It’s true, this year I will be more focused on the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl on Sunday than my usual tradition of watching the classic Bill Murray film, “Groundhog Day.”
But that doesn’t stop me from wondering why do we have this goofy tradition in the first place. According to Wikipedia:
Punxsutawney Phil is a groundhog in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. On February 2 (Groundhog Day) each year, the borough of Punxsutawney celebrates the legendary groundhog with a festive atmosphere of music and food. During the ceremony, which begins well before the winter sunrise, Phil emerges from his temporary home on Gobbler’s Knob, located in a rural area about 2 miles (3 km) southeast of town. According to the tradition, if Phil sees his shadow and returns to his hole, he has predicted six more weeks of winter-like weather. If Phil does not see his shadow, he has predicted an “early spring.”
Okay, great. I’m all for a little silly small town fun. But why? Well I’ve done a little bit of research (thank you Google) and found that Groundhob Day has roots in the ancient Christian tradition of Candlemas. What’s Candlemas? Clergy blessing candles an distributing them for the winter. The candles are supposed to represent how long and cold the winter would be. Why a candle? Oh great, now I’ve got more questions.
The Germans expanded the idea by selecting the hedgehog as a means of predicting weather. Sonic would be proud. When Germans settled in Pennsylvania, they continued this odd tradition and selected a groundhog instead of a hedgehog. Because they were plentiful.
So now when a groundhog (or woodchuck) comes out of hibernation…they become the prognosticator of Spring’s arrival.
I’m still confused. But that won’t stop me from having some fun at this odd holiday.
