February 14th, the "Valentine's Day," also known as "Saint Valentine's Day," is a day that requires caution—especially for single people and romantics. As soon as you wake up on Valentine's Day morning, you should look through the keyhole. According to legend, if the first person you see is alone, you will remain single for the whole year; if you see two or more people together, you will definitely find a lover during the year; if you see a rooster and a hen, you will get married before Christmas. However, nowadays, there are few chickens and hens in the yards of households, and there are no chickens in open areas of cities, so seeing a pair of doves or sparrows can have the same effect.
Single men pay special attention to the first person they meet on Valentine's Day morning, because if you are unmarried and looking for a partner, you are destined to marry the first person you see on February 14th, at least this person will play an important role in your life. If you are not shy, you can call your beloved early in the morning and ask for a ride to work. Alternatively, you can stay indoors and go out at noon, which is also a good strategy.
Valentine's Day is one of the oldest festivals in the West, dating back to before the emergence of Christianity, but "Saint Valentine's Day" is a more recent term. According to legend, Saint Valentine was two bishops with the same name in ancient Rome, both of whom were martyred in 270 AD. The last thing they did before their martyrdom was to write love letters to their wives (at that time, priests could be married), after which the name "Saint Valentine's Day" was used in early religious rituals. According to the same legend, on Saint Valentine's Day, birds pair up, bees fly in pairs, and people do the same as well.
In different eras, the ways to predict marriage and attract lovers on Valentine's Day vary. From ancient Rome to the Victorian era, people used two half-open flowers to predict post-marriage conditions. Unmarried men and women planted two half-open flowers, whose names should start with the same letter as their own names. If the two flowers bloomed together, it would indicate a happy marriage for the couple; if the two flowers opened in opposite directions, it would mean the couple would eventually part ways; if the flowers bloomed fully, it would represent a large family with many descendants; if one flower withered or died, it meant that one of the couple would pass away earlier than the other.
If you don't want to leave things to fate, you can try an old method from Buckinghamshire, England: light a candle on the night of Saint Valentine's Day, and insert two needles into the bottom of the candle, making sure they pass through the wick. As you insert them, say: "I am not just piercing a candle, but I am piercing the heart of ×××. Whether he is asleep or awake, I want him to come talk to me." But be careful, choose your dream lover realistically, not someone unattainable. It is said that when the candle burns to the needles, your lover will run to you. The second method is to put your left sock on your right foot every night for a week before Valentine's Day, while muttering: "Dream of the living, not the dead, this is the young man I want to marry." After saying this, you must keep silent until you wake up the next day. The third method is to tie your left sock around your neck before going to sleep. Be careful not to make it too tight, otherwise, if you suffocate yourself, it would be a big mistake.
Unmarried women believe that if they place their shoes in a T-shape under the bed and leave the window open, they will surely dream of their beloved or see him standing by the bed. This method has a higher success rate in rural areas, as her admirer can see the specially arranged shoes through the window.
Although Valentine's Day declined for over 100 years after the Victorian era, today this festival is becoming increasingly popular. Saint Valentine's Day is a festival about love, romance, flowers, chocolates, and cards, which is precious to our hearts.
Customs for celebrating Valentine's Day differ in different eras. Among them, the customs during Queen Victoria's reign from 1837-1901 in Britain were the most unique: On February 14th, couples transplanted a spring branch with two buds into a special pot. The first letter of the flower's name must match the first letter of the names of the couple. A few days later, if the two buds on the spring branch bloomed together, it indicated that the couple would grow old together; if the two buds bloomed in opposite directions, the couple would eventually part ways; if the flowers bloomed large and brightly, it represented a large family full of descendants and happiness; if one flower withered, one of the lovers would face the risk of dying earlier than the other. There was once a custom in Buckinghamshire of praying on the night of Valentine's Day: light a candle and insert two thin needles into its base, passing through the wick, silently reciting the name of your lover, praying for eternal love. When the candle burned to the tip of the needle, it was said that the person you loved would knock on your door. Another custom was: within a week before Valentine's Day, for seven consecutive nights, take off the sock on your left foot and wear it on your right foot, repeating the wish: "May my beloved enter my dreams tonight." It is said that at this time, the god of marriage would throw a red silk thread for you. There was also a custom of taking off the sock and tying it around the neck to pray for love.
After the Victorian era, the customs of Valentine's Day gradually faded, but in the 1930s and 1940s of the 20th century, with the popularity of greeting cards, Valentine's Day became popular again. In some countries, Valentine's Day has evolved into a trend where women express affection to men, thus March 14th has become "Reverse Valentine's Day," when men give gifts to women to "repay love."
Valentine's Day is a day for friends, a day for family, and a day for lovers. In the West, Valentine's Day is not only the best time to express affection, but also the best time to propose to the person you love. In this sense, does not Valentine's Day reflect the original intention of the Romans in creating this festival?
