS
In some countries, men and women
exchange rings when they become engaged or marry.
Two or three hundred years ago, Valentine's Day was
a popular day for giving an engagement ring. An
engagement ring usually had a stone or jewel set in
it. Diamonds are common in today's engagement
rings.
LOVE KNOT
A love knot is a series of
winding and interlacing loops with no beginning and
no end. It is a symbol of endless love. People made
love knots from ribbon or drew them on paper.
Often, a message was written on the love knot. The
message had no beginning or end. It could be
repeated endlessly.
LOVEBIRDS &
DOVES
Lovebirds are colorful parrots
found in Africa. Most have red bills. They are
called lovebirds because they sit closely together
in pairs. Doves were thought to be favorite birds
of Venus. They remain with the same mates all their
lives. The males and females both care for their
babies. Because these birds are symbols of loyalty
and love, they are also symbols of Valentine's
Day.
CUPID
Son of Venus, goddess of love.
He could cause people to fall in love by piercing
them with one of his magic arrows. Cupid is the
most famous of Valentine symbols. He is known as a
mischievous, winged child armed with bow and
arrows. He shot darts of desire into the bosoms of
both gods and men causing them to fall deeply in
love. Cupid has always played a role in the
celebrations of love and lovers. In ancient Greece
he was known as Eros the young son of Aphrodite,
the goddess of love and beauty. To the Roman's he
was Cupid, and his mother was Venus. One legend
tells the story of Cupid and the mortal maiden
Psyche. Venus was jealous of the beauty of Psyche,
and ordered Cupid to punish the mortal. But
instead, Cupid fell deeply in love with her. He
took her as his wife, but as a mortal she was
forbidden to look at him. Psyche was happy until
her sisters convinced her to look at Cupid. Cupid
punished her by leaving and their lovely castle and
gardens vanished with him. Psyche found herself
alone in an open field. As she wandered trying to
find her love, she came upon the temple of Venus.
Wishing to destroy her, the goddess of love gave
Psyche a series of tasks, each harder and more
dangerous then the last. For her last task Psyche
was given a little box and told to take it to the
underworld. She was told to get some of the beauty
of Proserpine, the wife of Pluto, and put it in the
box. During her trip she was given tips on avoiding
the dangers of the realm of the dead. She was also
warned not to open the box. Temptation overcame
Psyche and she opened the box. But instead of
finding beauty, she found deadly slumber. Cupid
found her lifeless on the ground. He gathered the
deadly sleep from her body and put it back in the
box. Cupid forgave her, as did Venus. The gods,
moved by Psyche's love for Cupid made her a
goddess.
Here are some other traditions
of Valentine’s Day, both here and around the
world:
Hundreds of years
ago in England, many children dressed up as adults
on Valentine's Day. They went singing from home to
home. One verse they sang was:
Good morning to you,
valentine;
Curl your locks as I do
mine---
Two before and three
behind.
Good morning to you,
valentine.
In Wales wooden love spoons were
carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts,
keys and keyholes were favorite decorations on the
spoons. The decoration meant, "You unlock my
heart!"
In the Middle Ages, young men
and women drew names from a bowl to see who their
valentines would be. They would wear these names on
their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on
your sleeve now means that it is easy for other
people to know how you are feeling.
Many people give candy to their
sweethearts on Valentine's Day. Candy is sweet and
so are sweethearts. In North America and Europe,
chocolates are sold in fancy boxes shaped like
hearts. Some boxes have flowers and ribbons on
them.
In some countries, a young woman
may receive a gift of clothing from a young man. If
she keeps the gift, it means she will marry
him.
Some people used to believe that
if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on
Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor.
If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man
and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she
would marry a millionaire.
A love seat is a wide chair. It
was first made to seat one woman and her wide
dress. Later, the love seat or courting seat had
two sections, often in an S-shape. In this way, a
couple could sit together -- but not too
closely!
Think of five or six names of
boys or girls you might marry, As you twist the
stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem
comes off. You will marry the person whose name you
were saying when the stem fell off.
Pick a dandelion that has gone
to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into
the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem.
That is the number of children you will
have.
If you cut an apple in half and
count how many seeds are inside, you will also know
how many children you will have.
Here are some things useless
facts you may want to know about Valentine's
Day
According to Bruskin-Goldring
Research (for Hartz), 3% of pet owners will give
Valentine's Day gifts to their pets (compared to
48% at Christmas or Hanukkah). (P.S. - if you're
part of this 3%, DON'T give your dog chocolate!
It's toxic to canines).
Over 1 billion Valentine cards
were delivered in the U.S. in 1995. With a 3-cent
change in postage rates, the U.S. Postal service
racked up an extra $30 million.
Who gets valentine cards? In
this order: teachers, children, mothers, wives,
sweethearts.
*Sources: Arthur Elementary
School homepage
http://web.isbe.state.il.us/mshride/valtrht.htm
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