Easter and Spring from http://www.theholidayspot.com/easter/history/easter_history.htm

Come March. And the world around you gets geared up to go ga ga on a festive spree. Some skeptics might shrug off the March madness fray, but can’t beat the freak it rolls out of its season of rejuvenation, rejoice and renewal that ushers in with a basketful of new promises and gifts in galore. The nature discards its weary look to don a brand new outfit. The shining sun showers its blissful warmth, as if, to thwart the frosted blanket which the winter wraps around us. The brook turns bubbly. The blooming tulips, the crocuses and the daffodils – all swayed by the cool southie breeze, bring back the vibe on earth.

What else can be a better day for fun and fiesta? To have your family reunited? Friendship and love renewed? And feelings shared? Perhaps all these traits have made spring and celebrations almost synonymous. That too from the dawn of human history.

Even in the Greek mythology, Demeter and Persephone, convey the idea of a goddess returning seasonally from the nether regions to the light of the day. This is in conjunction with the vernal equinox, March 21, when nature is in resurrection after the winter.

Even Easter – the grand occasion that reminds you of the golden and crimson eggs and chocolate bunnies, the ho’cross buns, is also a spring time festival. As if the Almighty had chosen this glorious season for the death-resurrection and exaltation of Jesus Christ, the son of God.

History Of Easter

Easter, the principal festival of the Christian church year, celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his Crucifixion. The origins of Easter date to the beginnings of Christianity, and it is probably the oldest Christian observance after the Sabbath (observed on Saturday). Later, the Sabbath subsequently came to be regarded as the weekly celebration of the Resurrection.

Meanwhile, many of the cultural historians find, in the celebration of Easter, a convergence of the three traditions – Pagan, Hebrew and Christian.   According to St. Bede, an English historian of the early 8th century, Easter owes its origin to the old Teutonic mythology. It was derived from the name Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, to whom the month of April was dedicated. The festival of Eostre was celebrated at the vernal equinox, when the day and night gets an equal share of the day.

The English name “Easter” is much newer. When the early English Christians wanted others to accept Christianity, they decided to use the name Easter for this holiday so that it would match the name of the old spring celebration. This made it more comfortable for other people to accept Christianity.

But it is pointed out by some that the Easter festival, as celebrated today, is related with the Hebrew tradition, the Jewish Passover. This is being celebrated during Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew lunar year. The Jewish Passover under Moses commemorates Israel’s deliverance from about 300 years of bondage in Egypt.

It was in during this Passover in 30 AD Christ was crucified under the order of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate as the then Jewish high priests accused Jesus of “blasphemy”. The resurrection came three days later, on the Easter Sunday. The early Christians, many of them being brought up in Jewish tradition regarded Easter as a new feature of the Pascha (Passover). It was observed in memory of the advent of the Messiah, as foretold by the prophets. And it is equanimous with the proclamation of the resurrection. Thus the early Christian Passover turned out to be a unitive celebration in memory of the passion-death-resurrection of Jesus. However, by the 4th century, Good Friday came to be observed as a separate occasion. And the Pascha Sunday had been devoted exclusively to the honor of the glorious resurrection.

Throughout the Christendom the Sunday of Pascha had become a holiday to honor Christ. At the same time many of the pagan spring rites came to be a part of its celebration. May be it was the increasing number of new converts who could not totally break free of the influence of pagan culture of their forefathers.

But despite all the influence there was an important shift in the spirit. No more glorification of the physical return of the Sun God. Instead the emphasis was shifted to the Sun of Righteousness who had won banishing the horrors of death for ever.

The Feast of Easter was well established by the second century. But there had been dispute over the exact date of the Easter observance between the Eastern and Western Churches. The East wanted to have it on a weekday because early Christians observed Passover every year on the 14th of Nisan, the month based on the lunar calendar. But, the West wanted that Easter should always be a Sunday regardless of the date.

To solve this problem the emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicaea in 325. The question of the date of Easter was one of its main concerns. The council decided that Easter should fall on Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. But fixing up the date of the Equinox was still a problem. The Alexandrians, noted for their rich knowledge in astronomical calculations were given the task. And March 21 was made out to be the perfect date for spring equinox.

The dating of Easter today follows the same. Accordingly, churches in the West observe it on the first day of the full moon that occurs on or following the Spring equinox on March 21., it became a movable feast between March 21 and April 25.

