Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada. According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter-like weather will soon end. If it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks.^[1]

Modern customs of the holiday involve celebrations where early morning festivals are held to watch the groundhog emerging from its burrow. In southeastern Pennsylvania, Groundhog Lodges (Grundsow Lodges) celebrate the holiday with fersommlinge,^[2] social events in which food is served, speeches are made, and one or more g'spiel (plays or skits) are performed for entertainment. The Pennsylvania German dialect is the only language spoken at the event, and those who speak English pay a penalty, usually in the form of a nickel, dime or quarter, per word spoken, put into a bowl in the center of the table.^[3]

The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Groundhog Day, already a widely recognized and popular tradition,^[4] received worldwide attention as a result of the 1993 film of the same name, Groundhog Day, which was set in Punxsutawney and portrayed Punxsutawney Phil.^[5]

History

The celebration, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather lore, wherein a badger or sacred bear is the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.^[6] It also bears similarities to the Pagan festival of Imbolc, the seasonal turning point of the Celtic calendar, which is celebrated on February 1 and also involves weather prognostication.^[7] and to St. Swithun's Day in July.

Historical origins

An early American reference to Groundhog Day can be found in a diary entry,^[8] dated February 4, 1841, of Berks County, Pennsylvania, storekeeper James Morris:

Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans,^[9] the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.

In Scotland the tradition may also derive from an English poem:

As the light grows longer
The cold grows stronger
If Candlemas be fair and bright
Winter will have another flight
If Candlemas be cloud and rain
Winter will be gone and not come again
A farmer should on Candlemas day
Have half his corn and half his hay
On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop
You can be sure of a good pea crop

Alternative origin theories

In western countries in the Northern Hemisphere the official first day of Spring is almost seven weeks (46–48 days) after Groundhog Day, on March 20 or March 21. About 1,000 years ago, before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar when the date of the equinox drifted in the Julian calendar, the spring equinox fell on March 16 instead. This is exactly six weeks after February 2. The custom could have been a folk embodiment of the confusion created by the collision of two calendrical systems. Some ancient traditions marked the change of season at cross-quarter days such as Imbolc when daylight first makes significant progress against the night. Other traditions held that Spring did not begin until the length of daylight overtook night at the Vernal Equinox. So an arbiter, the groundhog/hedgehog, was incorporated as a yearly custom to settle the two traditions. Sometimes Spring begins at Imbolc, and sometimes Winter lasts 6 more weeks until the equinox.^[10]

Locations

The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where crowds as large as 40,000^[11] have gathered to celebrate the holiday since at least 1886.^[12] Other celebrations of note in Pennsylvania take place in Quarryville in Lancaster County,^[13] the Anthracite Region of Schuylkill County,^[14] the Sinnamahoning Valley^[15] and Bucks County.^[16]

Outside of Pennsylvania, notable celebrations occur in the Frederick and Hagerstown areas of Maryland,^[17] the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia,^[18] Woodstock, Illinois,^[19] Lilburn, Georgia,^[20] among the Amish populations of over twenty states and at Wiarton, Ontario, and Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, in Canada.^[18] The University of Dallas in Irving, Texas, has taken Groundhog Day as its official university holiday and organizes a large-scale celebration every year in honor of the Groundhog.^[21]

Predictions of various groundhogs since 2008

Prediction accuracy

Groundhog Day proponents state that the rodents' forecasts are accurate 75% to 90% of the time.^[84] A Canadian study for 13 cities in the past 30 to 40 years puts the success rate level at 37%.^[84] Also, the National Climatic Data Center reportedly has stated that the overall prediction accuracy rate is around 39%.^[85]

Groundhog Day in popular culture

• At the end of Disney's 1930 Silly Symphonies short film Winter, Mr. Groundhog the Weather Prophet comes out of his hole to determine whether or not there will be more winter. At first, he does not see his shadow, but the clouds clear and his shadow appears, causing him to run back inside. At this point, the winds picks up again and winter continues.

