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Love For Infinity
By: Vanscoy Diamonds
Still trying to think what you can do for Valentine's Day? Let Van Scoy Diamonds bring you a quick history lesson regarding Valentine's Day and tell you about some great infinity jewelry.
The specific Saint that Valentine's Day is in honor of is a little wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey as the Catholic Encyclopedia cites three different men, all with the last name of Valentine, who were martyred. The most 'popular' theory is that the day is dedicated to a holy priest who was killed for defying Claudius the Cruel of Rome in approximately 278 A.D.
Claudius had been trying to grow his army, but finding conscripts short, and felt that it was because men were unwilling to leave their wives and families. As a result he outlawed marriage. Valentine continued to perform marriages in secret. When Claudius discovered Valentine's subversion he ordered him arrested, he was found guilty and sentenced to die. The act was carried out on February 14th.
Another belief as to why February 14th was chosen is that it coincided with the pagan festival of Lupercalia. This was a spring festival of cleansing, likely to have predated the Roman Empire, that was to get rid of evil spirits and held typically between February 12-15th. This is believed to derive from the Roman god, Lupercus, an anthropomorphic wolf creature and is associated with the Greek god Faun. Ironically, given the European tales of devious wolves and sheep, Lupercus was a god of shepherds. Through history the festive rites progressed, until about the late Republic of Rome in which they climaxed with sacrificing two goats and a dog on the alter, men wearing the skins of goats, running around the city walls, and lashing young women and girls to ensure fertility, aid them in childbirth and prevent sterility. Later the Roman Catholic Church was convinced that young women's names wold be drawn by lot to be selected for young men. The following point has been debated by researchers, but a popular theory, regardless of the particulars of the festival, is the Roman Church-- at the direction of Pope Gelasius in 496 A.D. declared February 14th to be St. Valentine's Day in order to replace the festival of Lupercalia.
Now the dedication to St. Valentine's Day has permeated our western culture. Starting in grade school with the dramatic Valentine card exchange and the barely edible yet ever popular box of heart-shaped message candy and for those who are a bit older with some disposable income, exchanging jewelry, chocolate, flowers and other gifts demonstrating love.
Hopefully you've found your soul mate and your love is forever or maybe you have a family member that you want to get them something special to let them know how much you appreciate them. Consider the symbolism of the infinity designed jewelry.