Still some churches in the East observe Easter according to the date of the Passover festival.

The preparation takes off as early as on the Ash Wednesday from which the period of penitence in the Lent begins. The Lent and the Holy week end on the Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection.

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Bunny

Origins

The Easter Bunny (or Easter Hare) is a character depicted as rabbit  bringing Easter eggs, who sometimes is depicted in an anthropomorphic way (eg. with clothes). In legend, the creature brings baskets filled with colored eggs, candy and sometimes also toys to the homes of children on the night before Easter. The Easter Bunny will either put the baskets in a designated place or hide them somewhere in the house or garden for the children to find when they wake up in the morning.

The Easter Bunny is very similar in trait to its Christmas holiday counterpart, Santa Claus, as they both bring gifts to good children on the night before their respective holiday. It was first mentioned in Georg Franck von Frankenau’s De ovis paschalibus (About the Easter Egg) referring to an Alsace tradition of an Easter Hare bringing Easter Eggs (and the negative impact of too much egg consumption).

The Easter Bunny as an Easter symbol bringing Easter eggs seems to have its origins in Alsace and the Upper Rhineland, both then in the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation, and southwestern Germany, where it was first recorded in a German publication in the early 1600s. The first edible Easter Bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s and were made of pastry and sugar.

The Easter Bunny was introduced to America by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s.[1] The arrival of the “O_ster Haws_e” (a phonetic transcription of a dialectal pronunciation of the German Osterhase) was considered one of “childhood’s greatest pleasures,” similar to the arrival of Kriist Kindle (from the German Christkindl) on Christmas Eve.

According to the tradition, children would build brightly colored nests, often out of caps and bonnets, in secluded areas of their homes. The “O_ster Haws_e” would, if the children had been good, lay brightly colored eggs in the nest. As the tradition spread, the nest has become the manufactured, modern Easter basket, and the placing of the nest in a secluded area has become the tradition of hiding baskets.[2]

Eggs, like rabbits and hares, are fertility symbols of extreme antiquity. Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring, these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox.

The saying “mad as a March hare” refers to the wild caperings of hares as the males fight over the females in the early spring, then attempt to mate with them. Since the females often rebuff the males’ advances before finally submitting, the mating behavior often looks like a crazy dance; these fights led early observers to believe that the advent of spring made the hares “mad.”[3] This bold behavior makes the hares, normally timid and retiring animals, much more conspicuous to human observation in the spring.

Rabbits and hares are both prolific breeders. The females can conceive a second litter of offspring while still pregnant with the first. This phenomenon is known as superfetation. Lagomorphs mature sexually at an early age and can give birth to several litters a year (hence the sayings, “to breed like bunnies” or “multiply like rabbits”). It is therefore not surprising that rabbits and hares should become fertility symbols, or that their springtime mating antics should enter into Easter folklore.

Easter is a perfect time to Reflect, Remember and Rejoice

Regards,   Paul

———— A Success Architects $189 website is a “business start-up” resource site system created by Internet Guru Paul Bonnallie to help individuals earn money online with their own lucrative website. Whether you’re just thinking about the opportunity, ready to get started or trying to grow your existing business, Paul’s teaching resources and business expertise will show you how you can easily gain exposure on the Internet. Success Architects services, software, and personal training programs follow a proven system that has helped thousands start and build online business exposure that consistently earn significant income. Personal website start at low as just $189-Paul Bonnallie, Success Architects League, paul@corp-success.com,  http://www.corp-success.com/helpdesk —–

1 : the quality or state of being reciprocal : mutual dependence, action, or influence 2 : a mutual exchange of privileges; specifically : a recognition by one of two countries or institutions of the validity of licenses or privileges granted by the other The Karma concept is simple, you have to first help others to help yourself … Who have you helped today?

www.OperationPromisedland.com — www.opl.Bring2Help2.com — Groups are forming now.

