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Groundhog Day is
celebrated February 2nd
in the United States.
Groundhog Day comes
from Candlemas Day,
observed for centuries
in parts of Europe on
February 2 where the
custom was to have the
clergy bless candles and
distribute them to the
people. This seems to
have derived from the
pagan celebration of
Imbolc, coming at the
mid-point between the
Winter Solstice and the
Spring Equinox. The
Roman Legions, it is
said, brought the
tradition to the
Germans.
By the 1840s the idea
had caught on in the
U.S., particularly in
Pennsylvania whose
earliest settlers were
German immigrants. If
the groundhog sees its
shadow on a "bright and
clear" day, six more
weeks of winter are
ahead. If the day is
cloudy he does not see
his shadow, he takes it
as a sign of spring and
stays above ground.
Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania is the
headquarters of the
celebration where the
groundhog "Punxsutawney
Phil" regards his shadow
at Gobbler's Knob, a
wooded knoll just
outside the town.
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