Valentine's Day Symbols
By: Tippy & Alfred
Cupid
Cupid is the Roman God of Love and the most popular symbol
for St. Valentine's Day. Originally Cupid was depicted as a
young man with a bow and arrows. But eventually the image of
Cupid changed from a handsome man to a pudgy baby. The
reason is that the Romans believed that Cupid, the son of
Venus (Goddess of Love and Beauty), was a symbol for
passionate, playful and tender love. His arrows were
invisible and his victims (who could include other Gods as
well as humans) would not be aware that they were shot until
they fell in love. But the Victorian era wanted to help make
Valentine's Day more "proper" for women and children. So
they tossed out the handsome young man and the passionate
references and made Cupid look like a chubby baby. In other
words, it's all about spinning the story from R-rated to PG-
Rated!
The Colors of Valentine's Day
The most common colors used on the St. Valentine's holiday
are pink, red and white for most cards and decorations, and
on other Valentine commercial items like clothing, stuffed
animals, candles, and the like. Here's why:
Red symbolizes warmth and feeling. It is associated with the
color of the human heart.
White is a symbol of purity. (In some cases also of Faith
and so it means the faith of the love two people have for
each other.)
And so pink (combination of red + white) is then considered
a symbol of innocents or virginity.
Hearts and Arrows
A heart (red or pink) with an arrow piercing through it is
the most common shape and image for a Valentine card,
sometimes along with figurines, candles, cookies, candies,
cakes, or stuffed toys. The heart is both a symbol of love
and of vulnerability. So when you send someone a Valentine
you take a risk of being rejected and having your feelings
hurt. So a piercing arrow is a symbol of death and the
vulnerability of love. On the other hand, the heart and
arrow also symbolize the merging of the male and female as
one.
Before the thirteenth century physicians believed that the
heart was the location and creator of love and affection in
the human body. But the actual biological shape of the human
heart does not look like the heart as we see it today, so
how did the modern "heart shape" come to be? Well, some
people are guessing (and it is funny!) that the Valentine
heart-shape as we know it today was done by a doodler to
represent the human female buttocks or a female torso with
well-endowed breasts or the imprint of lips (wearing
lipstick) made upon a piece of paper. Once again, it's all
on how you want to spin the story! :)
Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve
This expression is said to have come from the early 1800's
when English and American young men wore slips of paper
pinned to their sleeves with the names of their girlfriends
written on them. They wore them for several days (why and
when I have no clue) and so sprung up the expression
"wearing one's heart on one's sleeve."
Today the American Heart Association in the United States
has a "Save a Sweet Heart" anti-smoking campaign during
Valentine's Week to help educate school children against
smoking.
Lovebirds
As mentioned above, it was believed that birds chose their
mates on February 14. The dove became the bird symbol
representing love because the dove, because it chose a
lifelong mate, was believed to be sacred to the Roman
Goddess Venus. Doves also make a cooing sound, which further
proved they were the "love couple." The dove was also a
sacred bird to the Goddess Venus (and other Love Deities).
Also, Noah of the Bible had chosen the dove to be his
messenger. In the Song of Solomon, the word "turtle" is
really referring to the "turtledove." The turtledove is
common in Asia and Europe, but it is not found in North
America at all. Since all doves are part of the pigeon
family, they mate for life and the male and female both
share in the caring of their young. Their cooing sounds are
often considered "love sounds" and today it is often said
that when people in love talk to each other in sugary and
baby-like language they are "cooing" with each other.
One superstition about doves says that they are magical, and
they were often used to divine the future. The heart of a
dove was often an ingredient in love potions. If you dreamed
of a dove it was a sign that you had a promise of happiness.
A white dove flying overhead was a promise of good luck.
And, if you saw the first dove in springtime and made a
wish, that wish would come true (much like wishing upon a
falling star.)
But through the years, the symbolic birds of love have
changed from doves to hummingbirds to Birds of Paradise to
finally today; Love Birds are commonly depicted on
Valentines. Valentine Love Birds look like tiny parrots,
brilliant in color because genetically they really are in
the parrot family. These birds often "kiss and coo" like
young lovers also. And they are known for living in pairs
and keeping to themselves, much like young lovers want their
privacy today. As pets they are considered loveable, easy to
tame and responding to affection. Some can even be taught to
speak.
Many are now being bred and raised by love bird lovers all
over the world, so you should be able to find a captive bred
pair if you'd like to buy a pair for your sweetheart and
yourself.
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All About The Holidays
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