———— A Success Architects $189 website is a “business start-up” resource site system created by Internet Guru Paul Bonnallie to help individuals earn money online with their own lucrative website. Whether you’re just thinking about the opportunity, ready to get started or trying to grow your existing business, Paul’s teaching resources and business expertise will show you how you can easily gain exposure on the Internet. Success Architects services, software, and personal training programs follow a proven system that has helped thousands start and build online business exposure that consistently earn significant income. Personal website start at low as just $189-Paul Bonnallie, Success Architects League, paul@corp-success.com, http://corp-success.com/helpdesk

Engage the person you are speaking with, Find out why the program will work for them, Let the other person talk — Paul Bonnallie

————

A Success Architects $189 website is a “business start-up” resource site system created by Internet Guru Paul Bonnallie to help individuals earn money online with their own lucrative website. Whether you’re just thinking about the opportunity, ready to get started or trying to grow your existing business, Paul’s teaching resources and business expertise will show you how you can easily gain exposure on the Internet. Success Architects services, software, and personal training programs follow a proven system that has helped thousands start and build online business exposure that consistently earn significant income.

Personal website start at low as just $189-Paul Bonnallie, Success Architects League, paul@corp-success.com, http://corp-success.com/helpdesk

The Top 5 Secrets to Success

Full article at http://www.matthewgruenke.com/

Are you wondering how to create lasting change within yourself and others? If so, then you lost, over the years, some precious lessons taught early in your life. If you look back on your life, most lessons on success are taught when you are young. If it wasn’t the lesson on how to deal with failure when you didn’t make the team, then it was through clichés; like you get more bees with honey, the squeaky wheel gets the oil, or the early bird catches the worm. If you are one that has lost site of some of these life lessons, then keep reading to find 5 secrets to success.

1. Potential is determined by self-belief. – When you were a child, if you believed that something was too difficult, you would say you could not accomplish it. Then your parents would tell you that if you put your mind to it, you could do anything. You can accomplish anything if you just believe in yourself. Then once you actually put your mind to it, you did accomplish it. So, why not use that wisdom to create your own success? Just believe in yourself, believe in your ability to succeed at everything you do. Should you fail, brush yourself off and start over until you succeed. Frankly, the only thing holding you back from success is yourself.

2. Insecurity is universal. – When you were little and unable to overcome failure insecurity and self-doubt settles into the mind; failures at that age range from peer teasing, bad grades, or uncoordinated, to not good enough at something, laziness, or feelings of being unloved. Over time the insecurity and self-doubt multiplies where as an adult lack of confidence is a hindrance. Lack of confidence holds no barriers; it is not prejudice to age, gender, religious, nor cultural.

3. Visualization to eliminate insecurity. – As a child you were at one time or another told to visualize yourself doing something spectacular. Growing up in the north I was once terrified to ride a sled down the side of a snowy mountain. In order to overcome the fear, I was told to visualize myself on the sled and sliding down the path. Now, for you it could be you scoring a goal in the state championship soccer game or catching the winning touchdown; maybe in other instances of your life. What is stopping you from visualizing your success; holding a million dollar check?

This is also a technique used today by Tony Robbins. During his seminars Robbins asks the congregation to visualize themselves inside a bubble. While inside, there is a series of videos arranged to represent all memories to this moment in their life. Robbins asks them to find and destroy the negative videos. Next he has the congregation visualize the future. He wanted them to visualize what their life is 10 and 20 years in the future.
Go ahead and try this exercise.

4. Impact on belief. – As a child, you had many situations take place that shape you view of yourself. Everything you do impacts your belief. Your health, mind, and even how you speak make a huge impact on your self- belief. Henry Ford made a very good statement years ago, “If you think you can, you’re right. If you think you can’t, you’re right.” If that makes sense to you, then think about Anthony Robbins quote, “where focus goes energy flows”.

5. Actions are formed from values and beliefs. – As a child, you were encouraged to just do it; take action and meet success head on. Your parents wanted you to achieve your goals and gave you everything you needed to believe in and value in order to succeed. At this point in your life, you have had enough time to block those core values and beliefs. Eliminate the blockage and take massive action. Get rid of any negative beliefs and success will follow. What massive action can you take right now that will make you a success?

————

A Success Architects $189 website is a “business start-up” resource site system created by Internet Guru Paul Bonnallie to help individuals earn money online with their own lucrative website.  Whether you’re just thinking about the opportunity, ready to get started or trying to grow your existing business, Paul’s teaching resources and business expertise  will show you how you can easily gain exposure on the Internet.  Success Architects services,  software, and personal training programs follow a proven system that has helped thousands start and build online business exposure that consistently earn significant income.

Personal website start at low as just $189-Paul Bonnallie, Success Architects League, paul@corp-success.com,   http://corp-success.com/helpdesk

Presidents’ Day is celebrated on the third Monday in February Full article  on http://www.fireworks.com/holidays/presidents-day.asp

So when did Americans first acknowledge our Presidents with their own day?

