As this writer soon found out, no one really knows how St. Valentine's Day started. Only that it is a celebration of love with both Roman and Christian origins that have been modified over the passing centuries. Today the real origin of St. Valentine's Day is shrouded in mystery but there are popular legends as to how this day became a part of our celebrated traditions

The legends agree that this day seems to stem from Imperial Roman times - although it wasn't St. Valentine's Day then. Sometime in the third century an annual Roman celebration called The Feast of Lupercus was born. Lupercus was a protective deity who kept the wolves from overrunning Rome and a festival was held in his honour during mid February. One of the customs associated with the feast was the drawing of girl's names from a vase. On Lupercus Eve the young men would drawn these names and the girl he chose would be his "girlfriend" or sexual companion for the year (This is something we at Bacon Magazine are considering reviving). In some cases it was the perfect match and the couple would fall in love (in other cases a year of meaningless sex would result). Emperor Claudius the Second believed that to keep his army strong it was better that his men did not marry and have families that would "tie them down" and affect their work. So, during his reign, he decided to eliminate this conflict and saw the best solution as the outlaw of marriages. To still keep his young men satisfied and happy, the custom of a yearly sexual companion associated with the Feast was upheld.

Some young soldiers and their partners were so in love that they still wanted to participate in the union of marriage and pledge their eternal devotion to each other. Desperate, some couples turned to the new religion of Christianity. Father Valentine was a priest working in Rome at the time. (There seem to be three plausible Valentine stories that have melded into one as the legends have been passed down through the generations). Valentine agreed to marry the desperate couples secretly. Valentine was clearly defying the Emperor, who eventually found out. Upon apprehension Valentine was ordered to renounce his faith. Valentine blatantly refused. While confined in jail it is said that Valentine either fell in love with the jailer's daughter or cured her of blindness. In the story where he cured the young maiden of blindness it is said that she fell so madly in love with him that she tried to have his life spared. Love letters were exchanged in both stories and on the day of his execution by beheading he left her a note and signed it "From your Valentine".

Today we know February 14th as St. Valentine's Day because as the religion Christianity became more prevalent in "modern society", the concerned priests wanted to abolish the pagan custom of The Feast of Lupercus. Unfortunately, due to the popularity, the priests could not just abolish the holiday for fear of losing newly acquired followers. Instead it was decided to Christianize the pagan celebration of the Feast of Lupercus by changing the name and to give further Christian meaning to the day. St. Valentine was chosen as his association with honouring true love seemed appropriate. The popular custom of drawing girls' names that was associated with the Feast was substituted for Saints' names. Then on St. Valentine's Day these Saints' names would be drawn by young people. The youth were supposed to emulate their chosen Saint for the following year. This custom lasted until the fourteenth century.

Sometime during the Middle Ages men and women began to exchange hand-made cards on St. Valentine's Day. Another tradition had been born. These cards were elaborately decorated and contained love dedications and even proposals of marriage. They were never signed, as this was considered bad luck, and thus the tradition of the "secret admirer" started. Valentine's Day cards increased in popularity during the 1700s and the cards were made with the precious materials of satin, ribbon and lace. This was expensive and so most of the general population could not participate. With the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain in the 1800s commercial valentines became available. These cards were still expensive and some were so ornate that they could cost upwards of $10!

The next century saw a new form of Valentine's Day cards called the "Penny Dreadful". These cards were cheap and almost anyone could afford them because they only cost a penny - as the name implies. They were made cheaply, the artwork amateurish and the colouring uneven. The cards contained insults to old maids, teachers and the like (another idea that we may want to bring back). As time passed these hateful sentiments disappeared and were discarded for the more thoughtful sentiments of romance, love, admiration and friendship.

Valentine's Day has changed dramatically over the centuries, and is now celebrated as a cheap commercial holiday in which we can all buy five dollar dreadfuls to give to our loved ones. Despite this, Valentine's Day is still one of your best chances to get lucky. So go out there get some lovin' and spread some happiness.