Embracing Love in All Its Forms: The Rich Traditions and Diverse Celebrations of Valentine's Day 2024
It comes around every year - an entire day that celebrates love and romance.
Some of us look forward to it as we celebrate our love match with our partners. Others look upon the day as a nuisance, a hinderance, a reminder that they are still single looking to mingle. Conversely, there are other singles who celebrate the fact that they are single, embracing their singlehood, being all the more happy for it. These singles choose to celebrate their friendships instead – the so-called Galentine’s Day (supposedly celebrated on the 13th of February) which has become ever-the-more popular.
It’s a day that has evolved over the years allowing for more people to get caught up in the pomp and pageantry of the day.
But Cupid ever vigilant, remains standing at the ready, waiting to strike the unsuspecting who cross his path. Love may very well (still) be on the cards this Wednesday the 14th.
That said, with a lot of us hoping for red roses or chocolates galore, do we ever wonder where Valentine’s Day comes from or how the tradition started?
Let’s learn a little more about the day of love…
Where does Valentine’s Day come from?
Now this is an interesting one.
To this day the origins of Valentines Day are shrouded in mystery and intrigue. For example – and according to History – one of the legends around Valentine’s Day is about a priest named Valentine who served during the 3rd Century in Rome. “Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realising the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.”
Another legend suggests that Valentine was actually an imprisoned man who sent the first “valentine” card after falling in love with a young woman – thought to be the jailors daughter – who he had met during his imprisonment. The legend goes that before his death, Valentine wrote his love a letter signed “From your Valentine”. An expression that is still used today.
There is yet another legend which is said to have pagan roots –
“While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial—which probably occurred around A.D. 270—others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianise” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia.”
Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. It was traditionally celebrated around the middle of February – so February the 14th.
“At the beginning of the festival, members of the Luperci (an order of Roman priests), would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome), were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelor’s would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.”
It was also commonly believed in France and England - during the Middle Ages - that the middle of February (thus 14 February) was the beginning of our feathered friends mating season. And this common belief led to the now celebrated idea that the middle of February should be a day for romance – for the non-feathered folk too. Thus, 14 February became Valentine’s Day, a day for love and romance.
Valentine’s Day Traditions
According to History –
“Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. (The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.)”
If you grew or are growing up in a westernised country, the giving of red roses and chocolates on Valentine’s Day was/is the norm. Secret Valentine’s received from who knows who, something you would spend the rest of the year wondering about, with a noticeably big smile on your face.
It’s a tradition we have been keeping, since, well the 1400’s.
But not every country around the world celebrates Valentine’s Day the same way –
1. In the Philippines, the done thing on Valentine’s Day is a mass wedding. Yes, you read that correctly. According to Our Today – “For the last 10 years, the mayor of Sual in Pangasinan, a province north of Metro Manila, has been officiating civil mass weddings for about a hundred couples on Valentine’s Day. The weddings are free of cost and funded by the Filipino government. The only requirement is for couples to register their documents before the ceremony and wear traditional wedding attire, a white dress for women and a suit or formal attire for men. Love-struck couples will receive gold-plated rings, a bouquet of flowers and corsages, wedding gifts, a food banquet for the couple and eight of their family members or friends, a wedding cake, and cash pinned to their wedding outfits while they are dancing, a tradition for Filipino weddings. In some parts of the country, couples receive wedding attire for free. The best-dressed couple also gets 10,000 pesos ($J82,000) to go towards their honeymoon”.
2. In Estonia, they don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day on 14 February. Rather they celebrate “Friends Day”. According to Refinery 29, single people can step aboard the “love bus” (yes. That is really its name) in the hopes of meeting someone special. This is often done with your mates. So, the runner up prize if you don’t meet someone who strikes your fancy – a fun time with your friends.
3. In Saudi Arabia, Valentine’s Day was once completely banned. In fact, according to Refinery 29, in the days that led up to Valentine’s Day it was illegal to sell roses or love themed greeting cards. But as set out in Asia News, this all changed in 2019 when Islamic leader Mohammad bin Salman's social reforms enabled a change that would lead to red roses and red lingerie being on display and available for purchase on the 14th of February. Saudi’s can now celebrate Valentine’s Day by buying roses, cards, chocolates, by going out for romantic dinners and by buying lingerie for their loved ones. The only caveat here is that they cannot call it Valentine’s Day.
