[infoshare] Re: TDS 2 Feb - Groundhog Day
- From: "Maria" <malyn87@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <infoshare@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2009 17:47:44 -0500
My, my; now that was a mouthful. Since Phil and Chuck didn't agree, do you
think that means that New Yorkers will have an early spring, while
Pennsylvanians have to wait for it? I can only hope.
Maria
----- Original Message -----
From: Lynne
To: infoshare@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2009 4:55 PM
Subject: [infoshare] TDS 2 Feb - Groundhog Day
Well, I'm sure you knew I had to. ,grin>
Read at your leisure and inclination.
Lynne
Groundhog Day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2 in the United
States and Canada on which if a groundhog emerges from its burrow 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. The holiday, 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.
The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania,
where crowds as high as 40,000 have gathered to celebrate the holiday since at
least 1886. Other celebrations of note in Pennsylvania take place in
Quarryville in Lancaster County, the Anthracite Region of Schuylkill County,
the Sinnamahoning Valley and Bucks County. Outside of Pennsylvania, notable
celebrations occur in the Frederick and Hagerstown areas of Maryland, the
Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and among the Amish populations of over twenty
states and Canada.
Groundhog Day received worldwide attention as a result of the 1993 film of
the same name, Groundhog Day, which was set in Punxsutawney and featured
Punxsutawney Phil.
History
Historical origins
An early American reference to Groundhog Day can be found in a diary entry,
dated February 4, 1841, of Berks County, Pennsylvania storekeeper James Morris:
In the United States the tradition may also derive from a Scottish poem:
This tradition also stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day
and Groundhog Day. Candlemas, also known as the Purification of the Virgin or
the Presentation, coincides with the earlier pagan observance Imbolc.
Alternative origin theories
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 less days of winter. In
other words, the Groundhog Day tradition may have begun as a bit of folk humor.
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 6 more weeks until the equinox.
Famous predictions and groundhogs
As stated earlier, a shadow of a groundhog means six more weeks of winter,
and no shadow means spring is around the corner. Groundhog Day proponents state
that the rodents' forecasts are accurate 75% to 90%. A Canadian study for 13
cities in the past 30 to 40 years puts success rate level at 37%. Also, the
National Climatic Data Center reportedly has stated that the overall
predictions accuracy rate is around 39%.
Predictions by year
Famous groundhogs
Punxsutawney Phil found in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, USA
Jimmy the Groundhog of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, USA
Wiarton Willie found in Wiarton, Ontario, Canada
Staten Island Chuck found in New York City, New York, USA
General Beauregard Lee, PhD found in Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Dunkirk Dave in Dunkirk, New York, USA
Malverne Mel and Malverne Melissa found in Malverne, New York, USA
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, USA
Pardon Me Pete of Tampa, Florida, USA
Octoraro Orphie of Quarryville, Pennsylvania, USA
Holtsville Hal of Holtsville, New York, USA
Buckeye Chuck of Marion, Ohio, USA
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!
At the end of Disney's 1930 Silly Symphony Winter, a 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. 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, USA 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.
Also in the episode "Next Question" of the children's animated show As Told
By Ginger Carl and Hoodsey liberate the towns Groundhog so they could sell
scarves remembering their Groundhog, Pete. When the matter is investigated, a
monkey, Mr. Licorice, is in the hole and people think that he ate Pete.
In the episode "The Groundhog Day" of The O.C, Seth Cohen and Che attempt to
save the animal used on Groundhog Day in their town of Newport.
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.
In popular culture, the phrase "Groundhog Day" has come to represent going
through a phenomenon over and over until one spiritually transcends it.
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, 15 July 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.
It has been suggested that Groundhog Day has similarity with rituals and
beliefs in various cultures surrounding regeneration and rebirth, such as
Native American beliefs about the arrival of Spring and the yearly cycle of the
awakening of animal and plant life.
References
Notes
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
History of Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day History
Groundhog Day and Gardening A gardener's reflections on Groundhog Day.
Collection of links to websites about Groundhog Day
A Collection of Groundhog Crossing Videos Pennsylvania's most famous
groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil crosses America
Profile of many other prognosticating groundhogs
Punxy Phil's Past Predictions: http://www.groundhog.org/about/predictions.php
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