What is Groundhog Day?
February 2nd is the midpoint between winter and spring, it is the day of The Purification of the Virgin Mary, the day to sweep out all your Christmas decorations and wrappers, a day to rejoice in the bounty that is ours, even in the dark depths of deepest mid-winter. The second of February is marked by Stonehenge, it was one of the four great festivals of the Celtic world, it is carved in the stars and celebrated world-wide as a good excuse to count the firewood (or check the air conditioners in Australia), and count our blessings and our friends. In our neighbourhood, Groundhog Day is all about street-hockey, curling, dances, jamborees and sing-a-longs, bone-china teas, pancake breakfasts … in short, the biggest party of the year. Oh …
Groundhog Day is a traditional American festival that has its roots embedded in folklore and legend. According to the legend of Groundhog Day, which takes place on 2 February, the groundhog’s behavior is a way of forecasting the weather. If the groundhog pops out from its burrow, sees his shadow, and then disappears again, it will mean that winter is to continue for six more weeks. But if the groundhog does not see its shadow, then it will not be scared to come out of its burrow and winter will soon end. It is believed that because the groundhog lives underground, he is not used to having a shadow. The groundhog will therefore be scared if it does see its own shadow and go back down below. Whether this method can actually be thought of as an accurate weather predicting system is debatable. But records show that the tradition of Groundhog Day dates back hundreds of years. The original name given to this tradition by Christians was Candlemas Day. Records show that a Pennsylvanian storeke