4. In Japan, things are done a little differently. Ordinarily – and this may not only be an over-simplification, but also rather generalised - men are expected to shower their partners with gifts and create perfect romantic dates. But in Japan and on the 14th of February, men are expected to do very little. It’s the women who are expected to be the principal gift-givers. Giving gifts not only to their significant others but also to other men with whom they have any kind of meaningful relationship. When it comes to gifts, the only acceptable gift is chocolate. And lots of it.
5. In Wales, hand-carved spoons seem to be thing. But not on the 14th of February. Instead, a day of romance is celebrated on the 25th of January. It’s called St Dwynwen's Day and is much like Valentine’s Day, only with a little twist. According to Visit Wales, “St Dwynwen (Santes Dwynwen) was a fourth century Welsh princess who lived in what is now the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park. Dwynwen fell in love with a local lad called Maelon Dafodrill, but King Brychan had already arranged for her to marry another prince. Maelon took the news badly, so the distraught Dwynwen fled to the woods to weep, and begged God to help her. She was visited by an angel who gave her a sweet potion to help her forget Maelon, which happened to turn him into a block of ice. God then granted Dwynwen three wishes. Her first wish was that Maelon be thawed; her second wish was for God to help all true lovers; her third wish was that she would never marry. In gratitude, Dwynwen became a nun and set up a convent on Llanddwyn Island, a beautiful little spot-on Anglesey. Her name means, 'she who leads a blessed life'.”
Strange Laws which could put a dampener on Valentine’s Day plans
We are lawyers after all, so looking up some strange laws that could impact Valentine’s Day is right up our alley. We couldn’t find much in the likes of strange laws in South Africa, but boy did we come across some doozies further afield –
1. According to Route-Fifty, “In Idaho, any unmarried person who has sexual intercourse with an unmarried person of the opposite sex is guilty of fornication, according to an Idaho statute. If found guilty, a person “shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than three months, or by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period not exceeding three years, or in the county jail for a period not exceeding one year, or by fine not exceeding $1000,” reads the sex crime law. According to Twin Falls, Idaho attorney Grant Loebs, the law has been around since at least 1921. “It’s one of those laws that comes out of a particular attempt to enforce a moral code on people,” Loebs told The Spokesman-Review. “The way this is written, it’s a catch-all thing.”
2. According to Ovation, in Eureka, Nevada, it’s illegal for a man with a moustache to kiss a woman. Sure, this law is outdated and not enforced but is still technically in place.
3. According to the University of Law, UK, “A French law passed during World War I allows women to marry deceased men. It was likely introduced to allow fiancées and girlfriends to obtain death benefits. Mental Floss says the law was clarified in 1950 and new rules made it much harder to marry posthumously by only allowing it with permission of the President of France. Proof is also required that the deceased planned to marry you before they passed away.”
4. According to Visordown, in London, it’s illegal to have sex on a parked motorbike. Whether it’s still illegal on a moving motorbike is left unanswered.
5. According to The Lectric Law Library, in Newcastle, Wyoming, sex inside a walk-in meat freezer is prohibited. How this law came about is beyond us, but it exists, nevertheless.
With all that said, and strange laws aside, we wish you all a very Happy Valentine’s Day – whether you celebrate the day of love or not, despite with whom you may be celebrating or why you are celebrating Valentine’s Day - we hope your day will be filled with all the right kinds of love and that you feel loved (romantic or platonic) this Valentine’s Day!
(Sources used and to whom we give thanks – History; the University of Law; Ovation; Route-Fifty; Newton News; Refinery29; Travel Triangle; Our Today; Asia News; J Rail Pass; Visit Wales; Cosmopolitan and Visor Down).
If you have any questions about the information we have set out above or have a personal issue which you want to discuss with us, please don’t hesitate to contact us at NVDB Attorneys.
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