• The 1941 Woody Woodpecker short Pantry Panic portrays the groundhog as a weather forecaster, although in this case he forecasts the timing of the beginning of winter, not the end of it.

• In the 1979 Rankin-Bass Christmas TV special Jack Frost, a crucial plot point in the story involves Jack casting his own shadow on Groundhog Day for six more weeks of winter. At the end of the story it is revealed that the narrator (voiced by Buddy Hackett) is the groundhog.

• The 1993 comedy movie Groundhog Day takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on this day (although the majority of the movie was actually filmed in Woodstock, Illinois). The main character (played by Bill Murray) is forced to relive the day over and over again until he can learn to give up his selfishness and become a better person.^[86] In popular culture, the phrase "Groundhog Day" has come to represent going through a phenomenon over and over until one spiritually transcends it.^[87]

• On January 9, 2006, the Pennsylvania Tourism Office presented installments of the Groundhog 202 film series, a Groundhog Day promotion that played off The Shining. The film shows what happens when the groundhog, stuck inside for 364 days, goes mad with cabin fever. On January 11, 2007, the Pennsylvania Tourism Office presented installments of the Groundhog Crossing film series, a Groundhog Day promotion that depicted the departure of the Shadow from his friend the Groundhog in an attempt to stop the cycle of winter predictions.

Similar customs

A strikingly similar and almost identical custom is celebrated among Orthodox Christians in Serbia on February 15 (February 2 according to local Julian calendar) during the feast of celebration of Sretenje or The Meeting of the Lord. It is believed that on this day the bear will awake from winter dormancy, and if in this sleepy and confused state it sees (meets) its own shadow, it will get scared and go back to sleep for an additional 40 days, thus prolonging the winter. Thus, if it is sunny on Sretenje, it is the sign that the winter is not over yet. If it is cloudy, it is a good sign that the winter is about to end.

In Portugal, on February 2 is celebrated this day and is called The Candelária Day that refers to the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. It is said the "If the Candelária is smiling (i.e. if it a sunny day), the winter is still to come, if the Candelária is crying (i.e. if it is a rainy day), the winter is out.

In Germany, June 27 is "Siebenschläfertag" (Seven Sleepers Day). If it rains that day, the rest of summer is supposedly going to be rainy. While it might seem to refer to the "Siebenschläfer" squirrel (Glis Glis), also known as the "edible dormouse," it actually commemorates the Seven Sleepers (the actual commemoration day is July 25).

In the United Kingdom, July 15 is known as St. Swithun's day. It was traditionally believed if it rained on that day, it would rain for the next 40 days and nights.

In Alaska, February 2 is observed as Marmot Day rather than Groundhog Day because few groundhogs exist in the state. The holiday was created by a bill passed by the Alaska Legislature in 2009 and signed by then-Governor Sarah Palin that year.^[88]

Notes

References

• Cohen, H.; Coffin, T.P. (1987). The Folklore of American Holidays. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research. 
• Yoder, Don (2003). Groundhog Day. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0811700291. 

Further reading

• Aaron, Michael A., Brewster B. Boyd, Jr., Melanie J. Curtis, Paul M. Sommers, Punxsutawney's Phenomenal Phorecaster. The College Mathematics Journal, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jan., 2001), pp. 26–29 doi 10.2307/2687216
• Old, W.C., and P. Billin-Frye. The Groundhog Day Book of Facts and Fun. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman, 2004.
• Pulling, A.F. Around Punxsutawney. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 2001.

External links

• Groundhog Day - The Official Website of the Punxsatawney Groundhog Club
• Short Punxsutawney Groundhog Day Documentary: "A Holiday for Everyone"
• Jimmy's Groundhog Central
• History of Groundhog Day
• Famous Groundhogs Around the World - Punxsutawney Phil to Wiarton Willie
• Groundhog Days in Woodstock, IL
• Wiarton Willie Festival - Wiarton, Ontario, Canada
• Groundhog Day at the Open Directory Project