As cupid draws his bow in anticipation for Valentine’s Day, a bit about the kiss.

Today as I dropped my kindergartener off at school, I tussled his hair, told him I loved him and sealed it with a kiss.  His little crimson lips puckered up and reciprocated my token of affection leaving me with a sloppy wet ring above my mouth. Unfortunately, being only six, he will require a little more practice to master this art and hit his target with greater precision. Today was no different than any other day.  The kiss was no different than any other kiss. How many times had I kissed him or had he kissed me without my having so much as a fleeting thought about it?  Yet as he bounded off towards the school playground, I began to ponder the significance of my daily ritual of kissing him goodbye.

It has been said that kissing originated in the day of the caveman, but not in the way you might think.  The first kiss was believed to be actually created by a woman and the exchange was not between her and her amorous, drag my woman by the hair-cave mate, but between her and her child. Anthropologists believe that kissing originated in primitive times when women would chew their food and transfer it directly into their babies’ mouths. This method of preparing baby food is still practiced in some cultures today.  As early as 2000 BC, various cultures believed bringing the mouths together signified the joining of two souls and according to anthropologist Vaughn Bryant Jr. the first erotic kiss took place in India around 1500 BC.  Kissing is often portrayed in ancient Egyptian art and believed to be associated with “giving life” in ancient Egyptian culture but it was the Romans who perfected kissing as we know it today.  The Romans kissed each other as a form of salutation and they kissed robes, rings and statues of gods to indicate submission and respect.  In the 8^th Century Feudal System, kissing became the means by which many a bargain was consummated between a vassal and his king. Hence the term “sealed with a kiss”.  A vassal would kneel before his overlord, put his hands in those of the lord and declare himself his man.  Then the overlord bound himself by kissing the vassal and raising him to his feet. In the 6^th century, dancing was a form of expressed affection and each dance was ended with a kiss. The act of kissing shows up in approximately 46 different references in the Old and New Testaments, one of the most noted being when Jesus was betrayed with a kiss. The act of “blowing kisses” dates back to old religions where they blew kisses to the gods. Women in Ancient Indus Valley Civilizations were the first to use what we now call lipstick to decorate their lips, thereby making them more “kissable”.  They were followed by Ancient Egyptians, the most famous being Cleopatra, who used the red dye from the inside of Carmine beetles to give lips a deep red hue. To this day, Carmine is used in many mainstream cosmetic companies (but not mine!). The use of lipstick to decorate the lips is believed to be connected to attracting the opposite sex and to entice that opposite sex even if subconsciously to participate in the act of kissing.

Russians were the first to incorporate the romantic kiss into a marriage ceremony and the French were the first to incorporate it into courtships. Then there is the kiss called Maraichinage.  This is a prolonged kiss originating from the people of Pays de Mont of Brittany. It is likely the predecessor of the commonly known modern day “French Kiss”. 

Started in prehistoric time, perfected by Romans and intertwined in cultures across the globe, kissing has a long history and its intentions are many in modern day society. A kiss can mean hello, goodbye, have a good day or “c’mere big boy!” but the end result is always the same; A feeling of warmth and contentment.  It conveys that you are special and cared about and loved.  So the next time your special someone gives you a simple peck before heading out the door to work in the morning or your little one lays one on you before they drift off to sleep at night, take a moment to ponder just how far that kiss has travelled in time to make it to your lips and by doing so the magic of it will linger and you will realize a kiss is not just a kiss but truly is so much more.  Pucker up!