Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's Groundhog Day!

[Khaleas]

Bucking a trend, Punxsutawney Phil doesn't see shadow




Story Highlights

• According to German folklore, folks can now expect an early spring
• 15,000 people celebrated in Punxsutawney, a town of about 6,100 people
• Since 1886, Phil has seen his shadow 96 times, hasn't seen it 14 times


PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A new pair of hands pulled Punxsutawney Phil from his stump this year, so it was only fitting that the groundhog offered a new prediction.
Phil did not see his shadow on Friday which, according to German folklore, means folks can expect an early spring instead of six more weeks of winter.
Since 1886, Phil has seen his shadow 96 times, hasn't seen it 14 times and there are no records for nine years, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. The last time Phil failed to see his shadow was in 1999.
More than 15,000 revelers milled about in a misty snow waiting for the prediction, as fireworks exploded overhead and the "Pennsylvania Polka" and other music blared in the background.
Longtime handler Bill Deeley retired after more than a dozen years and was replaced Friday by Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle members John Griffiths and Ben Hughes.
Each February 2, thousands of people descend on Punxsutawney, a town of about 6,100 people about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, to celebrate what had essentially been a German superstition.
The Germans believed that if a hibernating animal cast a shadow on February 2 -- the Christian holiday of Candlemas -- winter would last another six weeks. If no shadow was seen, legend said spring would come early.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/02/phil.shadow.ap/index.html

[Jacob4707]

http://www.mcnblogs.com/mcindie/archives/images/rodentile.jpg

[Michael the Iconographer]

Notice Phil did not give a prediction on this years Super Bowl, unlike last year!

[Michael the Iconographer]

You gotta love old Germanic legends! Especially ones that turn into huge excuses for major drinking parties among college students.

[Khaleas]

^_^

[Michael the Iconographer]

I just hope I don't wake up tomorrow and it is Groundhogs Day again!

[Protoevangel]

I just hope I don't wake up tomorrow and it is Groundhogs Day again!
I'm beginning to think we're in the third iteration already! :doh:

[Michael the Iconographer]

I'm beginning to think we're in the third iteration already! :doh:
It is happening!

[Matrona]

I remember one time I rented a U-Haul that advertised "Punxsutawney, PA" on its side (with a picture of the groundhog and everything). I was pleased as punch and had to mention it to everyone I saw while I had it. ^_^

[Anhelyna]

What the blazes is this thread about ?????????

[Khaleas]

Groundhog Day

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the movie of the same name, see Groundhog Day (film) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day_%28film%29)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Groundhogday2005.jpg/180px-Groundhogday2005.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Groundhogday2005.jpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Groundhogday2005.jpg)
Groundhog Day 2005 in Punxsutawney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punxsutawney).


Groundhog Day or Groundhog's Day is a traditional festival celebrated in the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) and Canada (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada) on February 2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2). It is a cross-quarter day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-quarter_day), midway between the Winter Solstice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Solstice) and the Vernal Equinox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernal_Equinox).
In traditional weather lore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_lore), if a groundhog (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog) emerges from its burrow on this day and fails to see its shadow because the weather (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather) is cloudy, winter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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.

History

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/DogGroundHog-small.jpg/200px-DogGroundHog-small.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DogGroundHog-small.jpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DogGroundHog-small.jpg)
A groundhog.


Around the fifth century, the European Celts believed that animals had certain supernatural powers on special days that were half-way between the Winter Solstice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_solstice) and Spring Equinox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Equinox).[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources)] Folklore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore) from Germany and France indicated that when marmots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmot) and bears came out of their winter dens too early, they were frightened by their shadow and retreated back inside for four to six weeks.[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources)] This may have been adopted by the Romans as Hedgehog Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog_Day). In Scotland the hedgehog has long been revered for its healing powers (as referenced in Robert Burns' Ode to a Hedgehog).
The earliest known American reference to Groundhog Day can be found at the Historical Society of Berks County in Reading, Pennsylvania (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading%2C_Pennsylvania). The reference was made Feb. 4, 1841 in Morgantown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgantown%2C_Pennsylvania), Berks County (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berks_County%2C_Pennsylvania), Pennsylvania (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania) storekeeper James Morris' diary: "Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate."
In the U.S. the tradition derives from a Scottish poem:

As the light grows longer
The cold grows stronger
If Candlemas be fair and bright Winter will have another flight
If Candlemas be cloud and rain Winter will be gone and not come again
A farmer should on Candlemas day
Have half his corn and half his hay
On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop
You can be sure of a good pea crop

This tradition also stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candlemas) Day [1] (http://www.groundhog.org/history/tradition.shtml) and Hedgehog Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog_Day). Candlemas, also known as the Purification of the Virgin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purification_of_the_Virgin) or the Presentation, coincides with the earlier pagan observance Imbolc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbolc).
In western (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world) countries in the Northern Hemisphere the official first day of Spring is about six weeks after Groundhog Day, on March 20 or 21. About 1,000 years ago, before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar) when the date of the equinox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox) drifted in the Julian calendar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar), the spring equinox fell on March 16 instead. This was exactly six weeks after February 2. Assuming that the equinox marked the first day of spring in certain medieval (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval) cultures, as it does now in western countries, Groundhog Day occurred exactly six weeks before spring. Therefore, if the groundhog saw his shadow on Groundhog Day there would be six more weeks of winter. If he didn't, there would be 42 more days of winter. In other words, the Groundhog Day tradition may have begun as a bit of folk humor.
Alternatively, the custom could have been a folk embodiment of the confusion created by the collision of two calendrical systems. Some ancient traditions marked the change of season at cross-quarter days (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-quarter_day) such as Imbolc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbolc) when daylight first makes significant progress against the night. Other traditions held that Spring (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_%28season%29) did not begin until the length of daylight overtook night at the Vernal Equinox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernal_Equinox). So an arbiter, the groundhog / hedgehog, was incorporated as a yearly custom to settle the two traditions. Sometimes Spring (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_%28season%29) begins at Imbolc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbolc), and sometimes Winter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter) lasts 6 more weeks until the Equinox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox).


Official page:
http://www.groundhog.org/

[GodsGirl]

You gotta love old Germanic legends! Especially ones that turn into huge excuses for major drinking parties among college students.
Thats cause the Bears are going to win this year its common knowedge ;)

Thats my favorite part of Groundhog Day movie. LOL Thats the best picture

[Anhelyna]

And the Yanks think we are nuts ?????

<shaking head in total disbelief >

[Michael the Iconographer]

Thats cause the Bears are going to win this year its common knowedge ;)

Thats my favorite part of Groundhog Day movie. LOL Thats the best picture
If you notice the Groundhog did not predict the winner of the Superbowl this year, like he did last year! :D

[Khaleas]

And the Yanks think we are nuts ?????

<shaking head in total disbelief >

What do you mean?? You missed that 'Scottish poem' stuff??? :P

[Michael the Iconographer]

And the Yanks think we are nuts ?????

<shaking head in total disbelief >

The Brits invented, refined and wrote the book on being nuts.

[NyssaTheHobbit]

It's a family tradition for hubby and I to play that movie on Groundhog's Day--though we occasionally skip a year to keep it fresh. ;)

[Michael the Iconographer]

It's a family tradition for hubby and I to play that movie on Groundhog's Day--though we occasionally skip a year to keep it fresh. ;)
I can just see Groundhogs Day becoming the next great excuse for major widescale partying (and not just at the college level which it already is).