THE HISTORY OF VALENTINES DAY

Valentine's Day - the popular festival of love and romances traces its origin to ancient Roman festival and has not been created by card companies as some people believe it to be. There are various legends associated with the festival along with the belief that birds began to mate from this day. Popularity of the Valentine's Day festival stems from the combined effects of all these legends, beliefs and of course the wish to glorify the unparalleled feeling of love.
Historians trace the origin of Valentine's Day to ancient Roman Empire. It is said that in the Rome of ancient times people observed a holiday on February 14th to honor Juno - the Queen of Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also regarded Juno as the Goddess of Women and Marriage. On the following day, February 15th began the fertility festival called 'Feast of Lupercalia'. The festival of Lupercalia was celebrated to honor the Gods Lupercus and Faunus - the Roman God of Agriculture besides the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.

An interesting custom was followed in the Feast of Lupercalia to bring together young boys and girls who otherwise were strictly separated. On the eve of the festival names of young Roman girls were written on a slip of paper and placed into jars. Each young man drew out a girl's name from the jar and was paired with the girl for the duration of Lupercalia. Sometime pairing lasted for a year until next year's celebration. Quite often, the couple would fall in love with each other and later marry. The custom lasted for a long time until people felt that the custom was un-Christian and that mates should be chosen by sight, not luck.
The pairing of young boys and girls did set the mood of the Valentine's Day Festival as we know today. But it was actually due to the efforts and daring of a priest St Valentine that the festival got its name and clearer meaning. The story goes that during the reign of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in several bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius found it tough to get soldiers and felt the reason was men did not join army because they did not wish to leave their wives and families. As a result Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. A romantic at heart priest of Rome Saint Valentine defied Claudius's unjustified order. Along with Saint Marius, St Valentine secretly married couples. When his defiance was discovered, Valentine was brutally beaten and put to death on February 14, about 270 AD. After his death Valentine was named a Saint.

The association of middle of February with love and fertility goes back to ancient times. While ancient Athenians celebrated it as the month of Gamelion to celebrate the marriage of Greek Gods - Zeus and Hera, ancient Romans celebrated the Feast of Lupercalia to honor the Roman Gods of fertility - Lupercus and Faunus.

Sonnet 153

by William Shakespear

Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleep:

A maid of Dian’s this advantage found,

And his love-kindling fire did quickly steep

In a cold valley-fountain of that ground;

Which borrow’d from this holy fire of Love,

A dateless lively heat, still to endure,

And grew a seeting bath, which yet men prove

Against strange maladies a sovereign cure.

But at my mistress’ eye Love’s brand new-fired,

The boy for trial needs would touch my breast;

I, sick withal, the help of bath desired,

And thither hied, a sad distemper’d guest,

But found no cure, the bath for my help lies

Where Cupid got new fire; my mistress’ eyes.

 

The Power of Hugs

I read this today and liked it.  So, I just thought I would share this with you.

It has been proved that showing affection strengthens growth and positive development in people. We all need physical contact to feel good, and one of the most important ways of physical contact between two people is hugging.

Who does not need cuddles in this society that is becoming ever colder, more competitive, that compels us to be more individualistic, more personal-goal oriented...?

When we hug, we receive an energy feedback. We bring life to our senses and reaffirm the trust in our senses. Sometimes we CANNOT find the right words to express how we feel, and then hugs are the best way to say it.

We need four hugs a day to survive, eight to preserve ourselves, and twelve to grow. A hug makes you feel good. The skin is the biggest organ we have and it needs a lot of love. A hug can cover an extensive part of the skin and provides the massage you need. It is also a way to communicate. It can convey messages for which you have no words. We can always resort to the universal language of hugs.

The Power of Hugs

Hugging achieves many things that you might never have imagined. For example:

It feels good

It dissolves solitude

It defeats fear

It opens the door to sensations

It improves self-esteem (wow, he or she wants to hug me!)

It encourages altruism (I can't believe it, but I want to hug that person)

It delays aging (those who hug age more slowly)

It helps reduce appetite (we eat less when we are nourished with hugs and when our arms are wrapped around others)

More benefits from hugs:



It is environmentally friendly (it does not damage the environment)

It preserves energy

It is portable and requires no additional machinery

It does not require a special place to do it (an adequate place to hug)

In any place such as a conference room, a church or a football field

It makes happy days even happier

It gives us a sense of belonging

It fills the void in our lives

It is still effective even after the hugging has finished

It strengthens and increases our ability to share

It harmonizes the hearts of friends

Hugging creates some form of addiction to tenderness, to altruism, to happiness...

Just as laughter, it is highly contagious! Whatever your hug may be, let it always come from the heart, not from the mind.

Come up with new ways of hugging.

Give your hugs interesting or funny names.

Become a full-time "hug therapist."

Be always ready to offer a hug to someone.

Observe the other person and always be careful of his or her personal space.

Do not try to impose your vision or philosophy on others.

A hug does and says very much.

Hug your friend, your loved one, your kids, your parents, your pet...

Little Girls.....

Little girls grow up so fast.  It seems like only yesterday she was walking around sucking on her binky and carrying a doll in her hand.  Now, my little girl is wanting to wear training bras, perfume and hoop earings, walking around with a cell phone in her hand and wanting to stay with her friends every weekend.  Little girls should come with a pause button so we can slow them down a little bit.  I'm not ready for this.

