It's 5:50a, and I am up. Getting ready for my trip to South Carolina! I have to leave for the airport by 6:30a.. And I know I have forgotten to put SOMETHING in my suitcase..
7/04/2012
2/14/2012
Valentine's Day..
To some, Valentine's Day is to celebrate love and happiness. To me, it's a way to give money to the card industry. The way I see it, nobody was buying any Groundhog's day cards and they needed to make some money.
According to Hallmark, V-Day sells 188 million Valentine's Day cards a year. That doesn't even include the classroom card exchange with the cardboard shoe boxes! With that, it's one billion, taking second to Christmas.
Fifty million roses are sent each year. Fifteen percent of women buy flowers for themselves to make themselves feel better that they can't find a guy. This is what our society has come to.
Valentine's Day started out okay. It's a very old and religious holiday centered around Saint Valentine. Valentine's Day was an ancient Roman tradition. I guess with the Roman Empire, the original idea died, too. Emperor Claudius II decided young men should be soldiers, so he outlawed marriage. Valentine was upset and spoke out. He was thrown into prison and put to death. Before his death, Valentine wrote a letter to his love and signed it, "From your Valentine."
Not much else is known about St. Valentine. In fact, they aren't sure who it is. It is between three random clergymen - a priest in Rome, a bishop, and some random guy in Africa.
That's cool, but does anyone go to church on Valentine's Day? How many people even know the story of St. Valentine? Cupid, the baby who flies around in a diaper shooting love arrows, is the son of Venus, the goddess of beauty. Yep, Roman mythology. He fell in love with Psyche. Venus was jealous of her beauty and killed Psyche. Cupid brought her back to life and they lived happily ever after.
The history of Valentine's Day--and the story of its patron saint--is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?
The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing 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.
Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl--possibly his jailor's daughter--who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed "From your Valentine," an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and--most importantly--romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.
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 "Christianize" the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
To begin 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 bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.
Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity and but was outlawed—as it was deemed “un-Christian”--at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day. It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine's Day should be a day for romance.
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.) Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.
In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings.
Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap." Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.
Ever since I was a child, I thought it was dumb. What was the point of giving 3-cent valentine cut outs to the girl or boy who ate glue or stole your lunchbox? And you can't escape! It's everywhere. Major retail stores put out the candies in December!! The “Every Kiss Begins With Kay Jewelers” commercial started in January. Today on the radio there was a commercial demanding guys get their girls diamonds. Even three percent of pet owners give valentines to their cats and dogs.
Make it stop!
If you learned anything from my rant, you should know that Valentine's Day isn't about the material objects like cards, flowers, and candy. It's about this hopelessly romantic man, who died loving a woman, or about a bunch of priestesses flogging people with bloody goat skins.. but no one cares.
If we are going to celebrate this holiday, we need to do it right. I'm not saying get rid of the candy and flowers; just remember the traditions. Maybe, just maybe, we can all make it through another year. Now, where did I put that goat?
According to Hallmark, V-Day sells 188 million Valentine's Day cards a year. That doesn't even include the classroom card exchange with the cardboard shoe boxes! With that, it's one billion, taking second to Christmas.
Fifty million roses are sent each year. Fifteen percent of women buy flowers for themselves to make themselves feel better that they can't find a guy. This is what our society has come to.
Valentine's Day started out okay. It's a very old and religious holiday centered around Saint Valentine. Valentine's Day was an ancient Roman tradition. I guess with the Roman Empire, the original idea died, too. Emperor Claudius II decided young men should be soldiers, so he outlawed marriage. Valentine was upset and spoke out. He was thrown into prison and put to death. Before his death, Valentine wrote a letter to his love and signed it, "From your Valentine."
Not much else is known about St. Valentine. In fact, they aren't sure who it is. It is between three random clergymen - a priest in Rome, a bishop, and some random guy in Africa.
That's cool, but does anyone go to church on Valentine's Day? How many people even know the story of St. Valentine? Cupid, the baby who flies around in a diaper shooting love arrows, is the son of Venus, the goddess of beauty. Yep, Roman mythology. He fell in love with Psyche. Venus was jealous of her beauty and killed Psyche. Cupid brought her back to life and they lived happily ever after.
The history of Valentine's Day--and the story of its patron saint--is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?
The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing 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.
Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl--possibly his jailor's daughter--who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed "From your Valentine," an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and--most importantly--romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.
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 "Christianize" the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
To begin 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 bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.
Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity and but was outlawed—as it was deemed “un-Christian”--at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day. It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine's Day should be a day for romance.
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.) Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.
In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings.
Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap." Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.
Ever since I was a child, I thought it was dumb. What was the point of giving 3-cent valentine cut outs to the girl or boy who ate glue or stole your lunchbox? And you can't escape! It's everywhere. Major retail stores put out the candies in December!! The “Every Kiss Begins With Kay Jewelers” commercial started in January. Today on the radio there was a commercial demanding guys get their girls diamonds. Even three percent of pet owners give valentines to their cats and dogs.
Make it stop!
If you learned anything from my rant, you should know that Valentine's Day isn't about the material objects like cards, flowers, and candy. It's about this hopelessly romantic man, who died loving a woman, or about a bunch of priestesses flogging people with bloody goat skins.. but no one cares.
If we are going to celebrate this holiday, we need to do it right. I'm not saying get rid of the candy and flowers; just remember the traditions. Maybe, just maybe, we can all make it through another year. Now, where did I put that goat?
2/13/2012
The Road Not Taken..
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been a bit.. different. Most of you reading this know of my childhood, and the simple fact that it is amazing that I have lived this long. A large part of that success I attribute to my taking ‘the road not taken’. Robert Frost summed it up nicely in his poem, which I memorized while in the third grade. It’s appropriate for my life, I feel.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
No one who knows me could ever say I have traveled the path most others travel. I have rebelled in almost every aspect of life at one time or another, and reveled in the notoriety of being a social outcast, by my own choosing. “Society” being what it is today, I am perfectly fine with that.
I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately as to just who I am. I have many names, and wear many masks. I am Husband, Lover, Friend, Son, Brother, Friend, Protector, Adviser, Guide, Mentor.. but who am **I**, when it comes down to it? At the end of it all, when they lay my body into the ground, what am I going to be remembered for, and by whom? What impact am I having on this world, and am I making it a better place? Has the path I have chosen afforded me the pleasure of making the world a better place, or have I been deluding myself all these years?
Well, be that as it may, I am getting my life back on a schedule now, and setting things in order. You may look forward to more posts from me, and continuous updates. I’ll be spending more time on the Runes page, as well as the Ogham page, as we take this journey through the roads less traveled..
Take my hand, and journey with me further down the road into my psyche, that twisted path of fun, the road less traveled…
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