On February 2, 1887, Groundhog Day, was celebrated
for the first time at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania. According to tradition, if a groundhog comes out
of its hole on this day and sees its shadow, it gets scared and
runs back into its burrow, predicting six more weeks of winter
weather; no shadow means an early spring.
Groundhog Day has its
roots in the ancient Christian tradition of Candlemas, when
clergy would bless and distribute candles needed for winter. The
candles represented how long and cold the winter would be.
Germans expanded on this concept by selecting the hedgehog as a
means of predicting weather. Once they came to America, German
settlers in Pennsylvania continued the tradition, although they
switched from hedgehogs to groundhogs, which were plentiful in
the Keystone State. I am hoping for no shadow.
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