I ♥ Hearts

Today I was wondering why the heart symbol (♥) is stylized the way it is, and why we all accept it without question. It really looks nothing like an actual heart, so who decided this "heart" would symbolize love?

This site gives a nice little synopsis into the history of the issue. PBS gets into more detail, mostly medical although. And here is a quick breakdown of several related issues, like why Valentine's Day exists. Because nobody will read any of that here are the most interesting parts -

Catholics claim that the symbol came from Saint Margaret Marie Alacoque vision of The Sacred Heart in the late 17th Century, but there is evidence of it even further back than that. For instance, Cro-Magnon hunters in Europe used the symbol in some of their pictograms, but nobody knows for sure what they meant by it. Those pesky Egyptians had a belief that your heart, or the ieb, is taken to the Hall of Maat after you die to be weighed against a feather. The ieb looks coincidentally like the heart symbol we all know, know, know, and love, love, love.

But here is the best part - There was this city, Cyrene, in Northern Africa somewhere around 7th century BC. This was a big deal city for the time because they did good trade with a valuable plant called Silphium. This species of fennel was so valuable that they traded it to extinction. So what did this miracle plant do? Birth control! However,

"Cultural bias and societal hubris have long clouded the vision of scholars, rendering most unwilling to even consider - never mind acknowledge - that ancient cultures possessed the means and the knowledge to do what until very recently was beyond the capabilities of 'modern' medicine." (Emilio N Favority and Kurt Baty. The Celator, Vol 9, No.2)

Some coins from Cyrene have been found and depicted on them is the seed pod of the powerful Silphium. So love, as it is depicted today, might ultimately come from something as pagan and immoral as birth control. (Maybe Cyrene was in ruins because the plant was too successful!)

Also, the practice of celebrating Valentine's Day most likely comes from the Roman celebration of Lupercalia, a fertility festival, held annually on February 15th (my birthday!). In fact, even the word February might be derived from a Roman festival tradition of running down the street swinging a goatskin thong called a Februa. They believed that if a woman were to touch the thong she would be more fertile. Frankly, that's weird, and of course Christians could have none of that, so they subverted the festivals into a Saint's day - Valentine's (who very likely gained his reputation through unsaintly behavior).

This will all seem more relevant in about four months. Cross my heart.