Presidents’ Day dates back to our founding father and first President, George Washington. Washington was born on February 22, 1732. On his birthday in 1796, when Washington was in his last full year as president, the day became the holiday known as Washington’s Birthday. However, Americans didn’t observe this holiday until 1832, 100 years after his birth.

Abraham Lincoln was the next President to gain reverence similar to Washington. Born on February 12, 1809, Lincoln’s birthday was first celebrated in 1865, the year after he was assassinated. Although his birthday was not honored as a federal holiday like Washington’s, many states adopted it as a legal holiday.

In 1968, Congress passed legislation placing any federal holiday on a Monday, including Washington’s birthday, to create a three-day weekend. In 1971, President Richard Nixon combined Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays into Presidents’ Day. It would be celebrated on the third Monday in February, regardless of which day it fell on. Presidents’ Day is now viewed as a holiday that pays tribute to both Washington and Lincoln, as well as all those who have served as president.

Interesting Presidential Facts

• Only five presidents have ever worn facial hair when they sought the office. The last was over a century ago, in 1889; Benjamin Harrison.
• There have been seven left-handed presidents, including three of the last four (Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan).
• The first president to smoke a cigar in office was James Madison. In fact, Madison regularly smoked cigars until his death in 1836 at the age of 85. Madison was also the shortest president at five-feet four-inches tall.
• George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States, and his wife Laura got married just three months after meeting each other.
• 40th president of the United States Ronald Reagan broke the so-called “20-year curse,” in which every president elected in a year ending in 0 died in office.
• Military leader and 34th president of the U.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower loved to cook; he developed a recipe for vegetable soup that is 894 words long and includes the stems of nasturtium flowers as one of the ingredients.
• The letter “S” comprises the full middle name of the 33rd president, Harry S. Truman. It represents two of his grandfathers, whose names both had “S” in them.
• 32nd president of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt was related, either by blood or by marriage, to 11 former presidents.
• Herbert Hoover, 31st U.S. president, published more than 16 books, including one called Fishing for Fun-And to Wash Your Soul.
• Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States, had chronic stomach pain and required 10 to 11 hours of sleep and an afternoon nap every day.
• Warren Harding, 29th U.S. president, played poker at least twice a week, and once gambled away an entire set of White House china. His advisors were nicknamed the “Poker Cabinet” because they joined the president in his poker games.
• William Taft, 27th president of the United States, weighed more than 300 pounds and had a special oversized bathtub installed in the White House.
• The teddy bear derived from 26th U.S. president Theodore (“Teddy”) Roosevelt’s refusal to shoot a bear with her cub while on a hunting trip in Mississippi.
• Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th president of the United States, underwent a secret operation aboard a yacht to remove his cancerous upper jaw in 1893.
• Both ambidextrous and multilingual, 20th president of the United States James Garfield could write Greek with one hand while writing Latin with the other.
• Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president of the United States, died of throat cancer. During his life, Grant had smoked about 20 cigars per day.
• 17th U.S. president Andrew Johnson never attended school. His future wife, Eliza McCardle, taught him to write at the age of 17. (Bonus fact about Andrew Johnson: He only wore suits that he custom-tailored himself.)
• Often depicted wearing a tall black stovepipe hat, 16th president of the United States Abraham Lincoln carried letters, bills, and notes in his hat.
• 15th U.S. president James Buchanan is the only unmarried man ever to be elected president. Buchanan was engaged to be married once; however, his fiancée died suddenly after breaking off the engagement, and he remained a bachelor all his life.
• Sedated only by brandy, 11th president of the United States James Polk survived gall bladder surgery at the age of 17.
• John Tyler, 10th U.S. president, fathered 15 children (more than any other president)–8 by his first wife, and 7 by his second wife. Tyler was past his seventieth birthday when his 15th child was born.
• 9th U.S. president William Henry Harrison was inaugurated on a bitterly cold day and gave the longest inauguration speech ever. The new president promptly caught a cold that soon developed into pneumonia. Harrison died exactly one month into his presidential term, the shortest in U.S. history.
• In warm weather, 6th president of the United States John Quincy Adams customarily went skinny-dipping in the Potomac River before dawn.

