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Punxsutawney Phil Predicts One of Two Ways...
if Phil Sees His Shadow
- Six More Weeks of Winter
if Phil Doesn't See His Shadow - Spring is Just Around the Corner.
In 1997 Phil did not see his shadow, he predicted an early Spring!
Origin of Groundhog Day
So reads the old Scotch couplet that became the basis for the celebration of Groundhog Day. Pennsylvania's earliest settlers were German who brought with them the folklore of Candlemas Day, February 2nd, and adapted it to their new surroundings. As they saw it, if the sun shone on February 2nd and an animal - such as a groundhog - saw its shadow, there would be two winters that year.
| Punxsutawney Page! | Participate in Groundhog Day and buy the CD-ROM. To participate you should be at this site between 6 - 8 am on February 2nd! |
| Punxsutawney Phil Page |
Read about the history of Phil, and about the Inner Circle (these are who interpret what Phil says). This page has links to a souvenier catalog, photos, movies and other "Phil" items. |
| Groundhog Day 1998 | This is the complete schedue of events for the day in Punxsutawney. |
| Groundhog Day Book | A Groundhog Day history book |
| Groundhog Day greeting cards | Get them here folks ! |
| The Movie: Groundhog Day | One of my favorite movies, Bill Murray is just great in this ! |
| Groundhog Nature Guide | This page gives lots of details on the groundhog (woodchuck) |
"At the first of February, the days were growing noticeable longer. Candles were lit to help warm the earth and bring even more light to the earth. When the Christian took over the Roman empire, they changed this to Candlemas, the day the candles for holy events through out the year were blessed. Also since pagan February was the month of purification, this day was celebrated as the purification of the Virgin Mary.
The Germans had a folklore that on Candlemas day, if a hedgehog saw its shadow, there would be 6 more weeks of winter, else it was almost over. This supposedly came from the Romans but I haven't tracked from where. When they migrated to the United State many settled in Pennsylvania (they were called Pennsylvania Dutch), they keep many of their traditions and this was one of them. However, there were no hedgehogs. The local Indians had great respect for the ground hog which they called Wojac (where we get the name "woodchuck"), which they considered an ancestor, so Pennsylvania Dutch changed their traditions from a hedgehog to a woodchuck or groundhog."
Origins of other holidays can be found on Larry Freeman's Holidays Page
the above text is from Larry's page.