I recently did some copywriting for Vosges Haut Chocolat's catalog -- the Gypsy-themed Valentine's Day issue. It's not available online, unfortunately, but here are some excerpts from the mailer, "A Book of Chocolate Love Spells."[The word Gypsy refers to the Roma people, a wandering ethnic group that originated in northern India around the 9th century. A creative people who live outside modern rules of ownership and property; the world is their home to wander.]
[Gypsies are said to travel with magic carpets and snakes and are notoriously private--it is almost impossible for an outsider to penetrate a gypsy band. Because so much of gypsy lore is shrouded in secrecy, popular culture tends to either romanticize or demonize them, focusing on their mystical powers.]
[The Gypsy woman was a muse for Bob Dylan's "Spanish Harlem Incident." He sings "Gypsy Girl in the hands of Harlem / Cannot hold you to its heat / Your temperature is too hot to taming feet are burning up the street..."]
[The pagan practice of men showering their sweethearts with roses started when early practitioners of herbal medicine learned that eating rose hips (the fruit of the rose that remains after the petals have fallen) assisted in many aspects of female health. So on Valentine's Day, bask in the knowledge that by enjoying roses, you are taking part in an ancient ritual.]
--Gretchen Kalwinski