A Wedding Announcement

Today my 18 year old daughter sent me a text message to tell me she was getting married in July.  Is that really how they do it now a days, you send a text message to tell your mother you are getting married in 5 months?  I knew they were engaged, that part is not a surprise but they were not supposed to get married until July of 2011. What is the rush? My daughter always seems to be in a rush to do everything.  She was in a hurry to grow up and then move out. Which she did before she even graduated from highshool.  Now that she has accomplished those tasks, she is in a rush to get married. I wished her well and I am trying to be positive about the whole thing. If they really love each other as much as they say they do, they will still be together a year from now. I hope they have a long and happy marriage together and she never has to experience divorce, as I have.

Talk Shows

Since I have been laid off, I have started watching some of these crazy talk shows like Maury and Jerry Springer during the day. Where do they find all these crazy people to go on their shows and run the show five days a week? Are there that many crazy people in the United States and they are not shy about going on national television airing their dirty laundry to the world? Not only do they air their dirty laundry to the world, they go up on stage and act as if they are proud to be up their making a fool of themselves. For the Maury Show, I have to hand it to him for doing all these paternity tests to help mothers prove who is the baby daddy. The woman who kill me are the ones who get up there and swear he is the baby daddy knowing there is the possibility that he is not, then they act shocked running off stage swearing "it can't be true." Seriously, women if you know there is a possibility that he is not your baby's daddy, do the test in private. Don't air it on national television. Think about the kids, when they get older someone is going to tell them your mother is such a hoe, she don't even know who your daddy is. Guys if your girlfriend or wife is dragging you on national television to prove your infidelity and you know you are lying to her, save yourself the embarrassment and tell the truth. Instead of going up there swear you are telling the truth and they prove you are lying. You played the game, now be a man and stand up and pay the piper.

The Jerry Springer show, I would have to write a book to comment on that. Those people blow my mind.  But, you have to admit Jerry always has some wise words of wisdom after the show.  Maybe people should learn from his guests stupidity. Well, it's a good laugh.

Superbowl Sunday

After Superbowl Sunday, I think you the commercials and the half-time show gets more press than the game.   Any other time of the year, are we all that interested in commercials?  No, not really.  The commericials are just something that interupts our show or movie.  So, why is it once a year everyone is interested in the commercials for the superbowl?  I understand commercials are necessary to fund the stations. But seriously, the superbowl has become an oppurtunity for the advertisers to show their creativity and to get plugs in the most watched television event of the year.  Are we really that interested in the commercials that we have see them the second we open our web browser or hear about them on the news.  Since when did commercials become news worthy?

A wife get's revenge on her cheating husband....

A Wisconsin woman discovered her husband was cheating on her with up to five different women.  The wife contacted the women and plotted with three other women against her husband.  One of the woman talked the Wisconsin man into meeting her in a motel room for a massage, blindfolded him and tied him to the bed. Then the woman taunted him asking him which one he loved the most and slapping him in the face.  Another woman pulled super glue out of her purse, cut off his underwear and glued his manhood to his stomach. The man was treated for his embarrassing injury and released with all his parts still intact.  The funny thing about this is the women met him on the internet knowing he was a married man and met him in motel rooms for sex.  But, they don't seem to be offended by the fact that he is married or have any sympathy for his wife.  They get angry when they find out there is more than one of them.  In their eye's it's okay when they are the ones helping the man cheat on his wife and it doesn't bother them he is also sleeping with his wife too.  Let him get involved with more than one and he is cheating on them.  How can he be cheating on them if the man is married and not in a committed relationship with them.  This goes to show you how delusional the mistresses really are.  They act like they are doing some sort of public duty by having a affair with a married man. Did they ever stop to think that if he was lying to his wife, then theres a really good possibilty he is lying to them too. I'm sorry, I'm still laughing about that one, the cheating husband got what he desearved. It's called Karma guys.  I really hope the wife was smart enough to go get checked for std's, if he was cheating on her with women who have a habit of picking up men on the internet and have sex with random strangers.  God only knows what they have.  That's a high five for the wife, she taught him a lesson and taught the other women what it feels like to be cheated on.  Not that they may actually be bright enough to learn anything from it.                      

                

Don't try this at home.... crazy sledding ideas

A 62 year old man from Independence Township, Michigan was hosting a sledding party Sunday night. Yes, you read it right, a 62 year old man. The Independence Township man decided he wanted to add a little rocket power to his sled. The man filled a car muffler with gasoline and gun powder, strapped it to his back and lit it. His little home-made rocket didn't give him the boost he expected, instead it gave him 2nd degree burns on his face and the right side of his body. The man is known for doing outrageous things at his sledding parties, but I think this one will go down as one of the dumbest things he has ever done.

Punxsutawney Phil Saw His Shadow- Six More Weeks Of Winter.

Being  a Pennsylvania native, I am all too familar with the buzz on groundhog day.  Many Pennsylvanians crossing their fingers hoping Punxsutawney Phil doesn't see his shadow.  With the mounds of snow the Pennsylvanians are buried in every winter, its no wander they hold onto the hope that Punxsutawney Phil won't see his shadow. But, it seems he always sees his shadow and there's six more weeks of winter.  How did Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow on a cloudy day?  Maybe the crowd of people and the man dressed in the traditional German clothing scared Punsutawney Phil and he ran back in his hole. I think if I was a groundhog, I would be a little intimidated too. So, dont get your hopes up people, there is six more weeks of winter.