Its that day again folks,

The day all couples are glad they are couple, and the day all singles laugh in the face of couples because they don't have to spend any false sense of endearment on another person.

Thats right folks, its Saint Valentines Day.

The man with the soft touch and..wait a second, who exactly was Saint Valentine and why do we hold a day in his honour?

Well there wasn't just one sanctified man called Valentine but several and the Valentine that we all pay homage too, well nothing is known about him except that he was buried on the fourteenth day of february. And the feast of Saint Valentine didn't start to be celebrated until Pope Gelasius I, 'who included Valentine among those "... whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God." As Gelasius implied, nothing was known, even then, about the lives of any of these martyrs.' --> as per wiki.

So why do we celebrate a day to a bunch of guys no-one really knows about? We can thank Chaucer for that. Oh that deliciously fiesty poet of old, lacing our hearts and minds with the foul lies of true love.

'For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese [choose] his make [mate]. ' from Parlenment of Foules (Geoffrey Chaucer)

It was written in honour of the first aniversary of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia in 1381, twenty years later, in France they used the courts of law to establish a High Court of Love on Valentines day, and it was established to deal with adultery, abuse against women and love contracts. Oh Yah, the french had that shit down. You know how the judges got the job?? Women judged them on poetry readings. Thats some pretty fantastic shit!

The legends of Valentines Day are really unbelievable, if you have a beating heart in your chest, and have ever been given chocolate or woo'd especially on this day, you should read up on it. If anything it'll remind you why humans are meant to be polyamorous...love is breif, love is fleeting but when it happens it sure is nice.

((on a personal note, as a pagan, valentines day means very little to me religiously but I don't think very many people see this day as a true holy day anymore and as a woman who likes to be pampered occasionally, its nice to be blessed with happy thoughts on a day dedicated to love, as misconstrued as it is. ))