Active Users:206 Time:19/05/2024 07:53:26 PM
Groundhog Day is 2 February - Edit 1

Before modification by Joel at 25/02/2017 12:21:06 PM

Punxsutawney, PA is the home of the best known titular animal, Punxsutawney Phil. American tradition claims the hibernating groundhog emerges from his burrow on 2 February; if he does not see his shadow spring will arrive before the vernal equinox, but if he does he is frightened back underground and winter will last six more weeks. Wikipedia claims the origins lie in old European lore using badgers and similar animals in the role, possibly as far back as the ancient Celtic festival of Imbolc.

Arkham, MA is the home of the best known Ivy League collection of eldritch texts, at Miskatonic University. Cthulhu tradition claims the hibernating Old One will emerge from his submerged city at an appointed time; if he is not prevented he will resume his reign of omnicidal terror, but if he is interrupted existence will persist. The stories of Lovecraft et al. claim the origins lie in a primordial extraterrestrial invasion transcending morality and even sanity.

Cthulhu is depicted with a clawed humanoid body approximately a quarter mile high, draconic wings and a tentacled head resembling a giant octopus or squid. Juxtaposing that with the groundhog yields Miskatonic Phil, an eternal horror eventually emerging from hibernation to inflict tortured madness and death on a modern world oblivious to its lurking yet long forgotten existential menace—unless he sees his tentacles.


Return to message