The Dark Origins Of Valentine's Day

by Arnie Seipel

Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate romance and love and kissy-face fealty. But the origins of this festival of candy and cupids are actually dark, bloody — and a bit muddled.

Though no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the holiday, one good place to start is ancient Rome, where men hit on women by, well, hitting them.

Those Wild and Crazy Roman

From Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just slain.

The Roman romantics "were drunk. They were naked," says Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Young women would actually line up for the men to hit them, Lenski says. They believed this would make them fertile.

The brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be, um, coupled up for the duration of the festival – or longer, if the match was right.

The ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of our modern day of love. Emperor Claudius II executed two men — both named Valentine — on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D. Their martyrdom was honored by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine's Day.

Later, Pope Gelasius I muddled things in the 5th century by combining St. Valentine's Day with Lupercalia to expel the pagan rituals. But the festival was more of a theatrical interpretation of what it had once been. Lenski adds, "It was a little more of a drunken revel, but the Christians put clothes back on it. That didn't stop it from being a day of fertility and love."

Around the same time, the Normans celebrated Galatin's Day. Galatin meant "lover of women." That was likely confused with St. Valentine's Day at some point, in part because they sound alike.

Shakespeare In Love

As the years went on, the holiday grew sweeter. Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized it in their work, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of Europe. Handmade paper cards became the tokens-du-jour in the Middle Ages.

Eventually, the tradition made its way to the New World. The industrial revolution ushered in factory-made cards in the 19th century. And in 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City, Mo., began mass producing valentines. February has not been the same since.

Today, the holiday is big business: According to market research firm IBIS World, Valentine's Day sales reached $17.6 billion last year; this year's sales are expected to total $18.6 billion.

But that commercialization has spoiled the day for many. Helen Fisher, a sociologist at Rutgers University, says we have only ourselves to blame.

"This isn't a command performance," she says. "If people didn't want to buy Hallmark cards, they would not be bought, and Hallmark would go out of business."

And so the celebration of Valentine's Day goes on, in varied ways. Many will break the bank buying jewelry and flowers for their beloveds. Others will celebrate in a SAD (that's Single Awareness Day) way, dining alone and binging on self-gifted chocolates. A few may even be spending this day the same way the early Romans did. But let's not go there.

Annuska/译

现代情人节意味着浪漫、爱情和海誓山盟。然而，这个充满甜蜜和爱情的节日来历，却很黑暗、血腥——还有点混乱。

尽管没有节日起源的确切说法，最可能源自古罗马，那里的男人碰上女人，嗯，打上女人。

野蛮疯狂的罗马人

从2月13日到15日，罗马人举办路盆卡利亚狂欢节。男人们要宰杀一只山羊和一条狗，献作牺牲，然后剥下兽皮鞭打女人。

罗马人的浪漫是“醉醺醺，赤裸裸”，历史学家诺尔.棱斯基说。他来自波尔德的科罗拉多大学。棱斯基说，女人们排队让男人们打。他们认为这样做，女人更能生育。

残酷狂欢节日还有抽奖活动，年轻男子从罐子里抽取女人的名字。然后配对，嗯，至少在节日里配对——如果对上眼，配对的时间要长一些。

古罗马人还给现代爱节提供名字。公元3世纪，克劳迪斯二世皇帝在不同的年份，都是2月14日，处死了两个叫瓦伦汀的人。天主教会为纪念他们的殉难，建立了圣瓦伦汀节。

不久后，到了5世纪，教皇格拉西斯一世本想驱除异教徒的活动，将圣瓦伦汀节和路盆卡利亚节合并，实则添乱。这个节日比以前更加夸张。棱斯基说：“比醉醺醺的狂欢好一点，基督徒们穿上了衣服。然而，关于生育和爱的节日，并没有改变。”

差不多同时，诺曼人庆祝咖兰汀节。咖兰汀的意思是“女人的情人”。 因为发音有点象，在某种程度上，可能与圣瓦伦汀节混淆了。

爱情里的莎士比亚

时光流逝，这节日变得甜蜜了。乔叟和莎士比亚在作品里，都进行了美化，这节日在英国和欧洲其他地方流行开了。中世纪的时候，手工制作的卡片成了节日的象征。

最后，这个传统流传到了新世界。19世纪，工业革命开启了批量生产的大门。到了1913年，密苏里州堪萨斯城的贺氏公司开始批量制作情人节贺卡。2月份从此不一样了。

现在，情人节是大买卖：根据IBIS世界公司的市场调查，去年情人节的销售额达到176亿美元；今年有望达到186亿美元。

但商业化很大程度上，破坏了这个节日。卢杰斯大学的社会学家海伦.费雪说，这只能怪我们自己。

“这不是必须的仪式，”她说，“如果人们不想买，就不用买，贺氏公司就关门了。”

情人节的各项庆祝活动照常进行。许多人为了心爱的人，会倾囊购买珠宝盒鲜花。有些人想到自己形单影只，黯然神伤，独自吃饭，独自消受自己买的一堆巧克力。一小撮人的过节方式，甚至会象早期罗马人那样。但我们还是离得远一些吧。