Difference between revisions of "Groundhog Day" - New World Encyclopedia

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This tradition also stems from similar beliefs associated with [[Candlemas]] Day<ref>{{cite web |title=About Groundhog Day |url=http://www.groundhog.org/about/history.php/ |work=Groundhog.org |publisher=Punxsutawney Groundhog Club |accessdate=2008-02-04 }}</ref> and ''Groundhog Day''. Candlemas, also known as the [[Purification of the Virgin]] or the ''Presentation'', coincides with the earlier pagan observance [[Imbolc]].
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Candlemas, also known as the [[Purification of the Virgin]] or the ''Presentation'', coincides with the earlier pagan observance [[Imbolc]].
  
 
In [[Western world|Western]] countries in the Northern Hemisphere, the official first day of spring is about six weeks 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 was exactly six weeks after February 2, assuming that the equinox marked the first day of spring in certain [[medieval]] cultures, as it does now in Western countries, Groundhog Day occurred exactly six weeks before spring. Therefore, if the groundhog saw his shadow on Groundhog Day there would be six more weeks of winter. If he didn't, there would be 42 more days of winter. In other words, the Groundhog Day tradition may have begun as a bit of folk humor.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=eFKO9FKPjOwC&pg=PT1&dq=Don+Yoder,+Groundhog+Day,+Stackpole+Books,+2003&sig=kfGnFB091GHrOdoCce77Vr-9cwg ''Groundhog Day''], Don Yoder, Stackpole Books, 2003. ISBN 0811700291</ref>
 
In [[Western world|Western]] countries in the Northern Hemisphere, the official first day of spring is about six weeks 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 was exactly six weeks after February 2, assuming that the equinox marked the first day of spring in certain [[medieval]] cultures, as it does now in Western countries, Groundhog Day occurred exactly six weeks before spring. Therefore, if the groundhog saw his shadow on Groundhog Day there would be six more weeks of winter. If he didn't, there would be 42 more days of winter. In other words, the Groundhog Day tradition may have begun as a bit of folk humor.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=eFKO9FKPjOwC&pg=PT1&dq=Don+Yoder,+Groundhog+Day,+Stackpole+Books,+2003&sig=kfGnFB091GHrOdoCce77Vr-9cwg ''Groundhog Day''], Don Yoder, Stackpole Books, 2003. ISBN 0811700291</ref>

Revision as of 18:35, 20 January 2009

Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day 2005 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, USA.
Observed by United States and Canada
Type Cultural
Significance Whether the groundhog sees its shadow or not determines how much longer winter will last
Date February 2
Celebrations Observing a groundhog emerging from its burrow and seeing whether it sees its shadow, announcing the result of this

Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated in United States and Canada on February 2.

In weather lore, if a groundhog, also known as a woodchuck or marmot, emerges from its burrow on this day and fails to see its shadow because the weather is cloudy, winter will soon end. If on the other hand, it is sunny and the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks.

Candlemas is usually the same day, and has similar beliefs about the coming weather.

Since the release in 1993 of the film of the same name, Groundhog Day, the phrase is sometimes used in English to mean "the same thing over and over again," particularly in reference to unpleasant repeating.

Historical origins

The groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

Perhaps the earliest known American reference to Groundhog Day can be found at the Historical Society of Berks County in Reading, Pennsylvania. The reference was made February 4, 1841 in Morgantown, Berks County, Pennsylvania storekeeper James Morris' diary: "Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans,[1] 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." (Legend has it that the groundhog is a timid creature, and the sight of his own shadow will scare him.)

In the United States the tradition may also derive from a Scottish 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 snow,
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.

Candlemas, also known as the Purification of the Virgin or the Presentation, coincides with the earlier pagan observance Imbolc.

