🇷🇴 A little late, I know, but here's an interesting piece of Romanian folklore.

🇷🇴 On the 2nd of February, Romanians traditionally celebrated Întâmpinarea Domnului (Greeting God) or Stretenia. [LE: this is a traditional celebration, so nowadays nobody celebrates it in everyday life.] On this day it is said that summer meets winter, and winter starts to leave. The Sun rises up everyday a bit more.

🇷🇴 It is also the day of the bear. On this day, he gets out of his burrow where he hibernated and starts dancing, circling the entrance of the burrow. If it's a cloudy, rainy, or snowy day and the bear doesn't see his own shadow, he returns to the burrow where he will stay for 6 more weeks, because winter is not over. However, if he does see his shadow, then he stays outside because winter is gone.

🇷🇴 The source for this is "Romanian Mythology" by Marcel Olinescu. And although it does have a resemblance to the American Groundhog Day, Stretenia is much much older, possibly dating since the Roman conquest of Dacia, as it is the case with lots of things from the Romanian folklore. It is of note that the bear is an important figure in Romanian mythology. Some other animals that are as important are the fox, the hare, the wolf.

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