A quarter-century ago, that canny U.S. organization the National Potato Promotion Board, declared February to be National Potato Lover’s Month. This, as Rebecca Rupp observed in her fascinating book, "Blue Corn and Square Tomatoes," (1987), was nicely timed to overlap Valentine’s Day. Alas, for the lowly spud, this was nothing more than a clear case of blowing their own tuber. No such claim has survived to the present day,
at least not here.
This year though, two ancient celebrations could be celebrated together. The Chinese lunar new year also falls on 14 February, acclaimed as the ‘Year of the Tiger.’
In Ancient Rome, Lupercalia, 13th to 15th February was an archaic rite connected with fertility. Abolished by Pope Gelasius I (492-496), Lupercalia was so deeply ingrained, however, that the Church christianized it, naming it after two among numerous early Christian martyrs named Valentino. The general festival of Juno Februa, ‘the chaste Juno,’ was also celebrated 13 to 15 February. Lovebirds were associated with Geoffrey Chaucer’s 1382 poem, but it has been argued that it is too early a date for birds native to England to mate, obviously by those not familiar with the sex life of starlings or house sparrows.
The first Valentine was written in the 15th century by the imprisoned Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while being held prisoner in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt (1415). By 1797 British publishers were producing cards and these became common the following century. This year, it is estimated that one billion cards will be sent worldwide – plus flowers, confectionery and other gifts. Unlike most similar celebrations, men spend twice as much money as women.
“My Luve’s is like a red, red rose/ That’s newly sprung in June,” proclaimed Scotland’s beloved Robert Burns just two years before his untimely death in 1796. Roses continue to be the flower for Valentine’s gifting, with the red rose, the flower of Venus, said to denote love and passion, predominating. One of the West’s best-known Eastern poets had many a reference to roses. Omar Khayyám (1048-1121), born and died at Naishápúr (Neyshapur) in Khorassán (today’s Iran) was a Persian polymath: mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, physician and poet who also wrote treatises on mechanics, geography and music; his mausoleum remains today. “My tomb shall be in a spot where the north wind may scatter roses over it,” he told a pupil, Khwájah Nizámi of Samarcand, during a conversation in a garden.
It may well have been the ‘Persian Yellow’ rose, still available today and, in more modern times, believed to represent friendship and sweetheart, as do pink roses. Coral roses indicate desire, white true love and purity of mind, while peach-coloured roses tell of desire and appreciation. Black roses tell that it’s all over, finis, kaput. The Persian custom of ‘language of flowers’ was introduced into Europe by King Charles XII of Sweden in 1700s who presumably encountered it while he was being sheltered in Turkey during a long and adventurous life, eventually falling not alas to love, but a stray bullet while invading Norway. The language of flowers became a literary tradition of Victoria England, France and America, according to Susan Loy: Flowers, the Angels’ Alphabet (2001) in her chapter on Literary Calligraphy The Turkish language of flowers and objects known as selam. The flower associations used by Victorians came from Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Greek and Roman culture, mythology and religions. Traces still persist to day as in the charming little pansy Heartsease (Viola tricolor), once a symbol of romance between courting couples.
Looking for a more unusual gift? In their 2010 Herb Catalogue,
Richters of Goodwood, Ontario offers seeds for such aphrodisiacs as Eryngium campestre, Peganum harmala, Tribulus terrestris, Verbena officinalis, and Vitex agnus-castus. Also offered are dried leaves or liquid extract of Epimedium macranthum and Tunera diffusa. Any one or more might make an appropriate Valentine’s gift for the office lothario. Or how about their special blend of ginseng, damiana, and half-a-dozen other ‘stimulating herbs’ – their words – in what Richters is pleased to call Cupid’s Tonic Tea, nine bucks for a hundred grams.
After that, it only remains to record that seven years ago, on Valentines Day 2003, 29 couples pledged their troth in the Hedonism III Resort Bar, Jamaica, in the world’s largest group nude wedding – so far.
