Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love and murder. The senses come alive with the mere mention of the holiday known as Valentine’s Day. The smell of fresh roses, the taste of chocolate candy and the feel of a kiss instantly come to mind. Murder also played a role in the history of Valentine’s Day. A selfish act by a ruthless dictator caused a man to lose his head over love. The terms martyr and pagan are used throughout the stories surrounding the holiday. The dictionary defines a martyr as “a person who is killed or who suffers greatly for a religion, cause, etc. Pagan is defined as “one who has little or no religion and who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods.” Even though the stories may differ on the origin of the holiday the symbols are similar. The origins and customs of Valentine’s Day are symbols of hope, love and faith.
There are as many stories as there are customs regarding the origin of the holiday. Romans, English and Christians all claim a part in the history of Valentine’s Day. Historians may argue the holiday closely resemble a Roman pagan celebration where young men placed their hopes on the contents of a box. On the contrary, poetry lovers may insist the holiday was derived from an English poet’s description of how birds find their mates on February 14th. Still others such as Catholics may point to the St. Valentine’s martyrs who were beheaded on February 14th because of their faith and support of love.
The least realistic story explaining the development of Valentine’s Day involves birds. However, one of the most recognized symbols of Valentine’s Day is a lovebird. “Geoffrey Chaucer, an English poet of the 1300’s, wrote in The Parliament of Fowls, “For this was on St. Valen...
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Works Cited
Abbey, Cherie D. “Valentine’s Day.” Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary: Detailing More Than 3,000 Observances from All 50 States and More Than 100 Nations : a Compendious Reference Guide to Popular, Ethnic, Religious, National, and Ancient Holidays. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 2010. Print.
Bain, Carol. "Valentine's Day." World Book. 2012. Print.
Christianson, Stephen G., and Jane M. Hatch. “Valentine’s Day.” The American Book of Days.
New York: H.W. Wilson, 2000. Print.
Graves, Dan. "Martyrdom of St. Valentine." Christianity.com. Salem Web Network, May 2007.
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Henderson, Helene. “Valentine’s Day.” Holiday Symbols and Customs. Detroit, MI:
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“Valentine’s Day.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. Mar. 2014.
St Patrick’s day and St Valentine’s day differ in many ways. Valentine’s day is a day where we celebrate love and romance where all the couples get together and do things that symbol love. St Patrick’s day is a day where the irish people get together and celebrate good luck and to find the lucky pot of gold. Together these holidays differ in food , history, and different holiday activities.
Right from the first stanza, we can clearly see that the girl emphasizes her passionate feelings towards the boy by explaining how she desires to be close to her love. Moreover, she expresses the theme of love through using a narrative of how she is prepared to trap a bird. Apparently, this symbolizes how she is prepared to trap her lover’s feelings with the desire to live together all through her life. Additionally, the young lady emphasizes on her overall beauty, her beautiful hair, and clothing which is of the finest linen which she uses to attracts her lover’s attention (Hennessy & Patricia, p.
Throughout history, the story of womankind has evolved from struggles to achievements, while some aspects of the lives of women have never changed. Poet Dorianne Laux writes about the female condition, and women’s desire to be married and to have a home and children. She also seems to identify through her poetry with the idea that women tend to idealize the concept of marriage and settling down and she uses her poetry to reach out to the reader who may have similar idyllic views of marriage or the married lifestyle. Though Dorianne Laux’s poem “Bird” reads very simply, it is actually a metaphor for an aspect of this female condition.
The 1920's were a time of Prohibition, Illegal Gambling, and Prostitution. The 18th amendment made the sale and distribution of alcohol illegal. Many people including Al Capone were involved in those illegal activities. Al Capone was notorious for this illegal activity. He got rich by manufacturing and distributing alcohol. He also owned many illegal bars. Many other gangs were doing the same illegal activity. There was competition over the alcohol. Every gang wanted it since that was how they made their money. In order to make money they had to eliminate the opposing gangs to decrease the competition. Al Capone never did any of the killings. He had his gang members do the killing. They would usually rent a room in front of the victim's house to stay hidden. Then they would wait for the victim to come outside. Then the gang members would shoot the person. Another way is they would do a drive-by and has someone in the car blast the victim with an Uzi or Thompson machine gun.
To begin with SWIB from the first line is very romantique as his lover “walks in beauty like the night” This is a very romantique simile as it is saying that she magnificent and also is a cliché. Whereas valentine take a more critical approach to love as valentine is more about that love will blind you with tears like a lover” this clearly shows that how love is poisonous to you. Also both these quotes are very contrasting as they both mean the opposite things.
