Love it or hate it Valentine’s Day is celebrated all around the world. Where we enjoy giving chocolates or heart shaped candy to each other, different countries have developed different traditions. Sure, we can be cliché but I’m certain I’m not the only one who would prefer a box of chocks to some of these.
Here in the UK Valentine’s Day is celebrated annually on the 14th of February. However, in Brazil they call it Dia das namaurados (Day of the enamoured) and this takes place on the 12th of June. Weeks leading up to this day young single women write the names of their crushes on slips of paper placing them in a box, on the 12th they take it in turns to select a name which indicates who they should marry.
However Brazil isn’t the only country that links Valentine’s Day to marriage. February 14th is a day where Men and Women in Hindu Balinese society undergo a ritual tooth filing once they’ve reached puberty (like in the picture above). In an elaborate ceremony over seen by a priest they file down their upper canines to the level of their incisors. They believe that by doing this it rids them from all evil and are now considered ready to marry. A painful ritual- but then again love is pain.
In rural Australia it’s not chocolate bon-bons that are the ways to a lover’s heart; its apples soaked in armpit sweat. Women single and married perform a ritual dance with slices of apple lodged under their armpits. After the dance each gives her piece to the man of their choice. The man will then eat it to show he accepts her. This gives a whole new meaning to being “the apple of my eye”.
Things really heat up in China around the fire, when the Dai people play an annual courtship ritual called “visiting girls”. Woman sit together around a bonfire while men carrying red blankets take it in turns, to wrap their red blanket around the one they chose and serenade her, if the woman likes the man she will take out a small stool from under her skirt and invite him to sit with her.
Among the Kreug tribe in a remote region of Cambodia, parents build a “love hut” for their teenage daughters on Valentine’s Day. Different boys then spend a night in the hut with the girl-sometimes more than one in the same night- until she finds the one she wants to marry. Divorce is unheard of, so couples need to know what they’re getting into.
However not all countries have such strange and extreme customs. In Denmark a secret admirer guessing game called gaekkebred has been played for years. It is where boys and girls write cryptic love letters to each other, but instead of signing them with their name they sign it with a dot. The recipient then had to guess who the note was from, if guessed correctly they then get bought a prize, usually flowers or something sweet.
Although people now often see Valentine’s Day as a ploy for manufacturers to make a heap load of money (which they do) it is clear that all around the world it is a unique occasion, and one of the most popular. It's a day of love, loyalty and gestures. Which is ironic as it is a day celebrating the death of a saint. Despite this it means something different to everyone and no matter what your opinion is it means something to all of us.
By Francesca Dando
