Presentation of Christ (AKA Candlemas AKA Groundhog Day)

I don't know how I failed to notice it before, but yesterday it occured to me that Groundhog Day and the The Feast of the Presentation of Christ (Candlemas) are both on February 2 and both are concerned with light. So, given what we know about Christmas and how the Puritans suppressed that glorious feast, I suspected that there was a similar story behind Groundhog Day. Here is what I discovered, and it isn't as nefarious as the was suppression of Christmas.

All over western Europe there was an association of Candlemas, as the Feast of the Presentation is known in that part of the world, with weather prediction. I don't understand it, but there it is. Below are some of the poems from around western Europe pertaiing to the Day.

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

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

From Germany:
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.


Kind of neat, huh? Of course, that doesn't answer the question of how in America the Feast of the Presentation/Candlemas became known as Groundhog Day. I'll get to that but first I want to talk about the Feast of the Presentation of Christ/Canclemass.

So what is the Feast of the Presentation and what does it celebrate? To answer this question we have to look at the Books of Exodus and Leviticus where God gives two commands. In Leviticus 12 the women of Israel were instructed to vist the temple on the 40th day after giving birth. (FYI: Orthodox Christian women still do this. But now it is called Churching.) The other Old Testament text we look at is Exodus 13, where God directs that the first born males of every creature be given to him in sacrifice, but that human beings be redeemed.

Now we see why Februry 2 is the date for the Feast of the Presentation: It is 40 days after the Feast Nativity of Jesus/Christmas. As it is written in the Gospel of Luke, "And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (As it is written in the law of the LORD, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)." (Luke 2:22-23) I know, I know... You are still trying to figure out what this has to do with candles, weather, and groundhogs. I'm going to get to it. I promise. But not tonight.