The culture of love

Love is this never ending dance we have with our hearts. Universally felt every second of the day. Amongst friends, family and lovers. In many countries, there is a special day to celebrate love. While some of us have become cynical towards the commercialization of this natural feeling and high, there are some beautiful, unique and entertaining traditions inspired by this day of love. In Japan you send your unpopular co-workers cheap chocolate, in South Korea you meet with your single friends to eat black noodles and mourn, in Barcelona the lady offers her counterpart a book in return for a rose and in Finland they celebrate Friends day on the 14th February.

The most common “Holiday” is Valentines which earned its name from a legend. In third century Rome, the emperor Claudius II held a strong belief that single soldiers performed better during military duties than married soldiers. He decided to ban marriage. A young saint called Valentine disagreed with this decree and performed secret marriage ceremonies for young lovers. When he was arrested and in jail, he fell in love with the jailor’s daughter and before being executed, wrote her a lover letter, signed “from your Valentine”.

Here is our round-up of the most fascinating and adorable celebrations of love around the world:

On this day in Japan women give chocolate to men rather than the common-place tradition of men gifting women with tokens of love. This is rumored to be a tradition which originated from a translation error of a chocolate company during the initial campaigns marketing Valentines Day. It is customary for working women to give chocolate to their co-workers. In Japan, gifts such as greeting cards, candies, flowers, or dinner dates are uncommon, and most of the activity is about giving the right amount of chocolate to each personal co-worker.

Unpopular co-workers receive only ‘obligatory’ sweets or cheap chocolate. This contrasts with honmei-choko ‘favorite chocolate.’ This chocolate is given to a loved one. It is also customary for younger girls to give chocolate to friends.

To combat the lack of gifts for women the Japanese National Confectionery Industry Association launched a campaign to make March 14th a ‘reply day’ also known as ‘White Day’ to resemble the white chocolate that is given to women. On this day men return the favor by giving chocolates to all of the women who gave them sweets on Valentine’s Day.

Ystävänpäivä “friends day” is celebrating your friends. It is not romantic in nature. Its core value lies in the celebration of friends. Rather than gifting chocolates and cards to a significant other, you spend the day showering your friends with gifts to show your love and admiration. It does in addition remain a common day for the Finnish to get married or engaged.

Singaporeans celebrate Valentines day in essentially the same way as all other countries that celebrate on February 14th: flowers, chocolates, nice dinner, and jewelry. However, Singaporeans are remarkable in that they are amongst the biggest spenders on Valentine’s Day. It is reported that 60% of Singaporeans claim that they spend between $100 and $500 on gifts during the season leading up to Valentines Day!

Sant Jordi Festival is the most romantic holiday of all in many regions around Spain. Saint Jordi Festival is a celebration of the Saint George, the chivalrous patron saint of Catalonia. The tale goes that Saint George rescued a Princess from the dragon, bringing her a delicate rose to commemorate his undying devotion to her.

This holiday is much more symbolic than cards and candy, it is a celebration of both culture and love. Barcelona’s tradition is for the lady to offer her counterpart a book in return for a rose. It is commemorating the death of Cervantes, the great Spanish author of Don Quixote, which falls on April 23rd. The two lovers stroll the Boulevards, perusing the book carts which mark every corner, looking for the most exquisite read to compliment this special day. During Saint Jordi, festival authors line the boulevards, signing their books for blushing women and doting men, with the smell of roses lingering in the air.

South Koreans use Valentines Day as a day to mourn the single life. If they are in a relationship, they celebrate similarly to the Japanese: women give chocolate to men on February 14th, and then the men reply by gifting candy to women a month later (White Day). The outstanding difference between South Korean tradition and Japanese tradition comes on April 14th. This day is considered Black Day for those who did not receive anything on Valentines Day or White Day. These bachelors and bachelorettes convene at restaurants to eat black noodles and ‘mourn’ their singleness.

For Koreans the 14th of every month symbolizes a reason to celebrate love. From January to December they have: Candle Day, Valentine’s Day, White Day, Black Day, Rose Day, Kiss Day, Silver Day, Green Day, Music Day, Wine Day, Movie Day, and Hug Day. Each day is used to commemorate love, so there are many opportunities for Koreans to make up for ‘Black Day.’

The Iranian Day of love, Sepandarmazgan, or ‘Earth’s Guardian Angel,’ originated from the deity Spandarmad in the 20th century B.C who is said to have been the protector of the Earth. It is celebrated on February 18th.

The festival used to be dedicated specifically to women. Men would hand-craft them presents symbolizing their love. Today, it is a celebration of women, adoration, and earth. It is a festival where people express love towards their mothers and wives. Mothers, who symbolize the nurturing of earth and all of it’s land, animal, and creatures, are given willows and other gifts by their children and husbands.

The Qixi Festival, “Chinese Valentine’s Day, “ celebrates a day remembering a famous cowherder, Niu Lang, and a weaving maid, Zhi Nu. They were finally allowed to be together after a tumultuous courtship. It is a romantic tale of kindred hearts, a symbolic story for the celebration of love.

In Chinese culture, there is an observance for lovers, called ‘The Night of Sevens.’ According to the legend, the Cowherd star and the Weaver Maid star are separated by the Milky Way but are allowed to meet by crossing the stars only on the 7th day of the 7th month of the Chinese calendar.

Customs include women preparing delicious fruits to offer Zhi Nu. Women are also hoping to be granted with a sweet love like Zhi Nu. The Elderly narrate this tale of love to the young. While this legend is still known in rural towns, it is considered archaic in China’s cities even though many couples gaze at the stars on this night thinking of Niu Lang & Zhi Nu. Celebrated on August 25th.

In Israel, the Jewish ancient tradition of Tu B’Av has also been transformed to encompass customs of Valentines Day. In ancient times girls would wear white dresses and dance in the vineyards as a ceremony of love. Tu’ B’Av is treated as less of a commercial holiday and more of a day for grandiose actions of commitment and love. In modern Israeli culture Tu B’Av is a popular day to pronounce love, propose marriage and give gifts like cards or flowers. This year it is celebrated on August 4th-5th.

Dydd Santes Dwynwen, celebrated January 25th, the Welsh day of love, is based on an oral tale dating back to the 5th Century. As the tale goes, beautiful Dwynwen fell in love with Maelon Dafodrill, but for an undisclosed reason they remained estranged lovers. A few rumored reasons include her father’s forbiddance of the pair to marry and her father’s promise of her hand to another suitor. Dwywen desperately wishes to fall out of love with Maelon as she cannot manage the sorrow of life without him.

Dwywen falls asleep in the woods and is visited by an angel who appears carrying a sweet potion concocted to erase her memory of Maelon and to turn him into a block of ice. God then grants Dwywen three wishes. First she wishes that Maelon be thawed, second that God fulfill the wishes and dreams of all true lovers, and third that she should never be married. All three wishes are granted, and as repayment to God, Dwynwen devotes herself to his service by becoming a nun.

Although still not as popular as Valentine’s Day, Dwynwen’s Day is becoming more common among Welsh Citizens. Dwynwen’s Day gained momentum when the Welsh Language Board teamed up with Tesco (a UK grocery chain) to distribute 50,000 free Dwynwen’s day cards in all 43 of its Welsh stores.

Whatever your tradition may be, remember how much love has done for you and give one day to love!  Love is universal and celebrated in so many magical ways. To love is not a tradition. It is a feeling that engulfs us. With so many types of loves; from lovers to friends, every day has a moment to celebrate this beautiful feeling we were born with. We invite you to celebrate love this year with a special gift and to turn your dreams into art with or for someone you love.