Lost symbles
I was reading a note someone posted somewhere about Valentines Day. He was criticizing everyone who complains about this being a holiday made by the greeting card industry. And gave a brief explanation about where it came from.
My personal belief is that the meaning of the holiday has been lost. Yes, it’s a day of love and all that, but is it really? The values have changed, "show her you love her" ...buy her this few grand piece of jewelry. That’s what the overall message to this holiday seems to be now.
The symbols have been forgotten. Does anyone really care anymore why diamonds? Or do they only care how big and how shiny it is? A diamond, shines with its own radiance, represents purity, and will last forever with the right care. A ring, come on now, that’s easy, rings have almost universally in one form or another stood for a continuation or eternity. Let’s put it together: a pure and radiant eternity. Maybe what love strives to be?
A dozen roses? Where did that come from? Or rather, where did the number come from?
To a degree, I'm also wondering about the color scheme. Since the RC church was very influential with trends that exist even today (at lease changing pagan customs into what we now recognize) I would expect there to be a tie in to the church’s color coding system.
In the medieval and renaissance times, the bulk of people couldn't read. So when stained glass windows were made, there were different colors and symbols that were used to tell the stories of the bible. Some, you will recognize, black could represent death or evil, and white stood for purity and innocence. Now, here are a few important colors: Blue represented humanity, while red represented the divine. That’s why the Virgin Mary is always shown in blue, and commonly has a little bit of red; She was the human mother of the divine. Christ on the other hand is always shown in red, sometimes with a bit of blue; the derive, made mortal
I suppose you could make the stretch from red=divine to red=love. Vengeful god or not, people always try and show him as the source of love. And love is the human manifestation of divinity.
I still want to know why 12 roses. I'm sure it has some meaning, but the number 12 is now more important then that meaning.
But I digress. Where did the symbols come from, and where did they go?
I can sum it up short:
As a culture, we have forgotten the true meaning of our symbols. The value has been placed in the symbol itself, and not in what it represents.
My personal belief is that the meaning of the holiday has been lost. Yes, it’s a day of love and all that, but is it really? The values have changed, "show her you love her" ...buy her this few grand piece of jewelry. That’s what the overall message to this holiday seems to be now.
The symbols have been forgotten. Does anyone really care anymore why diamonds? Or do they only care how big and how shiny it is? A diamond, shines with its own radiance, represents purity, and will last forever with the right care. A ring, come on now, that’s easy, rings have almost universally in one form or another stood for a continuation or eternity. Let’s put it together: a pure and radiant eternity. Maybe what love strives to be?
A dozen roses? Where did that come from? Or rather, where did the number come from?
To a degree, I'm also wondering about the color scheme. Since the RC church was very influential with trends that exist even today (at lease changing pagan customs into what we now recognize) I would expect there to be a tie in to the church’s color coding system.
In the medieval and renaissance times, the bulk of people couldn't read. So when stained glass windows were made, there were different colors and symbols that were used to tell the stories of the bible. Some, you will recognize, black could represent death or evil, and white stood for purity and innocence. Now, here are a few important colors: Blue represented humanity, while red represented the divine. That’s why the Virgin Mary is always shown in blue, and commonly has a little bit of red; She was the human mother of the divine. Christ on the other hand is always shown in red, sometimes with a bit of blue; the derive, made mortal
I suppose you could make the stretch from red=divine to red=love. Vengeful god or not, people always try and show him as the source of love. And love is the human manifestation of divinity.
I still want to know why 12 roses. I'm sure it has some meaning, but the number 12 is now more important then that meaning.
But I digress. Where did the symbols come from, and where did they go?
I can sum it up short:
As a culture, we have forgotten the true meaning of our symbols. The value has been placed in the symbol itself, and not in what it represents.