Groundhog Day!

Hooray, hooray, it's February, and about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox!

 

 

February 1 and 2 was and still is celebrated as a pagan holiday---Imbolc, the beginning of the end of winter. There would be feasts and gatherings, preparation for spring and growing season. The flower of Imbolc is the snowdrop, one of the first flowers to emerge in the lengthening and warming days. 

 

This holiday is also known as Candelmas,  a Christian festival that falls 40 days after Christmas. It is a festival of light, again to mark the longer days.

But in these times, February 2  is best known as Groundhog Day. People gather to celebrate Punxutawney Phil, in Pennsylvania, and Woodstock Willie, in Woodstock Illinois, where the movie Groundhog Day was filmed.  

 

So, will we have an early Spring, or  six more weeks of winter?

 

If the groundhog sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter.  Why? Sun and clear sky, the ground is colder.

 

No shadow means overcast, and the ground is warmer, and early spring!