Groundhog Day - Februrary 2nd

by prydwen

In 1723, the Delaware Indians settled Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania as a campsite halfway between the Allegheny and the Susquehanna Rivers. The town is 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, at the intersection of Route 36 and Route 119. The Delawares considered groundhogs honorable ancestors. According to the original creation beliefs of the Delaware Indians, their forebears began life as animals in "Mother Earth" and emerged centuries later to hunt and live as men.

The name Punxsutawney comes from the Indian name for the location "ponksad-uteney" which means "the town of the sandflies."
The name woodchuck comes from the Indian legend of "Wojak, the groundhog" considered by them to be their ancestral grandfather.

When German settlers arrived in the 1700s, they brought a tradition known as Candlemas Day, which has an early origin in the pagan celebration of Imbolc. It came at the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Superstition held that if the weather was fair, the second half of Winter would be stormy and cold. For the early Christians in Europe, it was the custom on Candlemas Day for clergy to bless candles and distribute them to the people in the dark of Winter. A lighted candle was placed in each window of the home. The day's weather continued to be important. If the sun came out February 2, halfway between Winter and Spring, it meant six more weeks of wintry weather.

In later years Groundhog day is more synominous with the Bill Murray movie where the actor plays Phil Conners, a news reader presenting the spring appearence of the Groundhog, who's day repeats over and over again.

This aspect of deja vu has now been attributed as 'having a Groundhog day' and doctors say that some 'chronic deja vu' sufferers exist who seem to relive days over and over in their heads.
The BBC writes about a team at Leeds University who are studying this 'ailment' which they attribute to a faulty memory process.
How is it then that in cases of deja vu you can actually predict what is going to happen or be said next? I know that I have had instances like this, and on occasions been very scared by it.

Anyway have a nice Groundhog day.......again