February 14th is the most romantic occasion of the year that you can surprise your sweetheart by sending Valentine’s Day gift to Iran from afar. A single branch of red rose or a bouquet of hundred, a box of assorted chocolates or a delicious cake, a famous fragrant perfume or a shiny jewelry…
There’s no difference which one you choose as a V-Day gift. Because the main purpose of gift giving, especially from afar, is to show how much you love and care about someone dear. The 14th day of February is a busy day for lovers. Choosing the best gift, flower, greeting card and tasty chocolates for the one who is so special, is so sweet and memorable for everyone.
Even those who are living in abroad, plan to send Valentine’s Day gift to Iran for the love of their life through gift and flower delivery services. But before choosing the right gift, it’s not bad to know more about this special day. Its origin, the changes it faced during the time and its interesting facts.
1- Valentine’s Day was a religious feast day!
The story of Valentine dates back to around 270 A.D. in Rome Empire. During that time, the Christians were in the minority but as the days passed, their small population began to grow and increase. As many Romans were converting to Christianity, the Emperor Claudius II, who was a pagan, decided to create strict laws on what Christians were allowed to do.
Also the dictator Emperor of Rome believed that the Roman soldiers should devote themselves completely to Rome Empire and nothing should distract them from serving the army and country. So he passed a law that banned the soldiers from getting married.
A brave priest named Valentine, began to marry the soldiers in secret Christian ceremonies and he gained his reputation for believing in the importance of love. Myth or reality, a person who risks his life for bonding two lovers, is truly a Hero!
After some time, the emperor found out about Valentine’s secret service for the soldiers. So by the emperor’s order, he was jailed, tortured and finally executed for the romantic crime he committed! About 200 years later, when Rome had become Christian, the Catholic Church decided to eliminate and stamp-out any paganism remained in society.
So the Pope decided to put an end to a pagan fertility festival that was held every year in February 15th. He announced 14 February Saint Valentine’s Day as the feast day on the Catholic Calendar of Saints instead of the old pagan festival.
2- Valentine’s Day was a replacement for a pagan fertility ritual!
As we mentioned earlier, the Pope of Catholic Church of Rome abolished a pagan fertility festival and proclaimed Saint Valentine’s Day as the feast day. Many historians believe that St. Valentine’s Day is actually an offshoot for that pagan ritual. This festival was called Lupercalia or Luperca which was an ancient pagan festival of promoting health and fertility held each year in the middle of February in Rome.
Based on this ritual, men would strip naked and sacrifice a dog and a goat. The young boys would take the sacrificed animal’s stripes and whip young women. They believed this would promote the fertility!
After this sacrificing ritual, each man would take out the name of a young woman written on a paper from a jar. They would pair up together during the current festival or until the next one in the next year. Many of them would fall in love with each other and get married.
After promoting Christianity in Rome, when Pope Gelasius came to power in the end of fifth century, he abolished Lupercalia and declared 14 February the day of feast to cherish the martyred Saint Valentine.
3- More than one Saint Valentine!
Historians estimate there are more than 30 Valentines but two of them are the candidates to have the namesake Saint. It is believed that these two were both martyred in the way of God.
The first Valentine was the priest who was arrested during the time of strict laws against Christians in Rome. He was the one who held secret marriage ceremonies for Roman soldiers.
Priest Valentine was brought to the court and he was ordered by Emperor to give up his faith, but he didn’t. For this reason, he was punished and jailed. While in jail, his prisoner challenged his faith and asked Valentine to show the power of his God.
It is said that Valentine healed the blind eyes of a girl who is believed to be the prisoner’s daughter whom the priest signed his final letter to her with “Your Valentine”, the famous phrase we use now in the love notes.
Anyway, healing the blind eyes of the girl by Valentine caused the prisoners to believe in priest’s God. So when the miracle and converting news reached the emperor, he ordered to execute poor Valentine!
And now we get to the second Valentine. It is said that during that time, there was a miracle worker named Bishop Valentine of Terni. He was famous for healing the physical disabilities and disorders among people. A scientist and researcher had a son who was not able to talk and also couldn’t straighten his body. The scientist heard about this miracle worker and sent for him to come and heal his poor son.
After praying in just one night, Bishop Valentine healed the boy and all of the people were present there, including the family members and other researchers, converted to Christianity. The news of healing and converting reached to emperor and he executed Bishop Valentine on February 14th.
