Celebrate Love!

While Valentine’s Day might be an over-blown Hallmark holiday of commercialism in 2012, it has some interesting roots.

Like many modern holidays, we can trace its origins to a Pagan holiday.  The ancient Romans celebrated Lupercalia.  Little is known about this holiday, except that is shares a date and some thematic similarities with our modern Valentine’s Day.

On the Christian side of things, St. Valentine wrote letters of encouragement to his followers on the heart-shaped leaves that grew outside his prison cell.  These notes became known as “Valentines.”

Today, the holiday is a day of obligation for some, and for others a reminder of an unwelcome single status.

I prefer to think of it as a holiday that celebrates love it all its many forms.

So often, when we think of love, we think only of romantic love.  As special as that is, it is only one way love is expressed.  There is also familial love, patriotic love, self-love, charitable love, friendship, spiritual love…the list goes on and on.

I believe that our ability to love is the surest proof of the existence of a Higher Power.

To set aside a day to celebrate love is a wonderful thing indeed.

Chocolate and flowers ain’t so bad, either.

Any love that we are lucky enough to have in our lives is worth celebrating, on February 14 and every other day.

In tarot, love is traditionally associated with the element of Water, and therefore the suit of Cups.  Within that suit, we see images that reflect romance, family and friendship, as well as a host of attitude problems.  Apparently, love is rarely easy.  Few things that are worth having are easy.

This Valentine’s Day, let’s be grateful for the love we have in our lives.  The more we open our hearts, the more love we will be ready to receive.

Let’s try to trade impatience for compassion.  Let’s replace insecurity with confidence.

People often say the opposite of love is hate.

It’s not.

The opposite of love is fear.

This Valentine’s Day, let’s recognize our fears, and release them.  Let’s replace them with love.  To live without fear is to walk in faith - faith in one's own resources, and faith in Higher Power.  If we could be truly without fear, and truly open-hearted, is there anything we couldn't accomplish?