St. Valentine's day

Every February 14th boys and girls, sweethearts and lovers, husbands and wives, friends and neighbours exchange greetings of affection and undying love.

St. Valentine's Day has roots in several different legends. The first Valentine was a Christian priest who had been thrown to prison for spreading Christianity. Before he was executed by the Romans, he wrote a farewell letter to his jailer's blind daughter. The letter was signed, 'From your Valentine'. The Christian Church took for his saint's day February 14th. Another legend tells us that the same Valentine, well-loved by all, wrote notes from his jail-cell to chil­dren and friends who missed him.

Another Valentine was an Italian bishop who was imprisoned because he secretly married couples, contrary to the laws of the Roman Emperor. Some legends say he was burned at the stake.

St. Valentine's Day now is a day for sweethearts. You can show your love to a person by sending presents, flowers or Valentines', greeting cards named after the message that St. Valentine wrote from his jail. There are all kinds of cards to suit all tastes. Valentines can be heart-shaped, or have hearts, the symbol of love, on them. They may be decorated with fancy ribbons, entwined hearts, gold arrows, roses, cupids and rhymes.

In elementary schools, children make valentines for their class­mates and put them in a large decorated box, similar to a mailbox. On February 14, the teacher opens the box and distributes the valentines to each student. After the students read their valentines, they have a small party with refreshments.

For teenagers-and adults, major newspapers have a Valentine's Day page. Everyone can send in a message, for a small fee, to a sweetheart, friend, an acquaintance, husband or wife.

Halloween

Halloween, celebrated on October 31, is observed by many peo­ple in the UK. It is the eve of the Festival of All Hallows, better known as All Saints, but it also coincides with a much older pagan festival which was celebrated by the Druids in honour of the Celtic New Year. And because this festival marked the end of summer sunshine and the beginning of winter's darkness, it was believed that witches, ghosts and demons were free to wander on that night. Added to this, the ancient Romans held their festival of Pomona at about this time of the year. Pomona was the goddess of fruit-trees and apples, hence the predomi­nance of apples at Halloween party games. All these ceremonies were fused over centuries to become modern Halloween.

In Britain Halloween's celebrations have, until recently, been confined largely to the younger generations.

At parties young people dress up in strange costumes and pre­tend they are witches. They cut horrible faces in potatoes and other vegetables and put a candle inside which shines through the eyes. Children may play different games such as trying to eat an apple from a bucket of water without using their hands.

Halloween is now celebrated not only by children but by adults who hold witchy dances and ghost parties, and listen to spine-chill­ing tales of the ghosts, goblins and witches of Halloween.