Hearts are fluttering with anticipation, delighting with bliss, radiant with joy, inspired by their special day of love. Breathtakingly beautiful in ruby red and pastel pink, gushing and blushing in exquisite flaming shades of red, the colour of love, the world rejoices this Valentine Day, the feast of the noblest of human emotions. It was almost two decades since Valentine's Day fell on a Thursday, the day of our publication. Since we have not revisited it since the year 2002, we thought it appropriate to renew our enthusiasm for this unique day of romance. What is it — this mysteriously, magical, “many-splendoured thing” called love? Why is it as bewitching and bewildering, weaving equal yards of pleasure and pain, agony and ecstasy? Moreover, why is it celebrated in midwinter rather than with April's roses or May's fragrant posies, when Spring is King and Nature is reborn? And who is this obscure and enigmatic saint that has flooded the world with love for centuries? Historians believe that a feast for love and lovers started as early as the fourth century BC when Romans celebrated Lupercalia, an annual young man's rite of passage, to the god Lupercus. Determined to put an end to this 800-year-old practice, the early church fathers sought a “lovers” saint to replace the Romans' pagan deity. They found a likely candidate in Valentine, a bishop who had been martyred some 200 years earlier. Valentine, bishop of Interamna had enraged the mad emperor Claudius II who had issued an edict abolishing young men to marry because the empire needed soldiers. Valentine defied the emperor by secretly inviting young couples to be joined in matrimony. Claudius ordered his execution and while in jail he fell in love with Asterius, his jailer's blind daughter. As legend goes, her sight was miraculously restored in answer to Valentine's ardent prayers. The day of his execution, 14 February, 269 AD, Valentine sent a farewell message to his beloved Asterius signed: “From your Valentine”, a phrase that has lived to this day. Valentine was the ideal candidate to usurp the popularity of Lupercus, and in time the pagan feast was relinquished and replaced by the holy day of the patron saint. In 469 AD, 200 years after his execution, Pope Gelasius declared 14 February St Valentine's Day. As Christianity spread, so did Valentine's Day. The custom of young men offering handwritten greetings of affection gained in popularity throughout the Christian world. The earliest extant Valentine's card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans to his wife while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London. It is now on exhibit at the British Museum. Cupid, the naked cherub, son of Venus, armed with arrows dipped in a love potion became a popular Valentine image. Handmade cards were replaced by printed ones, in the 1800s, reaching over two billion cards sent in this millennium. For florists there is no better day than today. Flowers express our finest feelings, from weddings to funerals and every occasion in between. For more than 50,000 years people have placed flowers on the graves of loved ones as a sign of remembrance and affection. Flowers are the lovers' most popular offering. The red rose is a symbol of a throbbing heart, gushing with passionate love is a favoured for its colour, fragrance and loveliness. Besides cards and roses, chocolate sales reach billions of dollars. Why chocolates? Apart from the pleasing flavour, chocolates possess a high concentration of energy producing compounds and mild stimulants of the central nervous system. If you have not yet decided on any of the above expressions of love, not to worry. Valentine has become a merchandising dream producing all sorts of rosy and pink novelties to please your beloved. Jewellers produce heart-shaped items of brilliant diamonds, rubies, garnets and other gems that will melt her/his heart and if your budget is limited you can find several items of clothing with Valentine motifs. Bakers too provide red sweets, cakes, cookies, tarts and even mousses garnished with hearts and cupids; and how can we neglect to mention euphoric perfumes that exhilarate the intoxicated lover? Sentimental music and romantic melodies add to the magic seven delirium. A million writers have tried to analyse this thing called love, but do we really know why our knees wobble, why our palms sweat, why are butterflies flying in our stomachs, why do we blush, why are we stuttering and stammering, why our hearts beating a million times per second? What is causing this delicious, disturbing sensation? It is a chemical, believe it or not, called “Phenyl-ethylamine” or PEA, closely related to amphetamine and producing the same effect. This natural “upper” brought about by the release of PEA contributes to that “on top of the world” feeling. Chocolates deliver the same stimulant. The release of PEA sets off a chemical reaction in the brain that unleashes the neurotransmitter “dopamine”, similar to “adrenaline”. Dopamine, as potent as morphine, makes you feel better as long as the stimulus is there. All these chemicals have a profound impact on the limbic system of the brain, the seat of our emotion. The cortex, responsible for logical thinking, is overruled by the limbic system. We cannot think straight, for we are drunk with love. Is there a better way to be drunk? Catch your million stars. Love and be loved. It is Valentine's Day. 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“The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved.” Victor Hugo (I802-1885)
