Long ago romantic symbols of St. Valentine’s used to be hidden in cakes sometimes. Each guest got a piece of cake and if he was lucky there was an emblem in it. The emblem was a symbol of his luck. Sometimes the symbols were put into presents instead of parcels. Rice symbolized wedding. Ring symbolized wedding or engagement. Coin meant a rich marriage. Sometimes fellows used to get a red glove. “To get a red glove” meant a girl liked him.
Heart – once upon a time people used to believe that such feelings as love, luck, anger or fear were hidden inside one’s heart; later they supposed that only love took its place in people’s hearts. Thus heart nowadays is a symbol of love and St. Valentine’s Day.
Red Rose – is a favorite flower of Venus, a goddess of love. Red is a color of strong feelings. That’s why red rose is considered to be a flower of love.
Lace – a hundred years ago women used to carry lace handkerchiefs. If a woman dropped her handkerchief the man near her had to pick it up. Sometimes women used to let their handkerchiefs fall advisedly to get familiar with the man she liked. Soon lace got association with love roman. That’s why nowadays they use casing-paper in the form of lace to pack presents for St, Valentine’s.
Gloves – long ago when a man wanted to marry a woman he asked for her hand. Hand became a symbol of love and marriage, so did gloves.
Rings – in most countries people exchange rings while marriage or engagement. Two or three hundred years ago it was popular to get engaged on St. Valentine’s.
Love birds and doves – colorful parrots living in Africa. Most of them have red beaks. They are called love birds cause when they make couples they sit very close to each other. Doves are considered to be favorite birds of Venus. They never change their partners during the whole life and they take care of their babies together. These birds symbolize love, faith and St. Valentine’s Day.
Cupid is a son of Venus, goddess of love. He can make a person fall in love with his magic arrows.
Nowadays we have more symbolic presents dedicated to this day, particularly teddy bears, Valentine’s cards in the form of hearts, chocolate, sweets, perfume, jewelry heart shaped and all the rest that can be associated with love and romance. To make a good present to your beloved find out what he or she loves most and associates with this holiday. If your relations have just got started you can preset something from those mentioned above and your beloved will be delighted.
Love and be loved.