Dark Heart
ROSIEL
The fatal beginnings, strange rituals and common gifts of Valentine's Day
By Elizabeth Marvel, Jayplay writer
Our story begins with a Catholic bishop named Valentine who unlawfully married couples around A.D. 270. Emperor Claudius of Rome decided that married men made horrible warriors, so he banned marriage to make his army more powerful. Even though Valentine heard Claudius' decree, he continued to marry loving couples. When Claudius discovered Valentine's treachery, he sentenced the saint to death by stoning and beheading.
Not so romantic now, eh, Valentine?
This is just the beginning of the history of Valentine's Day, a holiday surrounded by mystery. Richard Kay, KU professor of history, says the stories of Saint Valentine are legends, and no one knows the truth behind the holiday. It's rumored that while in jail, Valentine fell in love with the jailer's blind daughter. History writer Jerry Wilson says that Valentine's love supposedly cured her blindness, and before his death he wrote her the first valentine, signing it, "From your Valentine." After that day, Roman men used the holiday commemorating Saint Valentine's death to give their loved ones letters and tokens of affection.
Though many think Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February because of Saint Valentine, other scholars think it was the Catholic Church's attempt to "christianize" the ancient Roman pagan fertility festival of Lupercalia.
According to the History Channel's website, www.historychannel.com, Lupercalia began as a festival honoring Faunus, the god of agriculture, and Rome's founders, Romulus and Remus. On Lupercalia, a group of Roman priests would gather at the cave where Romulus and Remus were supposedly raised by a female wolf, Lupa. The priests would sacrifice goats for fertility and dogs for purification. Then they would cut up the goat's hide, slather the pieces in sacrificial blood and go around town, slapping women and fields of crops with the hides to increase their fertility.
The festival had other strange traditions. All unmarried young women put their names in a large urn, and bachelors of the city chose a name. The women they chose were their mates for the next year. Though many of these pairings resulted in marriage, the system was eventually banned.
Skip forward to the 18th century. While the people of Great Britain didn't pick their mates from a jar, they did begin giving each other love notes around this time. Toward the end of the century printing improvements allowed for pre-printed valentines, making valentines an economical way to show one's love. Americans began celebrating Valentine's Day at about the same time as the British.
American cards were at first handmade, but printing presses soon caught up and were mass-producing valentines by the mid-1800s.
Today, people exchange valentines every February 14.
So, It's two days until Valentine's Day. Do you have a gift for your sweetie? If not, two easy and romantic options for last-minute shoppers are roses and chocolate — things your significant other will swoon over.
Roses are one of the most popular gifts for Valentine's Day. At Englewood Florist, 1101 Massachusetts St., owner Susan Engle says they sell 8,000 to 9,000 roses on Valentine's Day. On an average day, Engle has only about 400 roses in the store.
Engle says roses are special because they used to be available only at certain times a year. The tradition of giving this unique flower at the beginning of rose season has continued today. "They make the person feel special and happy," Engle says of the flowers typically associated with romance. "It's the only time of year some people give and receive flowers."
So, you say she's allergic to flowers? Give another romantic gift: chocolates. At Russell Stover's, 1300 West 23rd St., Valentine's season makes up 20 percent of their yearly profits. Store manager Carole Morgan says this year's Valentine's Day order was over 10,000 boxes of chocolate, and she says it's popularity comes from the idea that chocolate is "an aphrodisiac. It's a luxury item — you don't get chocolate every day." Morgan says. "It's a very romantic gift."
In the spirit of Valentine's Day, Manual shows you how to make chocolates for your valentine. Surely you'll get some lovin' for all your hard work and romantic thought.
— Elizabeth Marvel can be reached at emarvel@kansan.com
Photo: Megan True
Do-it-Yourself Chocolate Truffles Courtesy of Midwest Living
Ingredients:
- 12 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
·1/4 cup whipping cream
*1/4 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder or 1/3 cup finely chopped almonds, pecans or walnuts.
Make it:
1. Put chocolate in a saucepan. In another saucepan, heat the cream until it just starts to boil. Stir cream frequently.
2. Pour the cream over the chocolate, cover the pan and let it stand for three to four minutes until the chocolate melts.
3. Stir until blended.
4. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.
5. Drop by spoonfuls on to a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
6. Roll each piece of candy into a ball, then roll in cocoa powder or chopped nuts.
7. Serve at room temperature.
While ice covers the ground and the blistering wind howls through the streets of Lawrence, it's important to maintain the heater in your house. John White, operations manager at Cloud Heating and Air Conditioning Co., has some tips so you don't sleep nights without heat.
— Make sure you understand the thermostat. The thermostat works like a light switch. This means that the temperature reading on the dial does not correspond with the temperature inside your home. The reading on the dial reveals what temperature you desire your abode to be. Thermostats are designed to be left on in their automatic mode, without being turned off and on. Continuous energy flow allows them to work at their best potential.
The thermostat is an extremely fragile piece of equipment with highly sensitive meters. Beating your appliance into submission does not apply in the world of heating gadgets.
Replace the vent filters regularly.
Inspect the door panels on the heater. Models built within the past five to 10 years have doors that prevent noxious fumes from releasing in the living quarters. If the doors are not shut properly, sensors prevent the heater from turning on.
— If nothing works, White says to check the circuit breaker and reset the system in the electric panel. Older houses in the "student ghetto" district of Lawrence have fuses, which need to be replaced if they blow out.
- if problems persist, call your landlord or a repirman.
"I don't recommend the average person to start monkeying around with the equipment," White says, "or else it causes future problems for the repairman."
Guillaume Doan
2022.04 Joulien
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