So what is Groundhog Day? Tradition says that on this day in midwinter, the groundhog wakes up from his long winter’s nap and pokes his head out of his den to see if he sees his shadow. If the groundhog does see his shadow, which means it is a sunny morning, then there will be six more weeks of winter. Then he goes back into his den and goes back to sleep. If however, he does not see his shadow because it is a cloudy day, then he will play around outside of his hole for a while. If he still does not see his shadow, then he knows that spring is just around the corner! This tradition is big on such a cold and dreary midwinter’s day.
The Groundhog’s Day tradition comes from German immigrants. When they came to this country, they settled in hills of Pennsylvania, and in 1887, they started this tradition of using the groundhog to predict the the coming of Spring. Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania is where the annual Ground Hog event takes place, so they began calling this little rodent Punxsutawney Phil. It is said that Phil sees his shadow about 9 out of 10 times. This Groundhog Day tradition is based on Candlemas, also on February 2nd, the very middle day between Winter and Spring. Candlemas is the last holiday of the Christmas season and celebrates the blessing of candles used by the church.
This holiday is a christian celebration of the Feast of Purification of Mary. In Judaism, women were “unclean” after they gave birth. The time of being unclean was 40 days after the birth of a son and 60 days after the birth of a daughter, so they were not allowed into the temple to worship. Once these days were over, the woman went to the temple to go through the purification ceremony. After the birth of Christ, the Virgin Mary was purified on Candlemas or the Feast of Purification. Here is a famous Candlemas poem:
- If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.
