Valentine’s Day has varied history Many myths surround _ St. Valentine legend For Oregon history buffs, Feb 14 means Admis sion Day — the day in 1859 that Oregon became the 33rd state of the Union But for most of the rest of the world, the 14th is a day for love, Valentine's style Like many occasions of the calendar, St Valentine s Day has become merely another reason to support the greet ing card, candy and flower in dustries That's just as well, for its roots as a religious oc casion are suspect at best The history of Valentine's Day has long been muddled by the many legends of the saints (there were two or three by the name of Valen tine) and their thin connec tions to the theme of love and lovers. It's origin, it seems, depends on which source you read. Antedating the lives of the saints, a Roman festival called Lupercalia was held on Feb 15th to ensure protection from wolves During this cele bration, young men struck women with strips of animal hides in the belief that whip ping made them more fertile Britain borrowed Lupercalia from the Romans when it was conquered in 43 A D . and the festival is linked to Valen tine s Day because of the si milar date and the connection with fertility. There were two saints named Valentine in the early Christian church The modern tradition of sending Valen tine's Day cards may or may not have any relation to the saints In legend, their lives are connected with the Valen tine's Day theme. In the third century A D , Valentine was a pagan priest who was convened to Christi anity and became a bishop At the time, the Roman Emperor Claudius abolished marriage because he believed that sin gle men were better soldiers Valentine secretly married young lovers, but was arrest ed, imprisoned and eventually clubbed and beheaded on Feb 14, 269 Another account says Val entine frequently aided perse cuted Christians and was thrown into jail But he contin ued his saintly work and was executed on Feb 14, only at ter it was realized that he had cured his jailer's daughter of blindness Whether this mira cle was performed by the first Valentine or a second one again depends on the source One Valentine story tells of a bishop who healed the son of Craton the rhetorician, who almost choked to death by a fish bone Another story is that in Ita ly and Germany, Valentine was appealed to help against epilepsy, plague and fainting diseases Yet another myth says that Valentine was an early Chris tian who made friends with many children but was impris oned by the Romans because he refused to worship their gods The children who missed Valentine tossed notes of love between the bars of his cell window This tale might explain why people exchange messages on Valen tine's Day Another theory traces the exchange of valentines to the English poet Geoffrey Chau cer. He mentioned in his writ ings that birds began to pair off on that day Indeed, springtime had always been believed to be a time for lov ers, and the old English belief was that birds chose their mates on the 14th In any case, Valentine's Day cards are believed to be the first greeting cards to be exchanged While wood en gravers produced prints with Private Outdoor Hot Tubs Daytime 12-5*9 hr. Wolff Tanning Eves Sun-Thurs/$11 hr. Eves Fri-Sat/$13 ◄ CALL NOW FOR RESERVATIONS ► i i expires 2/28/91 1100 Main St * SPRINGFIELD » 741-1777 j religious themes In the Mid dle Ages, the first Christmas cards as we know them didn't Turn to HISTORY, Page 10 loan mm Restaurant and Lounge (,'l»nic*c nub •( /Iiii c neon 1 - f - o o b OKDIKS l() (.() 343-4480 ‘M 7 I rjnkltn 8lv«l Mon Vhur I 1:00 a.m In III II) p m f r« II 00 a m In Stuim^hl Sal Noon In Mulmkjht Sun N