cupid, draw back your bow...

 cupid, draw back your bow...

              Sam Cooke, 1961

                                          

  So, just who is this Cupid fellow, anyway, and where did he come from?

  In Roman mythology, Cupid is the son of Venus, the goddess of Love.  But, in Greek mythology, he was known as Eros and was the son of Aphrodite.

  

  Following Roman lore, Cupid fell madly in love with Psyche despite his mother's jealousy over Psyche's beauty and Cupid married her, but he made Psyche promise to never look at his face.  When she eventually peaked, Cupid ran away.   

  

  In classical mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction, and affection.  That pretty well covers that whole deal.

  The first sign of the linking of Cupid with Valentine's Day was Caravaggio's Cupid, 400 years ago, which showed a young, nude boy with wings and a bow.  According to time.com, Valentine's Day was becoming popular in the 18th century, and by the turn of the 19th century, Cupid had become linked to the holiday for his love-creating abilities.  

  So, that brings us to 58 years ago.  

  President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed February to be National Heart Month back in 1963.  The following February (1964) became the first American Heart Association February celebration and it was all tied to Valentine's Day.  Of course, Cupid has been running wild ever since!

  HUH?  What's up with that? 

  Pope Gelasius declared February 14, AD 496 the Feast of St. Valentine in honor of St. Valentine of Rome.  The feast day still exists, but was removed from the public worship calendar of the Catholic Church back in 1969.  

  Unlike other holidays in America like Labor Day and President's Day, Valentine's Day is celebrated worldwide.  Hearts and flowers, candy, and romantic dinners are the order of the day, but there are also some unusual customs observed in other countries. 

  Young girls in South Africa follow the age-old Roman festival of Lupercalia and wear their lovers' names on their sleeves.  In some places in the same country, men do it too.  Is it possible, She wears her heart on her sleeve comes from this custom? 

  Brazil celebrates Valentine's Day on June 12th.  It's called Dia dos Namorados which translates to Lovers' Day.  Single women perform simpatias, which are little rituals that are acts of kindness, to find a good husband or boyfriend.  However, it sounds like Lovers' Day is just another day for Brazilian married women.

   The tradition of giving your loved one a carved spoon still exists in Wales, but the man giving the spoon may not actually be carving the spoon himself.  The spoons used to be carved by the lover from one piece of wood and had intricate Celtic knot-work or symbols like hearts and flowers.  Yes, the spoons are still given to women, but they are bought, not hand-made.

  Cincinnati Dancing Pig was a song recorded by multiple artists 70 years ago.   It had nothing to do with romance or Valentine's Day, but Germany sees more in pigs than even one that can dance.  It seems there's a Valentine's Day custom involving pigs. 

  Although V-Day is celebrated pretty traditionally in Germany, tons of presents have the added awesomeness of featuring a pig.  Apparently, pigs are symbols of lust and luck.  In case you were wondering, yes, you can even find them in provocative poses on chocolates.  Go pigure. 

  Teens in Thailand believe in getting right to the crux of the matter.  They consider Valentine's Day the best day to lose their virginity.  But, Bangkok city officials encourage couples to skip getting horizontal and pay a visit to a temple to free caged birds instead.  Freeing caged birds is a Buddhist ritual that improves Karma.  Hhmmm, wonder which activity the city fathers chose when they were teens.  

  In South Korea, April 14th is a special day.  They celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14th, and White Day on March 14th.  But, April 14th is Black Day.  If you are a woman who didn't get a gift on either of the two good days, you eat black noodles on Black Day and commiserate with other non receivers about your life as a single person.  That sure sounds like a lot of fun.    

  Men give women gifts on Valentine's Day in Taiwan, and women return them on White Day.  Men also give flowers, but they pay close attention to the number of red roses given.  One means love, 11 means favorite, 99 red roses means forever, and 108 means marriage.  

  Japanese women give men chocolates at work.  But, because they feel obligated to give the sweets to all men, they give some only the minimum amount.  Then, on March 14th, men are expected to return the affection on White Day.  And, the gifts have to be two or three times more valuable than what they received.  Of course they do.  

  Hard to beat the custom of American school kids.  They buy hundreds of millions of cards every year and give a card to everyone in their class.  Mom or dad can buy them in value packs so they aren't out a ton of money.  

  According to finance.yahoo.com, American men spend an average of $339 on their loved one, while women reciprocate that gesture to the tune of $64 for their lover.  We will also buy 250 million roses during the week preceding Valentine's Day.  This is no shock either, but 83% of those roses will go to women.   

  Happy Valentine's Day!

  Going back to the Taiwanese custom of men giving women flowers and how important the number of flowers is to the woman.  What happens?  Okay, he gives her this humongous bouquet, does she count them in front of him to see if it's 99 or 108?  And, what if it is 99 and she was expecting 108?  What happens then?

  HUH?  What's up with that?