______________

A Success Architects $189 website is a “business start-up” resource site system created by Internet Guru Paul Bonnallie to help individuals earn money online with their own lucrative website.  Whether you’re just thinking about the opportunity, ready to get started or trying to grow your existing business, Paul’s teaching resources and business expertise  will show you how you can easily gain exposure on the Internet.  Success Architects services,  software, and personal training programs follow a proven system that has helped thousands start and build online business exposure that consistently earn significant income.

·         Personal website start at low as just $189-Paul Bonnallie, Success Architects League, paul@corp-success.com,   http://corp-success.com/helpdesk

That’s right, everyone’s favorite holiday to hate has arrived. Valentine’s Day: it’s the day guys are constantly confused, girls are annually disappointed and singles are drunk. But why do we celebrate this so called “Hallmark Holiday”?

According to the History Channel web site, the world owes the season of love to St. Valentine. The legend of St. Valentine has been changed throughout the years and according to the Catholic Church there are three different saints sharing the name. One legend claims that after the Roman Emperor Claudius II banned young men from marrying, the priest Valentine performed marriages in secret, was caught and put to death. Another legend on the History Channel web site said while Valentine was in prison he fell in love with the jailor’s daughter. Before he was put to death he wrote her a letter signed ‘from your Valentine.’

The idea of Valentine’s Day caught on after the Saint’s death. It became publicly celebrated in Great Britain around the seventeenth century and the tradition spread throughout the world.

Whoever he is and whatever he did, Valentine is responsible for the emotionally controversial holiday. So congrats to the loved ones and cheers to the singles.

According to http://tnjn.com/2010/feb/13/valentines-day-history-is-conf/

While the history of Valentine’s Day is sometimes debated, it clearly links back to a Catholic saint named St. Valentine.

The problem is there are actually three St. Valentine’s — one a priest, one a bishop, and little is known about the third. All were martyrs.

In 469 A.D., Pope Gelasius declared Feb. 14 a day to honor St. Valentine, one of these three men.

One legend says that a Roman emperor banned soldiers from marrying in the third century, but St. Valentine took issue with this. He became an advocate for soldiers and was executed as a result of his outspokenness.

Another legend says St. Valentine was executed for his beliefs in Christianity and just before he died, he left a farewell note for a loved one and signed it “From Your Valentine.”

A conventional and widely accepted belief about the holiday itself is that Valentine’s Day grew out of a Middle Ages tradition of celebrating Feb. 14 as the day “the birds began to pair.”

History.com notes that February has long been associated with being a month of love, and Feb. 15 was celebrated in ancient times as a fertility festival.

Whatever its origin, it took off, and the U.S. Greeting Cards Association estimates Valentine’s Day is the second-most popular card-giving day of the year, only to Christmas.

Reported by http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/12/valentines-day-history-le_n_460139.html

Valentine’s Day History: Roman Roots as stated on http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/02/100210-valentines-day-gifts-cards-history-facts/

More than a Hallmark holiday, Valentine’s Day, like Halloween, is rooted in pagan partying. (See “Halloween Facts: Costumes, History, Urban Legends, More.”)

The lovers’ holiday traces its roots to raucous annual Roman festivals where men stripped naked, grabbed goat- or dog-skin whips, and spanked young maidens in hopes of increasing their fertility, said classics professor Noel Lenski of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The annual pagan celebration, called Lupercalia, was held every year on February 15 and remained wildly popular well into the fifth century A.D.—at least 150 years after Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

“It is clearly a very popular thing, even in an environment where the [ancient] Christians are trying to close it down,” Lenski said. “So there’s reason to think that the Christians might instead have said, OK, we’ll just call this a Christian festival.”

The church pegged the festival to the legend of St. Valentine.

According to the story, in the third century A.D. Roman Emperor Claudius II, seeking to bolster his army, forbade young men to marry. Valentine, it is said, flouted the ban, performing marriages in secret.

For his defiance, Valentine was executed in A.D. 270—on February 14, the story goes.

While it’s not known whether the legend is true, Lenski said, “it may be a convenient explanation for a Christian version of what happened at Lupercalia.”

Valentine’s Day 2010: Spending Takes a Holiday?

Even in the doldrums of a down economy, today’s relatively tame Valentine’s Day celebration is big business—the 2010 holiday is expected to generate $14.1 billion in retail sales in the United States. But that number’s down from last year’s $14.7 billion, because a number of consumers are simply choosing to sit this year’s Valentine’s Day out, according to an annual survey by the U.S. National Retail Federation (NRF).