There are billions of people in the world and each of us are different in lot of ways. We all have an event that symbolize our cultures in some way. USA has the 4th of July as a special event to celebrate America independence from the British. The events that take place represent some form of freedom and independence. Without these celebrations the world we live in would be different; we wouldn’t know about our history and why we celebrate these events. This is a way we can learn about who we are as a culture and celebrate how far we have come. The Chinese and the Scottish people also have special events that symbolize their culture. The Chinese have many different cultural events but one special one is the Chinese New Year also known as The Spring Festival. Scotland’s event is also to celebrate and to remember the history of their people. The name of the event is Up Helly Aa also known as the Fire Festival. Each culture has different events that teach their people about the past and not to forget how far they have come.
When a person hears the word Hanukkah two things come to mind. First thing may be on how to pronounce the word the right way. The second things is the presents your get everyday, especially if that person is a little kid. Hanukkah is a celebration of the mighty war the Maccabees won over the Greeks to take back the Holy Land. The Menorah that is used to celebrate this holiday represents the seven days the Holy Temple was in use. The gift giving and the candle lighting are all in representation of the fight for the Holy land.
On January 14, 1899, Alphonse (Al) Capone was born to Italian immigrants in Brooklyn, New York. He was the fourth of nine children. Unlike most mobsters, Capone was born into a fairly well-off family. Yet at the early age of fourteen, Capone was expelled from school for hitting a female teacher, and he never went back. This event triggered Capone’s life on the streets. Shortly after Capone’s expulsion, he met Johnny Torio. Torio was Capone’s greatest mentor and influence. He taught Capone how to take care of himself and make money on the streets ("Al Capone"). In the year 1917, Capone earned himself the nickname Scarface, a name he despised. He earned this name by insulting a female woman at an inn. Her brother promptly pulled out a knife and
December 12: Dia de nuestra senora de guadalupe , or the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe is celebrated with a feast honoring Mexico's patron saint.The Story behind this celebration demonstrates how the Catholic faith gained importance in the hearts of the Mexican people. It is a story of miracles and faith which mark a change in the history of Mexico.The Spaniards, after they conquered Mexico, had in mind the goal of converting the indigenous indians into Catholicism. But the Spaniards encountered many difficulties because the Mexican people had existing strong beliefs in their many gods. It wasn't until the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Juan Diego that this started to change.Juan Diego was a young indigenous Indian walking toward the
The St. Valentine Day Massacre is the epitome of organizational conflict, competing teams, fighting for profits and territories. Baack, (2012) defines conflict saying “To some, conflict represents a negative force, accompanied by words such as “destructive,"
On the 12th and final day of Christmas (January 6), processions honoring the three Wise Men weave around Florence. In the fading light, flames dance over figurines in the streets of northeast Italy, symbolizing the turn of a new leaf. For some, children especially, Epiphany is a source of joy, candy, and incentive to behave. For other older children and adults, it’s more complex holiday.
In a Laustic, the birds are depicted here as being joyful, sweet but the married wife uses a nightingale to send out messages to her loved one. The usage of the nightingale suggests that she does not know the joys of the world, that she has been unfortunate to be relieved of pain. A nightingale usually symbolizes yearning and pain and in Christianity it symbolizes longing for heaven. In which case would be the love she holds for another.
The Day of the Dead has become highly advertised as a spinoff of other holidays that have many different activities that actually have nothing to do with the Day of the Dead. For example, marathons called Run of the Dead and music concerts called Rock of the Dead and many other money making schemes have been created in order for someone to make money. This holiday is not about any of that at all! As the need to make money off of anything, even religious holidays, has become politically correct in society the upcoming generation grow up without a clue what the holiday or religious meanings truly are and the traditions are getting swept under the rug so to speak. As with other holidays, the desire to make money has taken the true meaning away from them and has become completely
One of the things that often draw new people to Wicca and other Pagan religions is Love spells. There's a lot of discussion within the Pagan community about the ethics of casting a love spell on someone. I mean, if you're performing magick on someone without their knowledge, aren't you messing with their free will?
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and what better way than celebrating in London where there are a plethora of options to woo your loved ones or spend some quality time with each other. This year when you are looking forward to make the moment come alive or propose your loved one try to be at the most beautiful places in London and make it a memorable evening.