If you ever feel like Valentine isn`t for you

14 Feb 2009
By Guardian Reporter

Today, about one billion valentine cards are sent each year, according to the Greeting Card Association, making Valentine`s Day second only to Christmas as one of the largest card-selling holidays.

But for a holiday meant to celebrate love its origins are surprisingly dark.

There are about three theories as to the origin of Valentine`s Day.

The most popular is the one about Saint Valentine, a priest, languishing in prison and falling in love with the jailor`s daughter.

On the day he is supposed to die he writes her a letter and signs it `From your Valentine..` this letter supposedly inspired the whole phenomenon that is commemorated every February 14.

Another legend has it that Valentine was a priest during third century Rome.

The Emperor, Claudius II, outlawed marriage for young men, as he believed that single men made better soldiers.

Valentine felt this was not fair so he continued to perform marriage ceremonies for young couples secretly.

When the Emperor found out what Valentine was doing, he was put to death.

Note that in both cases the romantically inclined Valentine ends up being executed.

The two versions have also been presented as one narrative starting with Empror Claudius II outlawing marriage and Saint Valentine defying this order and wedding couples anyway.

Then he is sent to jail where he falls in love with his jailor`s daughter to whom he writes a love letter before he is killed.

Nowadays, Valentine`s Day is big heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, red roses and, of course, romance. In other words, no more dungeons, languishing priests and death.

But Valentine celebrates love and relationship and such a day has to be bitter sweet for those who find themselves alone.

Others just hate the sentimentality associated with the holiday.

For whatever reason, come February 14 it will be almost impossible to avoid Valentine’s Day. Unless you were in Saudia Arabia.

Last year in Saudi Arabia, religious police banned the sale of all Valentine`s Day items, telling shop workers to remove any red items, as the day is considered an un-Islamic holiday.

However the ban created a black market of roses and wrapping paper. The Saudis were not about to let their government stifle their romantic spirit.

Others have tried to find alternatives to the day.
In South Korea, people celebrate Black Day on April 14 each year.

This is an informal tradition for single people to get together and eat noodles with black bean sauce. The black sauce is where the name `Black Day` comes from.

The idea is that those who did not give or receive gifts on Valentine`s Day or White Day (another love holiday on March 14) can get together and eat the noodles with black bean sauce to commiserate their being single.

Happy Sad!
A variety of the Black Day is Singles Awareness Day, or Sad, celebrated also on February 14. On Singles Awareness Day, single people gather to celebrate or to commiserate in their single status. A common greeting on this day by its adherents is ``Happy Sad``.

The criticism leveled against Valentine Day has attacked both its ideals of celebrating relationships and implicit commercialism involved in buying loved one gifts.

Valentine`s Day has been called `Hallmark holiday` which is a reference to the Hallmark greeting card company based in the United States.

Many companies and businesses make large profits from selling massive amounts of cards, flowers, chocolates, candies, stuffed animals and other gifts which can lead to those with a significant other feeling they are expected to purchase such gifts, whether they want to or not.

In Japan Valentine`s Day is observed by women. They present chocolate gifts to men as an expression of love.

The men prefer homemade chocolate because it indicates that he is her only one.

But men do not just put their feet up and munch the delicious chocolates. Those who receive the gifts have to reciprocate.

This happens on White Day which is celebrated exactly one month after Valentine`s Day, on March 14. The gifts that men give naturally have to be more expensive.

Traditionally, popular White Day gifts are cookies, candies, white chocolate, marshmallows as well as jewelry, lingerie, and stuffed animals.

Sometimes the term sanbai gaeshi, meaning thrice the return, is used to describe the generally recited rule that the return gift should be two to three times the cost of the Valentine`s gift.

Finally, according to a news report, Israel on Thursday granted special approval for the export of 25,000 Palestinian flowers from the Gaza Strip to the Dutch market for Valentine`s Day.

For the first time in a year, a lorry load of carnations was allowed to cross from Gaza into Israel.

A request from the Netherlands prompted Israel to make the rare exception to the blockade it has imposed since 2007.

* SOURCE: Guardian