BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Groundhog Day-more to it than you think

February second is Groundhog Day, a day that's a mystery to people outside North America. Even in the USA and Canada, it's more a bit of fun than a holiday. Yet however superficial it is now, it's the offshoot of traditions that began in Europe thousands of years ago.

Groundhog Day

I read some place that in Europe they used badgers but here it was the groundhog. I guess something in mid winter to have some fun with.

I always think of the movie Groundhog Day, which is pretty fun in its approach to mindfulness :).

The Christian holiday of Candlemas also falls today. Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis), which appear around this time of year, have traditionally been known as candlemas bells in Britain.

When I was out walking today, I saw dozens of the flowers in someone's front garden. Sigh. I wish I were in London to see them in Kew Gardens.

Saint Brigid is the only Christian saint who was also a Celtic goddess. Her day is celebrated on February 1st-2nd. The Celtic day went from sundown to sundown, so festivals began in the evening of one day, as we would see it, into the day after. Halloween (the "een" is a contraction of "even", i.e., evening) includes this in the name.