For couples, Valentine`s Day can often fall into a flat and predictable groove. For those who are single, it can easily become a dreaded square on the calendar that is crossed off with relief. But if Valentine`s Day is really about love, it gives everybody something to celebrate. The only limits to how profound and spiritual it can be are the psychic limits we bring to it.
Contrary to the rumour, Valentine`s Day was not a plan hatched by greeting card companies to address the problem of too much time between Christmas and Easter. It began with a real person Saint Valentine who is said to have performed forbidden marriages in 3rd century Rome. For this he was tried and executed by the Emperor Claudius. The date of execution was 14th February. It is, of course, not death and tyranny that we now recognize on this day, but Valentine`s unshakeable commitment to love.
The Catholic church were the first to celebrate 14th February in honour of Valentine, but the association with romantic love did not evolve until the High Middle Ages, when courting couples began exchanging sweets, flowers, and hand-written notes they called `valentines.` Thus began the tradition we see before us today, and while there is no getting around the fact that it has become commercialized and repetitive, we can always deepen our celebration by tuning into the energy of the heart, no matter what our relationship status happens to be.
Heart and Mind
Since Valentine`s Day as we know it started in a setting of a traditional courtship, the gifts exchanged were symbols of enormous potential not only for earthly partnership, but spiritual and psychic union. They were driven by heart energy, seeking both their own highest potential and that of their partner. How many of the gifts exchanged today carry that kind of energy?
The reality is that many of the things we do on this day arise out of the mind, which plays by different rules than the heart. When the mind gives something, it wants to know what it might get or keep in return. This is fair enough, and necessary in many areas of life, but it is not the way of love. The heart gives with no thought of what it might receive or lose in the process. The most important key to unlocking a more profound experience of Valentine`s Day is finding out just where your actions are coming from. If find yourself doing something to bring about or prevent a certain effect, you know that you are only skimming the surface.
DIY
Some indigenous cultures have been known to draw a circle around a rock, and worship the rock as a divine symbol. This teaches us that anything can be sacred if we make it so. Ceremonies and rituals succeed because of the psychic energy and effort with which we infuse them, and in this respect, Valentine`s Day is no different.
One way to infuse Valentine`s Day with greater psychic energy is to employ a Do-It-Yourself attitude. Whenever possible, give hand-made gifts that reflect time and effort. If you buy something, show that you have invested psychic energy in the gift, and accompany it with something a poem, a letter that comes from you alone. The gifts we give, no matter how expensive, are incomplete by themselves. Only when they function as symbols of a spiritual connection do they have any significance or power.
Beyond Romance
So what about the countless women and men who happen to be single this Valentine`s Day? Is "sitting this one out" really the best option, or can they, too, tap into a transcendent spiritual force on the 14th?
Ironically, people who are not currently in relationships are often the strongest embodiment's of the true spirit of Valentine`s Day. Love in its purest form goes far beyond personal boundaries, yet some couples have a myopic view of the world in which their own personal romance is all that matters. This attitude of exclusion misses out on the greater love of which we are all a part, focusing instead on "those who have someone" and "those who don`t."
Whether we are in a relationship or not, the only time Cupid truly hits his target is when we radiate compassion and selflessness toward one another. It is this transcendent love holding within it the wonderful personal variety which draws a circle around Valentine`s Day and makes it sacred.
Author: Barney