Groundhog Day is a day that traverses centuries.  The groundhog tradition stems from practices associated with Candlemas Day (February 2); where the custom was to have the clergy bless candles and distribute them to the people.  The Roman legions supposedly brought this practice to the Germanic people, who picked it up and concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, an animal, the hedgehog, would cast a shadow, this predicting six more weeks of bad weather, which they interpolated as the length of the “Second Winter.” (Adapted from  “Groundhog Day: 1886 to 1992” by Bill Anderson)