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2007-02-02 04:07:33 · 5 answers · asked by P0$H3 1 in Society & Culture Holidays Other - Holidays

5 answers

The Celtic celebration of Imbolc (pronounced 'im'olk') celebrates the mid-point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It was also the holy day of Brigid (also known as Bride, Brigit, Brid), the Goddess of fire, healing and fertility. The lighting of fires celebrated the increasing power of the Sun over the coming months. For the Christian calendar, this holiday was reformed and renamed 'Candlemas' when candles are lit to remember the purification of the Virgin Mary.

As Candlemas traditions evolved, many people embraced the legend that if the sun shone on the second day of February, an animal would see its shadow and there would be at least six more weeks of winter. Bears or badgers are watched in some European countries, but the German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania found an abundance of groundhogs and late in the 19th century a few residents in Punxsutawney began celebrating the groundhog as weather prophet. So we have Groundhog Day, celebrated in one way or another for thousands of years

2007-02-02 04:11:05 · answer #1 · answered by Kutekymmee 6 · 0 0

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 and Spring Equinox.[citation needed] Folklore from Germany and France indicated that when marmots 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] This may have been adopted by the Romans as 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. The reference was made Feb. 4, 1841 in Morgantown, Berks County, 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."

2007-02-02 04:15:46 · answer #2 · answered by mark my words 3 · 0 0

invoice Murray is taken under consideration one of my maximum favoritest actors, yet i've got not considered Groundhog Day in an prolonged time. i like the section while they finally be sure that throwing water on the groundhogs in basic terms makes them multiply.

2016-09-28 08:01:13 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0 0

What came first, the chicken or the egg?!

2007-02-02 04:09:59 · answer #4 · answered by Up-side-down 4 · 0 0

cheese

2007-02-02 04:13:30 · answer #5 · answered by Brittany 1 · 0 0

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