Will he see his shadow? Or will we get rid of this blasted winter?
It looks pretty dang overcast and cold out there. (sigh) I would run away, but who would take me? I come complete with spunky Pomeranian and cranky old Mama, plus a baby grand piano and stacks of study materials. We keep trying to figure out a way to get to California, but parts of that state insist on sloughing off into the ocean, so perhaps we’ll wait on that one. (There’s a writers’ conference in Big Sur around March, and that is what I would REALLY love to do–it’s in the Henry Miller library, and you know all the squee that goes without saying.)
But of course today is the important deal, for it is viewing day for one of my favorite and most philosophically/metaphysically oriented films, GROUNDHOG DAY. It’s a very DEEP film cloaked in the popular metaphor. I have always thought I should learn the thirteenth variation on a theme of Paganini so I could play it straight/jazzy, but I’ve never had the patience with it (maybe this year, though.) Oh, and I meant to save a bunch of people and learn ice sculpting, too.
The largest Groundhog Day celebration anywhere is, of course, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, as shown in the film. Thirty or forty thousand people or more plus several film crews gather to celebrate the holiday and lure/pull poor old Phil out of his hole, or whatever they actually do. One holiday website claims that a Pennsylvania German dialect is the only language allowed at the event, and English-speakers pay a nickel per word spoken. They didn’t show THAT in the movie.
Perhaps you didn’t realize that February 2nd is also celebrated as Candlemas/CandleMass. It’s the 40th day after Christmas, traditionally the day of the purification of Mary (Feast of the Purification) in most churches. Part of the celebration includes a blessing of all candles to be used in churches. Light a candle or two and curse the darkness–I mean, don’t curse the darkness. Embrace the darkness–oh, wait, don’t do that, either.
“Light a candle, curse the glare”–Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead.
Maybe you might just have a moment or two of contemplation while you light a candle this morning.
Prayer candles at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, NYC
shalanna 