In Western countries in the Northern Hemisphere, the official first day of spring is about six weeks 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 was exactly six weeks after February 2, assuming that the equinox marked the first day of spring in certain medieval cultures, as it does now in Western countries, Groundhog Day occurred exactly six weeks before spring. Therefore, if the groundhog saw his shadow on Groundhog Day there would be six more weeks of winter. If he didn't, there would be 42 more days of winter. In other words, the Groundhog Day tradition may have begun as a bit of folk humor.[2]

Alternatively, 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 six more weeks until the equinox.[3]

Famous prognosticators and predictions

Towns throughout North America are known to have winter-predicting groundhogs. The most famous is Punxsutawney Phil of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania (immortalized in the movie Groundhog Day). There is also "Brandon Bob" of Brandon, Manitoba; "Staten Island Chuck" in New York; "Balzac Billy" in Alberta; "General Beauregard Lee" in Lilburn, Georgia; "Shubenacadie Sam" in Nova Scotia; and "Gary the Groundhog" in Kleinburg, Ontario, among many others.

As stated earlier, a shadow of a groundhog means six more weeks of winter, and no shadow means spring is around the corner.[4] Groundhog Day proponents state that the rodents' forecasts are 75- to 90-percent accurate. A Canadian study for 13 cities in the past 30 to 40 years puts success rate level at 37 percent.[5] Also, the National Climatic Data Center reportedly has stated that the overall predictions accuracy rate is around 39 percent.[6]


Famous groundhogs

  • Punxsutawney Phil found in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, U.S.
  • Jimmy the Groundhog of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, U.S.
  • Wiarton Willie found in Wiarton, Ontario, Canada
  • Staten Island Chuck found in New York City, New York, U.S.
  • General Beauregard Lee, PhD found in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
  • Dunkirk Dave in Dunkirk, New York, U.S.
  • Malverne Mel and Malverne Melissa found in Malverne, New York, U.S.
  • Brandon Bob of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
  • Balzac Billy of Balzac, Alberta, Canada
  • Shubenacadie Sam of Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, Canada
  • Gary the Groundhog of Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada
  • Spanish Joe of Spanish, Ontario, Canada
  • Sir Walter Wally of Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
  • Pardon Me Pete of Tampa, Florida, U.S.
  • Octoraro Orphie of Quarryville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
  • Holtsville Hal of Holtsville, New York, U.S.
  • Buckeye Chuck of Marion, Ohio, U.S.

Punxsutawney Phil

Groundhog Day 2005 in Punxsutawney featuring Phil.

Punxsutawney Phil, the "seer of seers and prognosticator of prognosticators,"[7] is a groundhog resident of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. On February 2, Groundhog Day of each year, the town of Punxsutawney celebrates the beloved 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 two miles east of town. According to the tradition, if Phil sees his shadow and returns to his hole, the United States will have six more weeks of winter. If Phil does not see his shadow, spring will arrive early. The date of Phil's prognostication is known as Groundhog Day in the United States and Canada. During the rest of the year, Phil lives in the town library with his "wife" Phyllis.

A club of Phil enthusiasts, known as the Punxsutawney "Save the Bearded Owls" Club, take care of the famed rodent year-round. A select group, called the Inner Circle, also plan the annual ceremony. Members of the Inner Circle are recognizable by their top hats and tuxedos. Phil has co-handlers.

Punxsutawney Phil lore

Punxsutawney Phil fans say that there is only one Phil (all the other groundhog weathermen are impostors), and that he has made weather prognostications for 122 years as of 2008. They say that every summer, Inner Circle members feed Phil a sip of the mysterious Groundhog Punch, which he must drink to maintain his immortality. (In natural circumstances, a groundhog could never live more than 10 years or so.) According to the Groundhog Club, Phil, after making the prediction, speaks to the Club President in "Groundhogese," intelligible only to the Inner Circle; this prediction is then translated for the entire world.

Of the 112 predictions made on record so far, Punxsutawney Phil has predicted an early spring 14 times (13 percent). As to his accuracy, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle, he is 100-percent accurate.

