“My heart to you is given:
Oh, do give yours to me;
We’ll lock them up together,
And throw away the key”.

Giving flowers, greetings, roses…yellow, white and pink, adorable gifts to your beloved ones are all the signs through which you wish to express love to your partner or someone really close to your heart. Modern Valentine symbols today include many new expressing ways like the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. This is a way of showing love, affection and care which is bestowed from nature to you, and from you to someone special on the Valentine’s Day.

The name "Valentine" is derived from valens which means “worthy”. It originated from St Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 AD. Gradually, this date became the day for exchanging love messages and St Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers. There was often a social gathering or a ball. Legend also says that St Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine”.

Hundreds of years ago in England, many children dressed up as adults on Valentine’s Day. They went singing from home to home. One verse they sang was:

Good morning to you, valentine;
Curl your locks as I do mine ---
Two before and three behind.
Good morning to you, valentine.

In Wales, wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favourite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, “You unlock my heart!”

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling. In some countries, a young woman may receive a gift of clothing from a young man. If she keeps the gift, it means she will marry him.

And thus, there continued to bring newer ways to begin with the soul expressions of love and care... thus people world-wide started celebrating this day so as to express their feelings for someone special. They took this day in a precious manner and believed that someone showing a love sign would not be denied love.

Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry, As you twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off. You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell off.

Or pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem. That is the number of children you will have.

Try one of these method for finding your love mate this year. You never know, it might work!

Isn’t something really amazing that there would be just love in this air that we breathe, in this sound that we hear, in the food that we eat, in our lives that we are living through, in the hearts that we are alive, in our senses that we work through, in our souls that we bring peace through…. And everywhere in this world. Isn’t it possible that every ‘I’ should become ‘we’ and every ‘mine’ should become ‘ours’ and spread love in every single beat of a heart.