Valentine’s Day: How Imagination and Self-Love can Enrich this Romantic Holiday

Valentine’s Day: How Imagination and Self-Love Can Enrich This Romantic Holiday
By Marianna Lead, Ph.D. and Carol Maglio

Valentine’s Day: love, romance, chocolate and roses. Where did this tradition begin? How did it become associated with love and romance? Who was Valentine? Is there a way for everyone to feel good about celebrating this holiday – whether or not they are in a healthy, loving relationship?

The history of Valentine’s Day is quite mysterious. It seems to have its roots in Christian and ancient Roman traditions. In ancient Rome, the festival of Lupercalia was the fertility celebration observed February 13th through the 15th and was local to the city of Rome. February was considered the beginning of Spring, so the festival was supposed to ward off evil spirits and purify the city — releasing health and fertility. Lupercalia is not the direct ancestor of Valentine’s Day, but its combination of fun, fertility and erotic elements of the celebration as well as the dates link them together.

The Catholic Church recognizes many different martyrs named Valentine. Although Valentine did exist, the story that associated him with the holiday is largely based on legend. The legend that is prevalent stems from a priest who served during third century Rome named Valentine. At that time, Emperor Claudius II declared that marriage was outlawed for young men. It was his belief that single men made better soldiers, since they did not have ties to a wife or children.

Valentine disagreed with this law and secretly continued to perform marriages for young lovers. When Claudius II discovered what Valentine was doing, he threw him in prison. While there, Valentine supposedly restored sight to the jailer’s blind daughter, with whom he formed a deep friendship. Before his execution, the legend claims that he wrote her a farewell message and signed it, “From your Valentine”. That was on February 14th in 270 AD and the phrase has lived on ever since.

The Christian and ancient Roman traditions were combined in 496 AD. At that time, Pope Gelasius turned the festival of Lupercalia into a Christian Feast Day to be celebrated on February 14th and dedicated it to the priest — who by then had been recognized as a saint – and St. Valentine’s Day was officially born.

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By the 18th century, it was common in England to give gifts and exchange hand-made cards on February 14th. This tradition then made its way to the American colonies. It was in the 1840’s that Esther A. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” created the first mass-produced, hand-made greeting cards for Valentine’s Day that were sold in America.

Most countries celebrate Valentine’s Day although some have an equivalent holiday at another time of the year. All of the celebrations revolve around love and the expression of that love. Each country has a tradition whether it is giving flowers, candy, gifts or even various rituals to express the sentiment of romance.

So, is there a way for everyone to feel good about celebrating this holiday – whether or not they are romantically involved? The answer is YES.

The perfect place to start is with YOU. You can’t possibly love someone or be open to love unless you love and accept yourself first. Sure, we all want to improve. But wanting to improve is about living and growing. Wanting to improve is about accepting where you are and wanting to get to the next step, next level, next learning. Wanting to improve has nothing to do with accepting and loving yourself as you are NOW. Just because you want to get into better physical shape doesn’t mean you don’t love your body as it is today. Just because you want to get a better education doesn’t mean that you don’t appreciate your intelligence as it is today. And so on….

Hopefully, when you meet your soul mate (in case you haven’t already), you can grow and keep on improving together — loving yourself and each other, every step of the way throughout your life.

The beautiful thing is: when you truly feel self-love, you begin to want to express your love to those whom you love. It doesn’t matter if you have a romantic love, a family love, or a friendly love for them. Love is love and all love is beautiful.

There are many ways you can express your love for the special people in your life. Cooking a delicious meal is a perfect way! What better gift than giving your love created through food? Before you start cooking, try this: Feel love for the people you cook for and surround yourself with that energy of love. Imagine this energy as golden pink bubbles all around you, bouncing about in a happy dance. Breathe in that energy of love and imagine that energy flowing out of your fingers as you cook that meal. Everything you touch and put into the dish is an expression of your love and comes from a place of love. As a finishing touch, try placing your hands above your serving platter and sprinkling it with your loving energy.

This loving attitude will not only surround the food you create but will be present in all that you do — even in your table setting. You might want to place candles all over the room and sprinkle rose petals all around… Have fun… be creative…

So with this process in mind, why not make that meal with the loving attitude for yourself, your family or friends? Anyone would appreciate feeling the love that was created through the food you prepare. Most importantly, you will be feeling good about sharing your loving creation with others as well as feeling the self-love you discovered along the way. Go ahead… give it a try!

In the spirit of the history of this holiday, we thought we would share a recipe using chocolate.

Loving Chocolate Fondue

Makes approximately 6 servings

1 cup organic heavy cream (plus a little extra for thinning)
12 ounces finely chopped good-quality dark chocolate (less than 70% cacao)
��¾ teaspoon espresso powder
��¾ teaspoon all- natural vanilla extract

Optional foods to dip: Strawberries, banana slices, pineapple chunks, marshmallows, pretzel sticks, angel food cake

Stir all ingredients together over a double boiler until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Check for dipping consistency and add more cream a little at a time until desired thickness is reached.
Transfer into a fondue pot and place over candle flame to keep warm. Serve immediately with desired dipping foods.

Marianna Lead, PhD, PCC is a Transformational Coach and Hypnotherapist. She is the Founder/Executive Director of Goal Imagery� Institute and ICF Approved Coach Training Program. Her coaching & hypnosis individual sessions are offered in person, by phone & Skype. She offers keynotes on a variety of personal development topics. You may also purchase her hypnosis CDs (Stress Release, Weight Loss, Stop Smoking, Improving Memory, and others). Please visit her site at http://www.drlead.com

Carol Maglio is a Health & Wellness Coach certified at Goal Imagery� Institute. In the process of conquering cancer, Carol discovered a healthful lifestyle that balances the mind, body and spirit, keeping her happy and healthy. If you are interested in creating a healthy approach to life with the right diet and attitude, you may contact her for individual coaching sessions at livingwellcoaching@yahoo.com Carol is currently writing a holistic cookbook based on this concept and the principals of Oriental medicine with Dr. Ken Grey.

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