Thursday Thirteen ~#6

Thirteen Things about Valentines

1.) Cupid is a symbol of Valentine’s Day. Cupid was associated with Valentine’s Day because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards and gift tokens holding a bow and arrows as he is believed to use magical arrows to arouse feelings of love.

2.) Verona, the Italian city where Shakespeare's play lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters every year sent to Juliet on Valentine's Day.

3.) The oldest surviving love poem to date is written in a clay tablet from the times of the Sumerians, inventors of writing, around 3500 B.C.

4.) In the Middle Ages young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who would be their Valentine. They would wear this name pinned on their sleeves for one week. This is where the expression "to wear your heart on your sleeve" came from.

5.) On February 14th wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on Valentine’s Day in Wales. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favorite Valentine decorations on the wooden spoons. This Valentine decoration meant, "You unlock my heart!"

6.) The most beautiful and incredible gift of love is the Taj Mahal in India. Built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan as a memorial to his wife it stands as the emblem of the eternal love story. Work on the Taj Mahal began in 1634 and continued for almost 22 years and required the labor of 20,000 workers from all over India and Central Asia.

7.) In America, the pilgrims used to send confections, such as sugar wafers, marzipan, sweetmeats and sugar plums, to their affianced. Lots of value was placed on these gifts because they included what was then a rare product, sugar. After the late 1800's, beet sugar became widely used and more available, and sweet gifts continued to be cherished and enjoyed.

8.) The heart is associated to Valentine's Day as it is considered the source of all human emotions. The custom of drawing a heart shape is supposed to have come from early attempts to draw an organ that no one had seen. The symbol went on to become a sign of love.

9.) Lovebirds are often associated with Valentine's Day. These lovebirds found in Africa, are brightly colored and sit very close together with their mates, earning them their name.

10.) Doves are also part of the Valentine tradition. These birds are symbols of love and loyalty because they mate for life. A pair of doves will also share the care of all their babies.

11.) A love knot is a symbol of undying love, as its twisting loops have no beginnings or ends. In olden times, they were made of ribbon or drawn on paper to prove ones eternal love.

12.) Valentine was a holy priest in Rome, who, with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs who were being persecuted under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who ordered that he be beaten with clubs and beheaded, the execution took place on February 14.

13.) The perfect Valentine's Day according to Alasandra - A romantic dinner at Mary Mahoney's and a dozen red roses with one white rose in the center of the bouquet.