Valentines Day for Singles

Romantic Valentine’s Day festival is much awaited by those in love but dreaded by singles!! So much is the hype about the festival that some singles even become depressed about not having a partner several days before the festival when they see stores decorated with candies, chocolates and flowers to lure the one’s in love. Some times the sense of isolation becomes so strong that many singles tend to “hate Valentine’s Day” - the day that is actually meant to celebrate love.

Many single men and women go to the extent of calling Valentine’s Day a ‘Singles Awareness Day’. This is because they feel that the day strongly reminds them of their unattached status and not having someone to spend the day in romantic and much popularized manner. Initials of the day ‘S-A-D’ reflect their status of feeling depressed and unloved.

But dateless people must keep in mind that Valentine’s Day is not just to be celebrated by romantically involved couples. The festival is celebrated to express love to anyone we are closed to. We can therefore celebrate Valentine’s Day with friends, siblings, parents, grandparents, teachers or anyone who made a difference to our lives with their affection and support. We must take opportunity of the Valentine’s Day festival to express our love and gratitude to all persons we love. And what better way to do so than by saying it with a gift of roses, chocolates and beautiful cards.

Singles can make the most of Valentine’s Day by spending the day in the company of those they love or by indulging themselves with something luxurious. Here are some tips and ideas on how singles can celebrate the Valentine’s Day in charming and memorable fashion:

Valentine’s Day Ideas for Singles

Pamper yourself
Buy yourself cute Valentine’s Day gifts which could be flowers, a cute teddy or a dress you have been planning to buy since long. Singles may also indulge themselves by going in for spa or head to toe beauty treatment. Indulging in books, CDs, and gourmet meals can be a good way of enjoying the day for some.

Freak out with friends
Plan out a dinner or movie with best friends. You may also throw a “singles party” or “Un-Valentine’s Day Party” at your home and have a blast. You will know that life is fun in the company of loving friends.

Acts of Service
Singles can spend Valentine’s Day in the meaningful way by spending time with the needy and downtrodden. You may visit an orphanage or old age home and spend time with the inmates there who are always in need of love and affection. Visiting hospitals and giving roses to sick can also be a touching way of experiencing bliss on Valentine’s Day.

Express Gratitude for friends and dear ones
Instead of feeling depressed and ashamed for not having a significant other to spend the day, singles can spend Valentine’s Day in a constructive manner by expressing love and affection for people around them. One can thank and greet Valentine’s Day to one’s parents, friends, colleagues, neighbors or anyone dear.

Think Positive
Singles can make the most of Valentine’s Day by thinking positive and fighting away Valentine’s Day blues. One should not spend the day sulking for not having a spouse or beloved to spend the day in a happy manner.

Focus on Relationship Plan
Singles can focus on their relationship plan on Valentine’s Day and prepare themselves for healthy and lasting relationships. One can take help of dating and matrimonial sites to find a partner. Also make a list of what you can do to improve your personality. It could be developing a more healthy and positive approach towards life or working towards one’s diet, health and physical appearance. Take steps you think are vital to improve your chances for relationship. Make some resolutions for yourself and stick to them.

 Valentines Day for Lovers

Valentine’s Day festival holds immense importance for those in love. Lovers around the world anxiously wait for the festival as it gives them an opportunity to express love for their beloved and spend a day in togetherness. Celebrating the festival in a traditional manner lovers go out for date in a park or spend time looking into the eyes of their partners over a candlelight dinner. Indulging sweethearts with fresh flowers mainly red roses, chocolates, cards and other gifts of love is the other most popular custom of Valentine’s Day for lovers.

Historic Association of Valentine’s Day with Romantic Love
Ever since its inception Valentine’s Day has been associated with romantic love. Valentine’s Day originated in pagan times when people celebrated February 14 in honor of Roman God of Fertility. This fertility festival coincided with beginning of the spring and was popularly known as the Feast of Lupercalia.A popular custom of this festival was pairing of young boys and girls for a year through a lottery system. The couples would eventually fall in love and marry.

