Candlemas Weekend

PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL

On Groundhog Day
In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
Punxsutawney Phil
Incites Groundhog mania
Thousands watch to see
If he will see his shadow
For if he does winter remains
And he goes back below

GROUNDHOG DAY

If it is cloudy when he emerges
Then winter will soon go
But if he finds it sunny
He quickly returns below

ON CANDLEMAS DAY

The winter will not come again
If Candlemas day has cloud or rain
But if the day is bathed in sun
Then the spring hasn’t yet begun

IMBOLC

Imbolc, on February 1st
Is one of the four
Gaelic seasonal festivals
Imbolc marks
The beginning of spring
And the end winter.
Celebrated with feasting,
The making of Brighid's crosses,
The holy wells are visited,
And divination begins

FERSOMMLINGE

Fersommlinge is a feast
Celebrated on Candlemas day
In south-eastern Pennsylvania
In the “Fancy Dutch” way
Where in the Groundhog Lodges
Traditional foods are served
In their typically sociable way
Speeches are made and to entertain
They perform g'spiel skits and plays
But only Pennsylvania Dutch is spoken
So for English there’s a penalty to pay

CALL IT WHAT YOU LIKE

Jour de la Marmotte
As the French Canadians say
Grundsaudaag or Murmeltiertag
Is the Pennsylvania German way
But for the rest of us
We just call it Groundhog Day

SAINT BRIGIT OF KILDARE

Saint Brigit of Kildare
Or Brigid of Ireland
Also known as Mary of the Gael
Is one of Ireland's patron Saints
Along with Patrick and Columba
Her mother was Brocca
A Christian Pict and slave,
Baptised by Saint Patrick
Brigid herself was born into slavery
But it was clear she was holy
An became an early Christian nun
When she became Abbess,
She founded Kildare monastery
The Church of the Oak,
On the site of an old pagan shrine
To the Celtic goddess Brigid

Feast day 1st February

Thanks for the folklore and hagiography. Sure and 'tis about time dear Saint Brigid got her due.

Thanks Aunty
I saw on the news this morning that Punxsutawney Phil bit the Mayor's ear yesterday, is that whast they call a sound bite?

It wasn't Punxsutawney Phil himself but one of the groundhog's emulators in a little town in Wisconsin. Groundhogs must be cranky little cusses. Last year Staten Island Chuck leap out of NYC Mayor DeBlasio's arms, and at a similar Groundhog celebration a few years ago the former mayor, Mike Bloomberg, suffered a bite as well.

They'd all would've been safer had they simply run a DVD of the fabulous movie version starring the great Bill Murray, who's not known for biting the hands that feed him.

I hear the groundhog saw his shadow and so there will be 6 more weeks of winter. But aren't there supposed to be at least 6 more weeks of winter until the vernal equinox on March 20th?

I'm not sure you can really trust the word of someone who bites your ear anyway, unless its through passion