Today is Groundhog Day. And as partly cloudy skies are predicted, if he were in Wyoming, he may or may not see his shadow. According to tradition, if he sees his shadow, it means six more weeks of winter. Groundhog Day is a popular North American tradition observed on February 2 each year. It is a v
Most of us know the tradition: on February 2, our old friend the groundhog will emerge from hibernation, come out of his den, and predict whether winter will deliver more cold weather this year. If the groundhog sees his shadow, the story goes, cold weather will persist another few weeks. If not, warm weather is around the corner. If you like the folklore of holidays, you may be interested to know that Groundhog Day is related to two of the other holidays we have written about extensively on this blog: Halloween and Mayday. In this post, we ll look at the ancient origins of the Groundhog Day tradition in Celtic and Germanic culture. We ll also present two fun groundhog songs from AFC collections, and links to further reading and exploration of this seasonal observance.