Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire... In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno, Queen of the Olympian Gods... The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage... The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia...

The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate in ancient Rome... However, one of the customs of the young people was name drawing... On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars... Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners with the girl he chose for the duration of the festival... Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry...

Saint Valentine enters the picture under the rule of Emperor Claudius II... At this time, Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns and Claudius was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his milita... He believed the reason for this was that Roman men did not wish to leave their lovers or families... As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and forbid engagements in Rome... Saint Valentine and Saint Marius aided the Christian Romans and secretly married couples, and for this Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off... He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year 270...

Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers... The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers... There was often a social gathering or a ball...

In the United States, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first valentine cards... Commercial valentines were introduced in the 1800's and now the holiday is extremely commercialised... The town of Loveland, Colorado, does a large post office business around February 14... The tradition continues as valentines are sent out with sentimental verses and children exchange valentine cards at school... And though it is an over commericialised holiday, we should keep in mind the point of it all... To celebrate love and those we love, in the ways most meaningful to us...

And now here are some Valentine's Tags for you, only a few of which are taggable... The rest are snag only, and I hope you enjoy...

Snag Only:



Snaggable and Taggable:
(these can be requested with a single name or couples)



Tag requests in the comments section...
(Please remember to leave your e-mail address!)

Butterfly Light and Mother Nature

The first tag was created mainly as a symbol of my own rebirth to life and living - butterflies being a powerful symbol of that for millennia... The Greeks believed that a new human soul was born each time an adult butterfly emerged from its cocoon... Early Europeans believed that the human soul took the form of a butterfly also - consequently, the butterfly was viewed with great respect... Native American legends told that butterflies would carry wishes to the Great Spirit to be granted... The metamorphosis of butterflies and moths is one of the mysteries of Nature... They change from the crawling caterpillar to the fluttering, flying jewels we think are so lovely... It is a transformation that seemingly only magic could create... Many cultures around the world are so awe inspired by the metamorphosis that there are literally thousands of legends about them...



The second tag represents for me the Spirit of the Earth, and how we should try to live our lives each day... And while Mother Nature depicted here appears benevolent and gentle, I know She is not always this way... Nevertheless, Her motto holds true: no matter what She may throw at you, whether a day full of sunshine or a raging storm, there are lessons to be learned in it... And no matter how horrible the experience, every day you breathe is a day to be living... It is a gift, as Mother Nature, who is also "red of tooth and claw", is ever eager to remind us... You are promised only today, and never tomorrow... But hope of that tomorrow is also part of nature... It is what makes us strive and live to the best of our abilities... If more people were in tune with Gaea's many cycles and seasons, perhaps we would all live in natural harmony in this Savage Garden...



These are snaggable *and* taggable...
Tag requests in the comments section...