4. Geoffrey Chaucer linked Love to Valentine’s Day!
As we mentioned, Valentine’s Day was at first a religious feast in the Catholic Saint Calendar. But the question is how did a religious occasion turn into a romantic one? The answer of this question is Geoffrey Chaucer!
He was a famous English poet and author who was born on 1340 in London. He is best known for one of his works named Canterbury Tales. But one of his works named The Parliament of Foules is the one that linked romance to Valentine’s Day.
This poem has approximately 700 lines that is about some birds looking for mate. It is believed that the poet wrote this work to honor the marriage of King Richard II of England with Ann of Bohemia after 5 years of negotiation. But how a poem about birds mating can create a 20 billion industry in 600 years later, is one of the interesting facts about Valentine’s Day.
It is said February is the month when birds look for mate. In Parliament of Foules, Chaucer mentioned the February 14th, Valentine’s Day, as the date when the birds in his story start to look for their true love.
So thanks to Chaucer and his birds, Valentine’s Day was linked to love and romance! After Chaucer, other poets and authors like the famous playwright William Shakespeare, used this special day as a romantic date too. As he mention it in Hamlet, act 4, scene 5: “To-morrow is Saint Valentine’s Day, All in the morning betime, And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine!”
5- Celebrating Valentine’s Day is forbidden in some countries!
As we mentioned earlier, Valentine’s Day was declared as a religious holiday by Catholic Church of Rome in the past. That is why some people believe that this occasion belongs to Christians and there’s no place for this day in other countries with other official religions.
But the truth is that Valentine’s Day in modern age is only about love and couples celebrating February 14th as a romantic occasion. So basically it has nothing to do with Christianity or religion. But in some countries, it is forbidden to celebrate this occasion. Can’t believe it? Well, here you can see a short list of anti-V-Day countries!
Malaysia
In 2005, the nation’s highest council of Islamic law announced Valentine’s Day directly opposed and contrasted to Islam. You ask why? It is said that this occasion has “elements of Christianity”. The Malaysian Christians tried to convince the authorities to reconsider because Valentine’s Day is no more about religion, but they were unsuccessful. After this, authorities began mass arrests of couples suspected to celebrate V-Day in public places like parks, restaurants or hotels.
Pakistan
Another anti Valentine’s Day country is Pakistan. The official religion of this country is Islam and 96% of the population are Muslims. In 2016, Mamnoon Husain, the former president of Pakistan declared that Pakistanis should not celebrate this occasion. Why? Because Valentine’s Day has no connection with Pakistani culture.
The nation’s Islamic hardliners considered this announcement as a sign of support from President. This led to a prohibition announced by the nation’s high court in 2017. Based on this edict, all traces of Valentine’s Day should be removed from all public places.
Also it is forbidden to advertise or promote and also sell goods related to this occasion. But these banns couldn’t stop Pakistani lovebirds from celebrating the day of romance. They find different ways to buy red roses and special romantic gifts for Valentine’s Day in secret, away from those who hate this occasion.
Iran
Symbol of immortality and western decadence. This is the phrase for describing Valentine’s Day by the government. It is forbidden to advertise and sell special gifts of Valentine’s Day in public and authorities don’t allow presenting goods related to this occasion.
But this is just for show and no one will get caught for celebrating or shopping sentimental gifts for V-Day in Iran. Because Valentine’s Day is very popular among Iranians.
Almost all of the people from the modern and non-religious class of Iran’s society celebrate 14 February by giving special gifts like red rose, chocolate, teddy bear or popular gifts like perfume and jewelry. Even those living in abroad can send Valentine’s Day gift to Iran trough gift and flower delivery services so that they can create a romantic surprise for their loved ones from afar.
Last Word
Celebrating Valentine’s Day and cherishing love, regardless of the history and origin of this occasion, is an opportunity to honor love between couples. Love cannot be banned because loving others is one of the important elements of being human.
On the other hand, there’s no need to wait for Valentine’s Day in next year to celebrate love. Gifting a single branch of red rose with tasty chocolates or a small gift, can turn an ordinary day into a surprising V-Day.
So there is no need to wait until a special occasion to send a gift for someone dear. You can make a special occasion on the calendar with gifting love and attention to your loved ones.