Saint Valentine’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Day of Heart or Feast of the Heart, is a February 14th holiday, commonly celebrated by the early Christians, named after the Christian martyrs, Saint Valentine. Some 14 martyr saints including Saint Valentine was executed during the ancient Rome ruling. Saint Valentine tried to convert Roman Emperor Claudius ll from being a pagan. Valentine’s name origin was derived from “Valens”, which means “strong, powerful and worthy”. Valentine was born on April 16, and was buried on February 14. Before Saint Valentine’s execution, he wrote a love letter to a girl he met and healed, and fell in love with her. Thus, the Valentine cards and love letters was believed to originate. Love is a passionate feeling, profound tender affection to another person, attachment for a parent, child and friend or an admiration for the attractive quality of the opposite or same sex partners. Eros, is the god of love in Ancient Greek myth, which rendered “love” into English word. The three types of love, in which Eros referred to as an intimate love or romantic love are the; storge to affection or fondness to an individual person; philia to brotherly love, friendly love and love for family; and lastly the agape refers to selfless love or unconditional love to an individual. Platonic love, a decent, modest and non-lustful love to an individual, such as childhood friend or long time friends.
1) Eros, Greek Myth God of Love
2) Storge Love
3) Agape Love
4) Philia Love and Platonic Love
5) Romantic Love is an affection and love for an individual, a feeling that excites an individual after a meeting or introduction, the feeling of excitement and pleasure, and the mysterious emotion of love. Then the romance can lead to dating, courtship, marriage proposal and engagement and marriage.
Introducing New friends
May-December Love Affair
Love is Blind: Love without reservation and lovers are blind to their partners fault or mistakes, or when you truly love a person, it could be an overwhelming love, that the person blind of that love, don’t realized what is going on around them.
6) Dating
Blind Dates
Blind date is a date with unknown person, introduced by friends or family member or an office mate. The date can end up into romance or worse nightmare.
Virtual Date
7) Courtship
8) Holding Hands
9) Cuddle / Hug
10) Kissing is an act of love, affection and emotion towards an individual to another person.
11) Marriage Proposal and Engagement or Betrothal is a promise to marry his /her fiancee.
Engagement Announcement and Wedding Date
12) Infatuation most of the time mistaken for true love, and an act of emotionally carried away by an unreasonable passion of love.
13) Erotomania is an obsessive love or a kind of delusion, believing that a famous person, is in love with her or him. Stalkers are believed to be suffering of erotomania. An example is Margaret Mary Ray, who was obsessed to David Letterman and began stalking him. Miss Ray was believed to be suffering from schizophrenia, a mental disorder, and committed suicide on October 5, 1998.
14) Broken Heart
15) Internal Attraction is a act of discreet motion of attraction physically and affection that can lead to friendship and romantic relationship between two people. Internal attraction involves physical attraction not only to beauty and attractive, but can also fall in love to unattractive person, and also related on how much we “like, dislike, hate or sense of smell, what you hear, taste and touch”. Internal attraction can be defined as an act between tow people, that can bind them together or also can lead to misunderstanding and separation.
16) Valentine’s Day or Feast of the Heart
17) Valentine’s Day in Japan
Japan’s Valentine’s Day is called White Day celebrated on March 14, where office girls are obliged to give gift to their male office mates, male friends whom they thought they love or like and give the hommei-choko (favorite chocolates), giri-choko (obligatory chocolates) to the man they feel neutrally) and the cho-giri-choko (a super obligatory and cheapest chocolates) to the man whom they disliked and unpopular. Man who received the expensive gifts on White Day, should give back more expensive gifts to the giver.
South Korea Valentine’s Day (White Day and Black Day)
In South Korea, Valentine’s Day or White Day is observed by giving candies instead of chocolates to their partners, and dedicate aspects of love every 14th day of the month such as White Day or Valentine’s Day on February 14, Black Day on April 14, where all single people get-to-know each other gathering, eating the traditional black noodles called Jajangmyeon to celebrate their singleness.
The Pepero is a cookie stick. dipped in choco syrup, which they celebrate every November 11 as their Valentine’s day which is also celebrated in China.
18) Valentine’s Day in France, Weird and Strange
In France, a weird custom they call “une loterie de amour”, the single men and women gather in a house, facing each other and yell with each other in a form of “argument”, and after the yelling scene, they would be paired off. But if the man disliked his partner, he leaved the woman in the middle of the feast day. The woman which could be declined, builds a bonfire in the night and burn the pictures of the man who abandoned them. However, the French government banned these malicious practice.
Valentine’s Day in the UK
In the UK, children sing sweet songs in return of candies, fruits or gifts. Single women believed that early in the morning, and the first man they meet on the street or see outside the window, will be their future partner.
Valentine’s Day in Africa
In the rural areas of Zambia they still follow the traditional way of Valentine’s Day, by giving chicken, vegetables or any kind of gift that will make the recipient happy. Some prepare a special meal like cow, chicken, or goat which they could afford only on special occasions, showing their love and appreciation to their love ones on the heart festival.
Dragobete Valentine’s Day
The Traditional Romanian festival of the heart is celebrated on February 24, and also known as the “mating season of birds”, as they begin to build their nests. Dragobete is the day of lovers, and their common belief, that stepping on their partner’s foot, means he/she can dominate the partner with their relationship.
19) China’s Valentine’s Day : Qixi Festival
China Singles Day, November 11
20) Valentine’s Day , Day of Heart, Day of Love
Gothic Valentine’s Day
Jewish Valentine’s Day
The Jewish celebrates the festival of love or Av-TuB’av is celebrated on the 15th day or late August, and girls wear white dress and dance in the vineyards, where the male partners are waiting for them. However, the modern Israel culture, Valentine’s Day is the day for engagement and marriage proposals, giving gift of cards and flowers.
Malaysia
The government of Malaysia banned Valentine’s Day celebration since the country is dominated bu Islamic religion. But for the Christians in Malaysia, the traditional way of celebrating Valentine is to write their phone numbers in the river, hoping that, the man of her dreams would pick it up and call her. Most of the fruit vendors, picked up the floating oranges with the phone numbers on it and sell it, and considered them as lucky fruits. And lucky for the girl if someone text or call her number.
Philippines Valentine’s Day / The Lovapalooza
Vinegar Valentines: Insulting greeting cards and come from different forms of insult, with cartoon characters and insulting kinds of poetry or messages. Some of these greeting cards are sent by bullies, or someone who hated or dislike one type of recipient such as the spinsters (or old maiden), floozy (or prostitutes), scholars (nerds, genius, weird people), and the dude (male and female, an informal person with fancy or sharp attire and become unique to other people).