How to Enjoy a Prairie Valentine’s Day
Part 1 - Brief Historical Facts
By Karilea Rilling Jungel
Midwesterners are a society of grounded, laid-back
people. Many of us will not go overboard on Valentine’s Day; rather, some of us
celebrate the love of our lives every day. We do it quietly, a gift held out
before us like life itself. It may be a dried leaf plucked from the ground just
before winter really turns it to a dull brownish-gray, but while the color is
still alive in the leaf, just because our loved one would enjoy the
sentimentality of the gesture – that we thought of them that very moment,
because we bent over from our day, their face in our mind – and brought a
little treasure home to our love.
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| photo by Karilea Rilling Jungel |
Bit of Legend
We seem to survive on legends; it makes our
blood quicken, our hearts beat a little faster. Legends and myths – how they
live on and sometimes inspire others to carry the torch. It is said that there
were about a dozen St. Valentine’s throughout history, along with one Pope. All of them carried the name “Valentinus,”
but the very first one lived during the time of A.D. 250, ultimately being beheaded
around 270 as a martyr whose actions were “…known only to God.” There was even one female St. Valentine –
Valentina – a virgin who was martyred in Palestine on July 25, A.D. 308. The
legends continue throughout time as the priests who carried this name were
often beheaded because they helped Christian couples wed in secret, which was
against the religious principles of the day.
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| St. Valentine |
The pagan celebration known as Lupercalia was
given its special day in the middle of February by the Christian church in
order that the fertility festival not be denied, so the “ides of February” was
originally February 15, around A.D. 270. It was eventually outlawed at the end
of the 5th century when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as St. Valentine’s
Day.
Of course, Cupid made his way into history
through classical mythology as a slender winged youth prior to St. Valentine’s
first appearance as Cupid was the ultimate matchmaker, as his arrows were
filled with uncontrollable desire.
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| Cupid - Google Image |
It was around 1415 when chronicled “Valentine
Greetings” in the form of love letters were first noted in history. Then around
that time, following Chaucer’s poetic form, more poetry and letters were being
sent to a heart’s desire, with anticipation of being a recipient in kind.
In 1477, Margery Brews addressed her betrothed, John Paston III, as her “right well-beloved Valentine”, which makes her letter the oldest surviving Valentine in the English language. She revealed that she was worried that the bitter family dispute over the size of her dowry would allow him to leave her. She pleaded: “If you love me, as I trust verily you do, you will not leave me therefore.” She promised him her undying love, declaring: “My heart bids me ever more to love you, truly over all earthly thing.” She added her initials in the shape of a heart.
In 1844, Charlotte Brontë, infatuated with her Belgian professor, wrote: “Truly I find it difficult to be cheerful so long as I think I shall never see you more.” As this revealed the extent of her feelings, her professor’s shock was so great he tore up the letters, as he was married, with children. Thanks to his wife, she retrieved them from the waste-paper basket that we might know of them today.
The Salina Kansas App News Center will publish Part Two - Memories Past on Tuesday February 10th, 2015
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