Wiarton Willie

File:Writers245.JPG
Wiarton Willie Statue in Wiarton, Ontario

Wiarton Willie is a famous Canadian groundhog who lives in the community of Wiarton in Bruce County, Ontario. Every February 2, on Groundhog Day, Willie takes part in the local Wiarton Willie Festival. His role is to predict whether there will be an early spring. Although the original Wiarton Willie died in 1999, the Wiarton groundhog day celebrations continue each year with the original Willie's successors, referred to as "Wee Willie."[8]

Groundhog Day, featuring Wiarton Willie, is a popular annual festival in Wiarton and is similar to events in other locations in North America. A midwinter celebration involving an animal with predictive powers was an element of Celtic culture.[9] The link between weather prediction and the day is said to have been inspired by an old Scottish couplet: "If Candlemas Day is bright and clear/ There'll be two winters in the year."[10]

History

The story of Wiarton Willie dates back to 1956. A Wiarton resident named Mac McKenzie wanted to showcase his childhood home to his many friends, so he sent out invitations for a "Groundhog Day" gathering. One of these invitations fell into the hands of a Toronto Star reporter. The reporter travelled to Wiarton looking for the Groundhog Day event. None of the townspeople knew about a festival, but one suggested he check at the Arlington Hotel, the local watering hole. There the reporter found McKenzie and his friends partying and was invited to join them. The next day, the reporter lamented to McKenzie that he needed some kind of story to take back to justify his expenses. So McKenzie grabbed his wife's fur hat, which had a large button on the front, went out to the parking lot, dug a burrow in the snow and pronounced a prognostication (which no one remembers). The picture of Mac and the hat ran in the February 3, 1956 edition of the Toronto Star. A year later, about 50 people arrived for the festival. Half were reporters from various media, including the CBC and Canadian Press. Seizing on the opportunity, McKenzie invented a festival that has been added to over the years.[11]

Wiarton Willie himself is a more recent addition to the festivities. In the early years, prognostication was provided by the "mythical" trio of groundhogs Grundoon, Muldoon, and Sand Dune. Willie appeared on the scene in the 1980s. Wiarton Willie's predictive powers are attributed (by his followers) to his situation on the forty-fifth parallel, exactly halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. He is claimed locally to be accurate in his prognostications around 90 percent of the time, although scientific studies show groundhog predictions to have a success rate of more like 37 percent.[10]

Death and ensuing scandal

The original Wiarton Willie lived to the advanced age of 22, and was found dead only two days before Groundhog Day in 1999. The organizers were unable to find a replacement, and instead marked Groundhog Day by revealing "Willie" in a coffin. He had been dressed in a tuxedo, had coins over his eyes, and a carrot between his paws. A scandal ensued when it transpired that the real Willie had in fact decomposed, and the body in the coffin was that of an older, stuffed groundhog. The Associated Press was obliged to issue a retraction on its wires.[12]

Wee Willie

The new Wiarton Willie is also known as "Wee Willie," and is another albino groundhog. There have actually been two Wee Willies—Wee Willie and Wee Willie 2. The former was reported as deceased on July 11, 2006 after fighting an infection for the previous month.

The Groundhog Day show

Groundhog Day in Wiarton is a major celebration, with dances, parades, ice hockey tournaments, curling bonspiels, pancake breakfasts, darts, and snooker tournaments, sleigh rides, a Monte Carlo Night and a fish fry.[13] Around 10,000 people are said to attend. It has been called "one the most popular events in Ontario" and has twice been named "the World's Greatest Event" by Seattle's Festivals.com.[9][14]

Staten Island Chuck

Staten Island Chuck is a groundhog who resides in the Staten Island Zoo in Staten Island, New York in the United States. He is noted as the official groundhog meteorologist of New York City who predicts the duration of winter each February 2 on Groundhog Day. He makes the prediction based on whether or not he sees his shadow at 7:30 a.m. on Groundhog Day. The ceremony at the zoo is often attended and officiated by the Mayor of New York City.

The Staten Island Zoo claims that Chuck has correctly predicted the duration of winter 80 percent of the time since the 1980s (in natural circumstances a groundhog could never live more than 10 years or so).