Another story that linked Valentine’s Day festival to the day of romance goes back to the reign of Emperor Claudius II of Rome. A hardhearted king, Claudius constantly engaged Rome in bloody battles. Claudius found it tough to get soldiers for his army and felt that the reason why many men are not willing to become soldiers was their attachment with wives and families. In order to get rid of the cause of the problem perceived Claudius banned marriages and engagements in Rome. Young men and women found a savior in Saint Valentine, who defied Claudius’s decree and arranged secret marriages. Valentine’s act of defiance was noticed and he was put to death by Claudius on February 14 circa 270 AD. Later, when Christianity spread through Rome, Christian Church decided to turn the popular pagan event as a Christian celebration in honor of St Valentine. St Valentine’s Day festival gradually came to be celebrated as a day to express love for sweethearts.

Besides, during the Middle ages, people in England and France believed that February 14 marked the beginning of birds mating season. This belief further boosted the idea that February 14 should be celebrated as a day for romance.

Valentines Day Celebration by Lovers
Elaborate plans are made by lovers to celebrate Valentine’s Day festival in the much-popularized romantic fashion. For some lovers the day begins by whispering ‘I love you’ in the ears of beloved. The romantic gesture is usually accompanied with an exchange of red roses, chocolates, cards and other gifts. Most lovers plan to spend the entire day in the company of their beloved and celebrate being in love. All around the city, be it parks, mall, restaurants or discotheques one can find couples celebrating the idea of being in love. Such lovey-dovey celebrations often continue till late in the night as several clubs and hotels organize Valentine’s Day balls and dance parties. Those away from their Valentine keep in touch through e-mails and phone. Sending online Valentine’s Day gifts is fast becoming a fad amongst lovers separated by a distance.

Though one may say that love is to be celebrated everyday and not just one, lovers cherish the fact that there is exclusively a festival that celebrates love and lovers and provides opportunity to pamper their beloved with love.

History of St Valentines DayValentine’s Day - the popular festival of love and romances traces its origin to ancient Roman festival and has not been created by card companies as some people believe it to be. There are various legends associated with the festival along with the belief that birds began to mate from this day. Popularity of the Valentine’s Day festival stems from the combined effects of all these legends, beliefs and of course the wish to glorify the unparalleled feeling of love.

Feast of Lupercalia
Historians trace the origin of Valentine’s Day to ancient Roman Empire. It is said that in the Rome of ancient times people observed a holiday on February 14th to honor Juno - the Queen of Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also regarded Juno as the Goddess of Women and Marriage. On the following day, February 15th began the fertility festival called ‘Feast of Lupercalia’. The festival of Lupercalia was celebrated to honor the Gods Lupercus and Faunus - the Roman God of Agriculture besides the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.

An interesting custom was followed in the Feast of Lupercalia to bring together young boys and girls who otherwise were strictly separated. On the eve of the festival names of young Roman girls were written on a slip of paper and placed into jars. Each young man drew out a girl’s name from the jar and was paired with the girl for the duration of Lupercalia. Sometime pairing lasted for a year until next year’s celebration. Quite often, the couple would fall in love with each other and later marry. The custom lasted for a long time until people felt that the custom was un-Christian and that mates should be chosen by sight, not luck.

Defiance by Saint Valentine
The pairing of young boys and girls did set the mood of the Valentine’s Day Festival as we know today. But it was actually due to the efforts and daring of a priest St Valentine that the festival got its name and clearer meaning. The story goes that during the reign of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in several bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius found it tough to get soldiers and felt the reason was men did not join army because they did not wish to leave their wives and families. As a result Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. A romantic at heart priest of Rome Saint Valentine defied Claudius’s unjustified order. Along with Saint Marius, St Valentine secretly married couples. When his defiance was discovered, Valentine was brutally beaten and put to death on February 14, about 270 AD. After his death Valentine was named a Saint.

According to another version of legend Valentine was killed because he attempted to help Christians escape from the Roman prison as they were being tortured and beaten there. Yet another popular version of the legend states that while in prison Valentine or Valentinus fell in love with jailer’s daughter who visited him during confinement. Before his death Valentine wrote a farewell letter to his sweetheart from the jail and signed ‘From your Valentine’. The expression became quite popular amongst love struck and is still very much in vogue.

