Today, February 2nd, Was the First Groundhog Day Back in 1887

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Today, February 2nd, Was the First Groundhog Day Back in 1887

THE FIRST GROUNDHOG DAY WAS TODAY, FEBRUARY 2ND, IN THE YEAR 1887, PENNSYLVANIA

I’ve never quite understood the fascination we all seem to have with the whole idea of Groundhog Day.  After all, a groundhog (or woodchuck if you like old children’s rhymes), is a rather large rodent whose sensibilities should be a little suspect.  But on this day February 2nd, 1887, our fascination started with the first ever testing of winter’s reach for the season.  If you don’t remember your own fascination, it entails how if a groundhog comes out of its home via hole in the ground and runs right back in after seeing its own shadow, it means we’re all in for at least 6 weeks more of winter.

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GROUNDHOG DAY IS ACTUALLY ROOTED IN THE EVEN OLDER CHRISTIAN PRACTICE OF CANDLEMAS

But if it doesn’t see its own shadow, or isn’t afraid of it if it does, it means we’re set to have an early spring.  The whole concept sounds a little suspect to be a tradition, doesn’t it?  And while I’m not sure why this started back in the year 1887 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, I’ve always been pretty sure it hearkens back to an even older tradition.  And the Groundhog Day practice is actually rooted in the really old Christian tradition of Candlemas, which of course involves candles.  It was the day that members of the clergy would bless and distribute candles people needed for the long winter months.

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GERMANS USED HEDGEHOGS FOR CANDLEMAS, AND MOVED TO PENNSYLVANIA FOR GROUNDHOGS

Apparently, the length of the candles (phallic representations in the pre-Christian Male half of the year an added bonus) were supposed to represent just how long and cold that year’s winter would be.  And for some reason earlier Germans chose the hedgehog as an icon instead of candles to predict winter’s reach.  Then, of course, Germans who settled in Pennsylvania brought their own tradition with them, but switched out their old hedgehogs with New World groundhogs, which numbered greatly in the state.

So maybe keep some of this in mind if you’re too hopeful on Groundhog Day to see what’s supposedly to come.  You can read a little more about Groundhog Day history here.

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