Some states are Red
Some states are Blue
Bipartisan politics?
How about you?
Honestly, I don't know where that little diddy came from or what it has to do with V-Day. I suppose one could make the connection that both politics and V-Day are manufactured concepts created to bring us together but, in fact, tear us apart. I mean, look at all the expectation built up around V-Day. Let's leave politics for another discussion. Was Saint Valentine the saint of love anyway? Here's the scoop:
The roots of St. Valentine's Day lie in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, which was celebrated on Feb. 15. For 800 years the Romans had dedicated this day to the god Lupercus. On Lupercalia, a young man would draw the name of a young woman in a lottery and would then keep the woman as a sexual companion for the year.
Pope Gelasius I was, understandably, less than thrilled with this custom. So he changed the lottery to have both young men and women draw the names of saints whom they would then emulate for the year (a change that no doubt disappointed a few young men). Instead of Lupercus, the patron of the feast became Valentine. For Roman men, the day continued to be an occasion to seek the affections of women, and it became a tradition to give out handwritten messages of admiration that included Valentine's name.
There was also a conventional belief in Europe during the Middle Ages that birds chose their partners in the middle of February. Thus the day was dedicated to love, and people observed it by writing love letters and sending small gifts to their beloved. Legend has it that Charles, duke of Orleans, sent the first real Valentine card to his wife in 1415, when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. (He, however, was not beheaded, and died a half-century later of old age.)
Hm. Beheadings, bird sex, and Romans. This explains alot and makes me long for the Roman society. Love would be so much less complicated if it were decided in a lottery and only lasted for a year. Perhaps I should start a movement to ressurect the Roman way of life. After all, when in Rome . . .