By the Middle Ages, Valentine assumed the image of heroic and romantic figure amongst the masses in England and France. Later, when Christianity spread through Rome, the priests moved Lupercalia from February 15 to February 14. Around 498 AD, Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as St. Valentine’s Day to honor the martyr Valentinus and to end the pagan celebration.

Beginning of Birds Mating Season
During the Middle Ages, people in England and France held a belief that birds started to look for their mate from February 14. This popular notion further helped to link Valentine’s Day - celebrated in the middle of the February, with love and romance. Over the period of time, St Valentine became the patron saint of lovers and they began to celebrate Valentine’s Day as a day of romance by exchanging love notes and simple gifts such as flower.

Popularity of St Valentines Day
Valentine’s Day festival gradually grew in popularity amongst the masses due to the combined effect of all the above said reasons. To mark the day lovers began to exchange love notes called ‘Valentines’ with their sweethearts.Valentine’s Day - the popular festival of love and romances traces its origin to ancient Roman festival and has not been created by card companies as some people believe it to be. There are various legends associated with the festival along with the belief that birds began to mate from this day. Popularity of the Valentine’s Day festival stems from the combined effects of all these legends, beliefs and of course the wish to glorify the unparalleled feeling of love.

Feast of Lupercalia
Historians trace the origin of Valentine’s Day to ancient Roman Empire. It is said that in the Rome of ancient times people observed a holiday on February 14th to honor Juno - the Queen of Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans alass-produced greeting cards caught the fancy of the people. In the course of time, Valentine’s day came to be regarded as the festival that celebrates love and not just romantic love. Today, Valentine’s Day cards are gifted to teachers, parents, friends, siblings and sweethearts. Popularity of Valentine’s Day has spread in countries across the seven continents and is still increasing by the year.

 February Fertility Festivals

The association of middle of February with love and fertility goes back to ancient times. While ancient Athenians celebrated it as the month of Gamelion to celebrate the marriage of Greek Gods - Zeus and Hera, ancient Romans celebrated the Feast of Lupercalia to honor the Roman Gods of fertility - Lupercus and Faunus.

February Celebrations in Ancient Athens
Ancient Athens celebrated the period between mid January and mid February as the month of Gamelion. They dedicated the festival month to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera. In Greek mythology Zeus was the supreme ruler of the ancient Greek Gods while Hera was the Goddess of women, marriage and childbirth.

February Celebrations in Ancient Rome
Ancient Romans celebrated the ides of February as the festival of Lupercalia to secure fertility and keep out evil. The Feast of Lupercalia was dedicated to the Roman Gods of Agriculture, Lupercus and Faunus along with Romulus and Remus - the legendary founders of Rome. A precursor of this festival was celebrated on February 14. The day was observed as a holiday in honor of Juno - the Queen of Roman Gods and Goddesses and also regarded as the Goddess of Women and Marriage.

During the February Fertility Festival of Lupercus, members of Lupercali an order of the Roman priests would gather in a sacred cave where Romulus and Remus are said to have been nurtured by she-wolf or lupa. To mark the beginning of the festival, priests would sacrifice a goat for fertility and a dog for purification. Young boys used to slice the goats hide into strips and dipped them in sacrificial blood. Later, boys clad in animal skin would run about the streets of Rome holding pieces of goatskin above their head and gently slapping women and fields with the animal hide. Womenfolk gladly received the slap, as they believed that touch of the goatskin would render them fruitful and bring easy childbirth. Because the youths impersonated male goats (the embodiment of sexuality), the ceremony was believed to be in honor of Fanus.

Another unique custom of Feast of Lupercalia was the pairing of young boys and girls who otherwise lived a strictly separated lives. During the evening, all the young marriageable girls used to place a chit of their name in a big urn. Each young man used to draw out a name of a girl from the urn and became paired with that girl for the rest of the year. Quite often, the paired couple would fall in love and marry.

Later, when Christianity spread through Rome, the custom of finding a mate through lottery was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. People felt that mates should be chosen by sight and not luck. Around 498 AD, Pope Gelasius declared 14th February as Valentine’s Day to honor saint Valentine of Rome - the patron saint of love and lovers. Even in present time lovers all over the world celebrate the festival of Valentine’s Day with joy and verve.

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