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    Groundhog Day

    Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil sees no shadow, predicts early spring.

    Here two outlook reminders came up. Groundhog dayHistory

    The celebration began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries. It has its origins in ancient European weather lore, wherein a badger or sacred bear is the prognosticator, as opposed to a groundhog. It also bears similarities to the Pagan festival of Imbolc (the seasonal turning point of the Celtic calendar, which is celebrated on February 2 and also involves weather prognostication), and to St. Swithun's Day on July 15.

    Historical origins

    The groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

    Banner of Grundsow Lodsh Nummer Sivva (Groundhog Lodge Number Seven), of Pennsburg, Pennsylvania.

    The first documented American reference to Groundhog Day can be found in a diary entry, dated February 4, 1841, of Morgantown, Pennsylvania, storekeeper James Morris:

    Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.

    From England, the poem:

    If Candlemas be fair and bright,
    Winter has another flight.
    If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
    Winter will not come again.

    From Scotland, the poem:

    If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,
    There'll be two winters in the year.

    From Germany, the poem:

    For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day,
    So far will the snow swirl until May.
    For as the snow blows on Candlemas Day,
    So far will the sun shine before May.

    CandlemasHistory

    The Feast of the Presentation is one of the oldest feasts of the Catholic Church, celebrated since the 4th century AD in Jerusalem. There are sermons on the Feast by the bishops Methodius of Patara (died 312), Cyril of Jerusalem (died 360), Gregory the Theologian (died 389), Amphilochius of Iconium (died 394), Gregory of Nyssa (died 400), and John Chrysostom (died 407). It is also mentioned in the pilgrimage of Egeria (381 - 384), where she confirmed that the celebrations took place in honor of the presentation of Jesus at the Temple.

    XXVI. [The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.] But certainly the Feast of the Purification is celebrated here with the greatest honour. On this day there is a procession to the Anastasis; all go in procession, and all things are done in order with great joy, just as at Easter. All the priests preach, and also the bishop, always treating of that passage of the Gospel106 where, on the fortieth day, Joseph and Mary brought the Lord into the Temple, and Simeon and Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Famuhel, saw Him, and of the words which they said when they saw the Lord, and of the offerings which the parents presented. And when all things have been celebrated in order as is customary, the sacrament is administered, and so the people are dismissed.

    Christmas was, in the West, celebrated on December 25 since, at least, the set year of 354 AD, by Pope Liberius. Forty days after that was automatically February 2. In the Eastern parts of the Roman Empire, Roman consul Justin established the celebration of the Hypapante on February 2, 521 AD.

    Consequently, Pope Gelasius may have contributed to the spread, and not necessarily invented, this celebration. Moreover, the link made by Cardinal Baronius between presentation of Jesus at the temple and Lupercalia is likely inaccurate since Lupercalia was not celebrated at Jerusalem and that that was there only that one finds some celebrations of the presentation of Jesus at the temple made around this date. But it appears that it was made important around the time of the Plague of Justinian in 541 before having spread slowly West.

    Lupercalia

    The ancient Romans celebrated the Lupercalia festival on February 15, a celebration that inspired Lupercus, God of fertility and shepherds. The celebration of Feralia occurred at the same time.

    The Lupercalia festival has frequently been linked to the presentation of Jesus at the temple, particularly by Cardinal Cesare Baronio of the 16th century especially for the purification goals that the two festivals both have. Another, Pope Gelasius I wrote a letter to senator Andromachus, who was wanting to reestablish the Lupercalia festival for purification purposes, and the Gelasius sacrament mentioned the celebration of Chandeleur, some have concluded that Pope Gelasius wanted to substitute the pagan festival for a Catholic celebration. The ceremony of making pancakes was similar to the custom of the Vestals at Lupercalia, offering cakes made with wheat old crop so that the following crop is good. At the same time, the Gelasius sacrament suffered a strong influence gallicane and was written between 628 and 731 AD, it is possible that the addition of the celebration was not due to Pope Gelasius. Moreover, when Pope Gelasius addressed Andromachus, he never demonstrated authority, but was content to show, for example, that the Lupercalia festival would no longer have the effect it once had and it was incompatible with Christian ideals. This could be interpreted as evidence of a limited influence the Pope had on the Roman aristocracy.

    Imbolc
    The bear


    For a long time in Europe, from antiquity to the Middle Ages, bears were symbolic in cult worship. Germans and Scandinavians and, to some extent, the Celts, celebrated the hibernation of the bears at the end of January and beginning of February. However the date (January 24 for most of Europe) was considered the most important part of the celebration. It was the moment when the bears would leave their den and see if the temperature was mild. This festival was characterized by costumes or disguises bear, and mock rapes and abductions of young girls.

    For a long time, the Catholic Church sought to eradicate this pagan worship. To do this, it instituted the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple which is celebrated on February 2, which is the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary.

    However, the celebrations of the bear and the return of light would continue during bonfires and other torchlight processions. Pope Gelasius I in the fifth century therefore instituted the feast of candles.

    From the twelfth to the eighteenth century, Candlemas was called "chandelours" in many areas (including the Alps, Pyrenees, Ardennes) where the memory of the cult of the bear was still very present.

    Christian sovereigns and churches in Europe have sought to eradicate long persisted pagan cults. The bear origin hypothesis would, according to some, operative in Rome in the mid-fifth century, where Christmas was set for December 25, and Jerusalem, where the liturgical practice has developed to celebrate the Presentation. There was no need for this light, the Christian calendar itself was changing. Indeed, we see that Candlemas is fixed to February 2, and St. Bridget to February 1 (Brigitt being the name of the Celtic goddess celebrated equivalent date). There is also the Aosta Saint-Ours, St. Blaise (which means "bear"). Moreover, Candlemas is the opening of the carnival period; Golden Bear is the carnival animal par excellence.

    Persephone

    Still, the candelarum celebration was commemorated in Rome in search of the Goddess of Light Persephone kidnapped by the King of the Other World Hades by her Mother Goddess of Life Demeter. Persephone no longer in our world, the darkness was everywhere, her mother then informed his research with a torch, and ended up getting her daughter would be on Earth and Olympus for 2/3 of the year (period clear), and the Other World (Hell) for 1/3 of the time (winter season). The festive candles symbolizes the return of Light.

    February also takes its name from the Latin verb 'februare' which means "purification". Christianity has therefore placed the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin at the time. The purification in question is that of the output of the "winter darkness ". Myths of Sleeping Beauty or Theseus and Ariadne (for example) narrate the release of light (Dawn of the year) by the "solar knight"
    Last edited by Pete; February 2, 2016, 11:06 AM.
    - Pete

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