General Beauregard Lee

General Beauregard Lee is a groundhog that resides at the Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn, Georgia just outside of Atlanta. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Georgia—"DWP, Doctor of Weather Prognostication" and Georgia State University—"Doctor of Southern Groundology." He has been predicting early springs or late winters for 14 years and the Game Ranch claims a 94-percent accuracy rate. However, he did have one major miss: in 1993 he predicted an early spring, but Georgia was hit with a blizzard that crippled the Southeast for nearly a week and a half. Some people hypothesize that General Beauregard Lee may have attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, since he holds the rank of general.

In fiction

In 1899, members of The Slumbering Groundhog Lodge of Quarryville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania composed a song about groundhogs sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic":

Let the scientific fakirs gnash their teeth and stamp with rage- Let astrologers with crystals wipe such nonsense from the page- We hail the King of Prophets, who's the world's outstanding Sage- TODAY THE GROUNDHOG COMES! Glory! Glory! to the Groundhog, Glory! Glory! to the Groundhog, Glory! Glory! to the Groundhog, TODAY THE PROPHET COMES![15]

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[16].

In popular culture, the phrase "Groundhog Day" has come to represent going through a phenomenon over and over until one spiritually transcends it.[17]

Similar customs

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 is claimed that at one time it was believed if it rained on that day, it would rain for the next 40 days and nights. However, since the probability of such a protracted period of continual rain is virtually nil it is more likely that the belief was simply that the ensuing summer would be wetter than average.

Notes

  1. The attribution to the "Germans" may be based on contemporary hearsay or an isolated reference: there is no commonly known tradition in modern Germany relating Candlemas to the weather.
  2. Groundhog Day, Don Yoder, Stackpole Books, 2003. ISBN 0811700291
  3. Groundhog Day, Margaret Kruesi. Journal of American Folklore. Washington: Summer 2007. Vol. 120, Iss. 477; pg. 367+
  4. Patton, Jason. The Shadow Report: Whether Punxsutawney Phil Sees or Doesn't See His Shadow.
  5. Phillips, David. "Groundhog Day". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Foundation of Canada.
  6. Groundhog Day. Pet Love Shack.
  7. Punxsutawney Phil's 2008 Prediction on Groundhog.org
  8. "He Cast No Shadow". southbrucepeninsula.com. Retrieved on: November 4, 2007.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Eight Wiccan/Neopagan Sabbats: Imbolc: Jan-31 to Feb-02. Religious Tolerance.org. Retrieved on: November 4, 2007.
  10. 10.0 10.1 CBC News (February 2, 2007) "What Wiarton Willie sees." CBC News In Depth: Groundhog Day. Retrieved on: November 3, 2007.
  11. "How the Festival Started." southbrucepeninsula.com. Retrieved on: November 3, 2007.
  12. Pollenatrix (May 27, 2004) "Groundhog Tales." Retrieved on: November 3, 2007.
  13. Wiarton Willie Festival Events. southbrucepeninsula.com. Retrieved on: November 3, 2007.
  14. Jim Fox (February 2, 2007) "Waking Wiarton Willie." Canoe.ca. Retrieved on: November 4, 2007.
  15. Anthony Aveni, The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 30-31.
  16. Groundhog Day (1993)
  17. "The spiritual power of repetitive form: Steps toward transcendence in Groundhog Day." Suzanne Daughton, Critical Studies in Mass Communication. Annandale: Jun 1996. Vol. 13, Iss. 2; pg. 138, 17 pgs

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • 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
  • Cohen, H., and T. P. Coffin. The Folklore of American Holidays. Detroit: Gale Research, 1987. ISBN 978-0810321267
  • Old, W. C., and P. Billin-Frye. The Groundhog Day Book of Facts and Fun. Morton Grove, Ill..: Albert Whitman, 2004. ISBN 978-0807530665
  • Pulling, A. F. Around Punxsutawney. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 2001. ISBN 978-0738505305
  • Yoder, Don Groundhog Day. Mechanicsburg, Penna.: Stackpole Books, 2003. ISBN 978-0811700290

External links

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