Shedding some light on Groundhog’s Day

The second day of February, what now is called Groundhog’s Day, falls midway between the winter solstice and spring equinox. Over the centuries and across the world, this day has been significant in numerous cultures and traditions.

There were four days known as turning points in the Celtic calendar to mark the changing of the seasons. The first day of spring day turning point was celebrated by the Celtics as the pagan festival Imbolc.

This later morphed into the Christian commemoration of the presentation of Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem, which was observed with the feast of Candlemas. Candles were brought to the church to be blessed, and some thought if the day of the feast was sunny, there would be cold and snow for another 40 days.

In 1678 John Ray wrote:

“If Candlemas day be fair and bright

Winter will have another flight

If on Candlemas day it be shower and rain

Winter is gone and will not come again.”

In Germany the decision as to whether or not a day had sunshine was decided by whether or not a small animal could see their shadow. At that time the badger was generally the chosen critter.

Brought to this country by German immigrants in 1887, the first official celebration of the day occurred in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania — with the native groundhog chosen as the honored animal.

The event was the idea a local newspaper editor Clymer Freas, who convinced the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club to join him in the celebration. The club was a group of hunters and businessmen.

Nowadays, the big event draws thousands of people to the community. There is a group known as the Inner Circle that conducts the proceedings wearing top hats and tuxedos and speaking Pennsylvania Dutch to Phil the groundhog.

Groundhog.org explains: “After Phil emerges from his burrow on Feb. 2, he speaks to the Groundhog Club president in ‘Groundhogese’ (a language only understood by the current president of the Inner Circle). His proclamation is then translated for the world.”

It was in the 1960s that Phil got his name. According to the Groundhog Club, he was named for King Phillip. The club also said Phil has been alive since 1886 because every year he is given a magical potion.

Immortal Phil has had well over his 15 minutes of fame. Phil has appeared on The Today Show and Oprah and has visited the White House. He is married to Phyliss, also a groundhog.

Phil is so famous he does have several imitators. These include Staten Island Chuck, New York; Pierre C. Shadeaux, Louisiana; and Thistle the Whistle pig and Buckeye Chuck, who both hail from Ohio. These four semifamous prognosticators and six more made the 2022 Reader’s Digest list of “10 Famous Groundhogs Besides Punxsutawney Phil.”

Are Phil’s predictions — or as they say in Punxsutawney, his prognostications — accurate? The short answer is not so much. According to Stormfax Weather Almanac, Phil has been correct 39% of the time since his first appearance in 1887.

In 1993 when the movie “Groundhog’s Day” was released, the name of the day took on a completely different meaning — history repeating itself.

To learn more about Groundhog’s Day, visit www.groundhog.org/.