Valentino da Terni was a 3rd century Catholic bishop who was beheaded by Roman soldiers under the order of Claudius II. His “crimes” included secretly marrying couples in Christian nuptial ceremonies, which were contrary to pagan Roman law.
Also, in spite of death threats, he boldly and publicly cited the apostle Paul by proclaiming that love is God’s greatest gift to humankind. When Claudius II gave him the choice of renouncing his faith or face execution, he opted for death. He died at the age of 42.
Although Valentine lived before microscopes were invented, they would eventually play an instrumental role in unlocking some of the biological secrets that connect love to the sacred act of procreation.
In 1590, Zacharias Janssen invented the first microscope. In 1677, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first to describe, “wee cavorting beasties,” including human spermatozoa. This led to the discovery of the human zygote.
According to Lewis Thomas, M.D./ author of “The Medusa and the Snail,” “The mere existence of that cell should be one of the greatest astonishments of earth. People ought to be walking around all day, all through their waking hours, talking of nothing but that cell.”
Each sperm contains about 3 billion bases of genetic information, representing 750 MB of digital information. The average human ejaculate contains around 180 million sperm cells. So, that's 180 x 10^6 haploid cells x 750 MB/haploid cell = 135 x10^9 Mbytes=135,000 Terabytes. Without this process happening, the human race would die out in one generation.
Contemplating this reminded me of Roger Sperry, M.D./neurobiologist and Nobel laureate, author of, “Science and Moral Priority,” and “Yoking Science and Religion.” We were connected by a huge synchronicity, which occurred in August 1983. Omni magazine published an issue that included Sperry’s discoveries of the human right-brain/left-brain phenomena and a related article, “The Superiority of the Female Brain.”
The article focused on the cerebral hemispheres and corpus collosum, which essentially is a wall between the two sides of the brain. Stated briefly, female brains have verbal centers in both hemispheres with more connections between words, memories, and feelings. Male brains tend to only have verbal centers in the left hemisphere with fewer connections between words, memories, and feelings. This has led to the facetious reference to males as having “reptilian” brains.
PBS aired a program focused on love and the human brain. The speaker was a psychiatrist/marriage counselor, with a record of successfully helping many dysfunctional couples avoid the devastating trip to a divorce court. He asserted that many of the problems that they encounter (including matters of intimacy) are due to their failure to understand the differences between female and male brains. He proceeded to offer some techniques that could be used to improve watching, listening and feeling that would hopefully improve communication skills and not only save, but enrich their marriage.
One example he cited was that most men understand that a box of chocolates (preferably dark) can often spark a romantic interlude. However, he observed, most men have not made the connection that a trip to a women’s shoe boutique can also trigger a similar favorable result. He admitted that he had no scientific evidence of the connection of new shoes to female libido, but opined that mysteries were always beyond the purview of science.
While the Catholic Church has waffled over whether Valentine is a legitimate saint or not, his living spirit continues to empower millions of lovers to say, “I Love You,” right out loud.
It is a message that has found favor in the retail sector. Valentine’s Day cards, candy, flowers and new shoe sales exceed $20 billion annually in the U.S.
Happy St. Valentine’s Day
Lowell Young lives in St. Helena.
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St. Valentine’s Day: The miracle of love - Napa Valley Register
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