Ok, I don't know how true this is--Dave? But I thought it was interesting:
"Groundhog Day owes its true origin to the Ancient Greeks who believed that an animal's shadow was its soul-blackened by the past year's sins. While the animal hibernates, its soul is cleansed by nature and if it wakes up before winter is over, it will see the dirty shadow and be horrified and then return to its den for more purification."
So, if you want to learn more about groundhogs (including the sound they make) check out this website.
2 comments:
Yeah, I gotta say that doesn't sound very true. The ancient Greeks didn't really believe in "sin." [the word that the New Testament writers used for "sin" (the verb) was the same as the verb used "to miss the mark" in archery. Not exactly a guilt culture.] The ancient Greeks did believe in pollution, which required ritual purification by means of water, fire, or blood. But you couldn't just sleep it off.
According to the official PA Historical and Museum Commission plaque at Gobblers Knob, "Groundhog Day" is a continuation of an old European tradition of predicting the length of winter by the weather conditions on the day of Candlemas, a Christian holy-day on Feb. 2.
The addition of the groundhog is probably (just my wild opinion, though), a continuation of 19th-century folk-magic that was so prevalent in this country. The idea of reading the animals in order to know the future or the will of he gods is easily traced to the ancient world, but was much more institutionalized among the Romans (who adopted it from the Etruscans).
By the way, yesterday's "six more weeks of winter" prediction is totally bogus. We are about 80 miles away; it was so overcast that you couldn't see a shadow without someone holding a flashlight above your head.
I call shenanigans. It's been rigged.
I like YOUR explination better, Jen. (no offence, Dirk.) Though, if you look at the word 'groundhog' it is made up of two words... 'gro' and 'undhog'. What do these words mean? It's a mystery and that's why so is the GROUNDHOG.
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