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Groundhog Day is a traditional festival celebrated in the United States and Canada on February 2. It is a cross-quarter day, midway between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. It is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates.
Myths such as this tie our present to the distant past when nature did, indeed, influence our lives. It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.
Groundhog Day grew out of a mainly German superstition
that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow February 2
-- the Christian holiday of Candlemas --
winter will last another six weeks.
If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will be early.
On 2nd February, if the groundhog comes out of his burrow and sees his shadow, then it means winter is gonna stay for some more time! |
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Well, we can't tell you what the great groundhog's gonna predict this year on Groundhog's Day. If the groundhog sees its shadow, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole.
If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground. The groundhog tradition stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day and the days of early Christians in Europe, and for centuries the custom was to have the clergy bless candles and distribute them to the people. Even then, it marked a milestone in the winter and the weather that day was important.
In traditional weather lore, if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and fails to see its shadow because the weather is cloudy, winter will soon end. If the groundhog sees its shadow because the weather is bright and clear, it will be frightened and run back into its hole, and the winter will continue for six more weeks.
In contemporary popular use, it may more often refer to a situation that keeps repeating itself (i.e., d�j� vu), due to the influence of the film Groundhog Day.
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