Among those who are celebrating in 2010, the average U.S. consumer is expected to spend $103 on Valentine’s Day gifts, meals, and entertainment, according to the survey—about 50 cents more per person than in 2009.

But spouses are apparently feeling frugal toward one another, and plan to invest just $63.34 on Valentine’s Day gifts for their significant other—down from last year’s $67.22 average.

Friends, co-workers, and even family pets will feel the love instead. Americans plan to spend significantly more on each of these groups than they did last year.

“It’s something we saw periodically throughout 2009,” said NRF spokesperson Kathy Grannis. “The most important thing about the holiday for some [couples] isn’t giving to each other. It’s providing another way to make somebody else happy and show others your appreciation instead.”

Valentine’s Day Gifts Go Back to Basics

Which Valentine’s Day gifts are in vogue? Recession economics appear to have spurred a shift.

Practical gifts like winter clothing and accessories are way up, while just 35.6 percent of NRF survey respondents plan an evening out—way down from last year’s 47 percent.

“With people cutting back on discretionary items that difference in spending between couples really lies with focusing on making a meal at home instead of going out,” Grannis said.

“In this economy a new sweater on Valentine’s Day really goes a long way. Somebody may not have bought one for themselves during the last three months, because they were trying to cut back on expenses or pay down debt.”

Economy notwithstanding, one Valentine’s Day spending statistic remains constant year in and year out—U.S. men spend nearly twice as much on the holiday as U.S. women. In 2010 the average man will spend $135.35 on Valentine’s Day gifts, while a typical woman will part with only $72.28

Valentine’s Day Cards

Greeting cards, as usual, will be the most common Valentine’s Day gifts. Fifty-five percent of U.S. consumers plan to send at least one, according to the survey.

The Greeting Card Association, an industry trade group, says about 190 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year. And that figure does not include the hundreds of millions of cards schoolchildren exchange.

“Giving your sweetheart or someone [else] a Valentine’s Day card is a deep-seated cultural tradition in the United States,” said association spokesperson Barbara Miller. “We don’t see that changing.”

The first Valentine’s Day card was sent in 1415 from France’s Duke of Orléans to his wife when he was a prisoner in the Tower of London following the Battle of Agincourt, according to the association.

Valentine’s Day cards—mostly handwritten notes—gained popularity in the U.S. during the Revolutionary War. Mass production started in the early 1900s.

Hallmark got in the game in 1913, according to spokesperson Sarah Kolell. Since then—perhaps not coincidentally—the market for Valentine’s Day cards has blossomed beyond lovers to include parents, children, siblings, and friends.

Valentine’s Day Candy: Cash Cow

An estimated 47 percent of U.S. consumers will exchange Valentine’s Day candy, according to the retail federation survey—adding up to a sweet billion dollars in sales, the National Confectioners Association says.

About 75 percent of that billion is from sales of chocolate, which has been associated with romance at least since Mexico’s 15th- and 16th-century Aztec Empire, according to Susan Fussell, a spokesperson with the association.

Fifteenth-century Aztec emperor Moctezuma I believed “eating chocolate on a regular basis made him more virile and better able to serve his harem,” she said.

(Related: secrets of ancient candy.)

But there’s nothing chocolaty about Valentine’s Day’s most iconic candy: those demanding, chalky little hearts emblazoned “BE MINE,” “KISS ME,” “CALL ME.”

About eight billion candy hearts were made last year, the association says—enough to stretch from Rome, Italy, to Valentine, Arizona, and back again 20 times.

What Is Love? Evolution and Infatuation

Valentine’s Day is all about love. But what, exactly, is that?

Helen Fisher is an anthropologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey and author of several books on love, including Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love.

Fisher breaks love into three distinct brain systems that enable mating and reproduction:

• Sex drive
• Romantic love (obsession, passion, infatuation)
• Attachment (calmness and security with a long-term partner)

These are brain systems, not phases, Fisher emphasized, and all three play a role in love. They can operate independently, but people crave all three for an ideal relationship.

“I think the sex drive evolved to get you out there looking for a range of partners,” she said.

“I think romantic love evolved to enable you to focus your mating energy on just one at a time, and attachment evolved to tolerate that person at least long enough to raise a child together as a team.”

Valentine’s Day, Fisher added, used to encompass only two of these three brain systems: sex drive and romantic love.

But “once you start giving the dog a valentine, you are talking about a real expression of attachment as well as romantic love.”

