The Shape Of Love

The heart (♥) has long been used as a symbol to refer to the spiritual, emotional, moral, and in the past also intellectual core of a human being. As the heart was once widely believed to be the seat of the human mind, the word heart continues to be used poetically to refer to the soul, and stylized depictions of hearts are extremely prevalent symbols representing love.

In European traditional art and folklore, the heart symbol is drawn in a stylized shape. This shape is typically colored red, suggesting both blood and, in many cultures, passion and strong emotion. The hearts have constituted, since the 15th century, one of the red suits in most playing card decks. The shape is particularly associated with romantic love; it is often seen on St. Valentine's Day cards, candy boxes, and similar popular culture artifacts as a symbol of romantic love.

The heart symbol (♥) is used in slang expressions to indicate love or affection, sometimes with a
connotation that the feeling is superficial or juvenile. It is a play upon Milton Glaser's classic I Love New York logo (typeset "I ♥ NY"). In the U.S., it can be used to show that one has a crush on someone or is in love with someone (i.e. "I ♥ [someone's name]" or "[Someone] ♥s [Someone else]"). It is also present in some recent titles, e.g. the film I ♥ Huckabees, the video game We ♥ Katamari, or the Naoki Maeda songs, CANDY♥ and LOVE ♥ SHINE.

The widespread use of this expression has inspired many parodies. Originally pronounced "I love", hipsters have taken to facetiously verbalizing it as "I heart".A universal symbol of love, the heart has held meaning for centuries. In pagan and early Christian eras, it was thought to be the center of emotion. To the Victorians, the heart symbolized love, courage, and intelligence. Now when one bestows a heart to another, the message of "I give my heart to you" is unmistakable.

Some emphasis on evidences that say that the valentine heart originated from a particular species of plant, called Silphium, found in North Africa during the seventh century B.C. This extinct plant is said to have had heart-shaped seed pods or fruits.The unique shape of the valentine heart got recognition when coins were minted, with clear depictions of the shape on them, in the commercial city-state of Cyrene. These silver coins were increasingly used for
economic benefits and at the same time spread the awareness about the love shape among the people.

But, the Catholic Church acknowledges that the universally known shape of the valentine heart did not originate prior to the seventeenth century. It was during this time that this symbol came to be known as the Sacred heart of Jesus and was, for the first time, said to have some association with the feelings of love and devotion.

The shape became popular with valentine hearts being displayed on glass windows and even as
iconography in the church. This is when the romantic ideology related to the red colored heart developed. The heart has since been referred to have a spiritual, emotional, moral and intellectual connection to the human life.

However, some scholars dismiss all romantic ideologies associated to the valentine heart. They state that the shape had been evolved as to merely describe the appearance of the human heart, an organ which is said to be containing all human emotions and sentiments. Hence the symbol also got to be inter-linked with the concept of love.

The red color of the valentine heart signifies passion and strong emotions. The heart shape is often found in the form of the joined wings of the Dove, which is associated to the Greek Goddess of Love, Aphrodite and is also found as the arrow head of Cupid, the Roman God of Love.