The History Behind Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day – it’s a somewhat obscure holiday that most of us are familiar with, but we don’t really know why we celebrate it. Have you ever wondered about where it came from? Here is a little bit of trivia and information about the history of Groundhog Day.
On February 2, everyone pretends to believe in folklore for a day. According to the legend, if a groundhog comes up from his hole on February 2 and happens to see his shadow (meaning the day is sunny), then winter will continue for six more weeks. If it happens to be cloudy and the groundhog doesn’t see his shadow, then spring is said to be “just around the corner.”
First of all, February 2 is not really that close to spring in the northern hemisphere. With the Spring Solstice arriving on March 20 or 21, it seems that winter is supposed to last six weeks past February 2 anyway. This discrepancy is probably due to the meshing of two versions of the calendar – one that has spring beginning much earlier when the days first begin to lengthen noticeably at the end of January, and the other that marks the Solstice in March.
Groundhog Day likely began as a Pennsylvania German tradition in the late 18th century. The custom is said to have originated in Europe, where a badger or bear is seen as a weather predictor. In Pennsylvania, apparently, folks were rather short on bears and badgers and turned to the more plentiful groundhog.
There was likely a Pagan influence, too. The feast of Imbolc on February 1 is the point where the Celtic calendar turns and spring is heralded.
The first actual reference to Groundhog Day as an American holiday comes to us from a diary entry dated February 4, 1841. This diary was kept by a storekeeper named James Morris. In this particular entry, James referred to the previous Tuesday which was February 2 as “Candlemas Day.” He wrote that this was the day when the Germans say the groundhog comes out of his winter burrow and if he sees his shadow, he pops back in for six more weeks of sleep. James also wrote that if the groundhog didn’t see his shadow due to cloudy weather, then the weather would be “moderate.”
Scottish and English poetry, while not making reference to any particular furry animal, does refer to the weather on Candlemas being a harbinger of spring or continual winter. A sunny Candlemas meant an extension of winter, while a cloudy one meant spring was coming soon.
Well, now you know a little something about the history of Groundhog Day!