Gentlemen, no matter what the origin,  it is always good business NOT to forget valentines day!

_________________________

Success Architects $189 website is a “business start-up” resource site system created by Internet Guru Paul Bonnallie to help individuals earn money online with their own lucrative website.  Whether you’re just thinking about the opportunity, ready to get started or trying to grow your existing business, Paul’s teaching resources and business expertise  will show you how you can easily gain exposure on the Internet.  Success Architects services,  software, and personal training programs follow a proven system that has helped thousands start and build online business exposure that consistently earn significant income.

Personal website start at low as just $189-Paul Bonnallie, Success Architects League, paul@corp-success.com,   http://corp-success.com/helpdesk

____________________________

Today we’re going to tell you about 8 free sites that’ll help you explode your traffic…  AND get a better search engine ranking…  AND help spread your message…  AND maintain better customer relations…  AND get new ideas for growing your business!

The sites we’re talking about are the ‘Net’s most popular social media sites. They’re online gathering places where people meet to share information and build relationships with each other. They’re also great places to meet potential customers and business partners. … Plus, you can also build up a huge network of loyal customers who will do a lot of your advertising for you simply by raving about your product to all their friends and family. (And as you probably know, word-of-mouth advertising from a trusted source is the most effective kind of advertising you can get.)

And if some of these loyal customers start linking to your site from their sites, that can help you get a serious boost in the search engine rankings.

Here are the top 8 social media sites you need to know about:

• Facebook: The world’s biggest social networking site. Members go to find other people who share the same interests or activities. You can build your own online profile and share different types of information with each other, such as pictures, videos, blog entries, links to other sites, and music clips.A good marketing strategy is to create a Facebook “Fan Page” for your business and encourage your customers to join. Then you can easily alert them whenever you have updates to share about your business.
• Twitter: A “micro-blogging” social network site. Members send each other short text-based posts of up to 140 characters. When you find members whose “tweets” you like, you can subscribe to their feed and be updated whenever they send a new message.
• YouTube: The ‘Net’s number one video-sharing site. Members share and comment on each other’s videos. You can post a link on your profile page can direct other people to your site. Also, the videos you share can help establish your reputation as an expert in your industry. For example, you could share a “how-to” video that shows your market how to solve a common problem.If you’re not the next Stephen Spielberg, don’t worry — your videos don’t have to be super professional. In many cases, a video shot with a regular digital camera will work just fine.
• LinkedIn: The most popular business-oriented social networking site on the Web. As of May 2009, it had more than 400,000 registered users. It’s a great place to find potential business partners as well as people who may be interested in your products or services.
• Digg: One of the ‘Net’s most popular news-sharing websites. Members post links to their favorite news articles and then comment and vote on the ones they like best. If you get a good rating on an article that includes a link to your site, you could see a huge rush of traffic overnight.
• Stumbleupon: Wikipedia calls this social networking site a “personalized recommendation engine.” Members can explore and rate Web pages, photos, and videos. When they hit the “Stumble!” button on the site’s toolbar, the results displayed are ranked based on your previous ratings as well as the ratings of friends and of members with similar interests.If Stumbleupon members give your site or blog a good ranking, your site will be showed in their results more often, which could lead to a surge of traffic to your site.
• Yelp: A popular review site where members write reviews about local businesses. If you own a local business, this one’s for you!
• Delicious: A popular bookmarking site. Members save links to their favorite websites or articles — just like the bookmarks in your browser — and share those links with other people. Members can comment on each other’s links. Every comment you write links to your personal profile where you can include a link to your site. The more comments you make, the more people you encourage to visit your profile page — and the more traffic you’ll end up directing to your site.

By participating on sites like these you can meet your future customers and learn how to give them what they’re looking for. In exchange, they will be happy to spread the word about your site all over the Internet!

Success Architects $189 website is a “business start-up” resource site system created by Internet Guru Paul Bonnallie to help individuals earn money online with their own lucrative website.  Whether you’re just thinking about the opportunity, ready to get started or trying to grow your existing business, Paul’s teaching resources and business expertise  will show you how you can easily gain exposure on the Internet.  Success Architects services,  software, and personal training programs follow a proven system that has helped thousands start and build online business exposure that consistently earn significant income.

____________________________

Personal website start at low as just $189-Paul Bonnallie, Success Architects League, paul@corp-success.com,   http://corp-success.com/helpdesk