Okla-homey
2/2/2007, 06:56 AM
Feb. 2: Groundhog Day
Here's how we ended up with this bizarre meteorological/cultural phenomenon involving men in high hats and large rodents...
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/9924/2004072423015974695_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004072423015974695)
Around the Fifth century AD, people who care about such things have documented that the European Celts believed that animals had certain supernatural powers on special days that were half-way between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.
Folklore from Germany and France indicated that when marmots and bears came out of their winter dens too early, they were frightened by their shadow and retreated back inside for four to six weeks.
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 Feb. 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, 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."
In the U.S. the tradition derives 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 rain
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
This tradition also stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day. When Christianity came into being in northern Europs, Candlemas was the name given to the formerly pagan observance Imbolc. Apparently, Candlemas was a feast day forty days after Christmas and the day all the candles to be used in church that year were blessed in a special Mass. ("Candle Mass," get it?) The modern Roman Catholic Church no longer celebrates such a Mass. This day is now officially the feast of "The Presentation of the Lord." But I digress...
Anyhoo, in western countries in the Northern Hemisphere, the official first day of Spring is about six weeks after Groundhog Day, on March 20 or 21. About 1,000 years ago, well 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. Now, having stated that, PAY ATTENTION: 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.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/8378/2004085608519110327_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004085608519110327)
A groundhog
See, 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 on days such as Imbolc/Candlemas Day 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. Therefore, someone (or some thing) had to settle the discrepancy between the two calendrical systems.
An arbiter, the lowly groundhog, was incorporated as a yearly custom to settle the two traditions. Sometimes Spring begins at Imbolc/Candlemas, and sometimes Winter lasts 6 more weeks until the Equinox -- depending on whether the giant ground rat sees his shadow when coaxed from his underground lair.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/9053/2004068512628749627_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004068512628749627)
Confused? The bottomline is, irrespective of the holiday's provenance, Bill Murray's film "Groundhog Day" (also starring hottie Andie McDowell) is cinematic greatness. You should see it.
http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/10980/2004080268206334975_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004080268206334975)
Here's how we ended up with this bizarre meteorological/cultural phenomenon involving men in high hats and large rodents...
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/9924/2004072423015974695_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004072423015974695)
Around the Fifth century AD, people who care about such things have documented that the European Celts believed that animals had certain supernatural powers on special days that were half-way between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.
Folklore from Germany and France indicated that when marmots and bears came out of their winter dens too early, they were frightened by their shadow and retreated back inside for four to six weeks.
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 Feb. 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, 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."
In the U.S. the tradition derives 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 rain
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
This tradition also stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day. When Christianity came into being in northern Europs, Candlemas was the name given to the formerly pagan observance Imbolc. Apparently, Candlemas was a feast day forty days after Christmas and the day all the candles to be used in church that year were blessed in a special Mass. ("Candle Mass," get it?) The modern Roman Catholic Church no longer celebrates such a Mass. This day is now officially the feast of "The Presentation of the Lord." But I digress...
Anyhoo, in western countries in the Northern Hemisphere, the official first day of Spring is about six weeks after Groundhog Day, on March 20 or 21. About 1,000 years ago, well 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. Now, having stated that, PAY ATTENTION: 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.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/8378/2004085608519110327_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004085608519110327)
A groundhog
See, 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 on days such as Imbolc/Candlemas Day 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. Therefore, someone (or some thing) had to settle the discrepancy between the two calendrical systems.
An arbiter, the lowly groundhog, was incorporated as a yearly custom to settle the two traditions. Sometimes Spring begins at Imbolc/Candlemas, and sometimes Winter lasts 6 more weeks until the Equinox -- depending on whether the giant ground rat sees his shadow when coaxed from his underground lair.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/9053/2004068512628749627_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004068512628749627)
Confused? The bottomline is, irrespective of the holiday's provenance, Bill Murray's film "Groundhog Day" (also starring hottie Andie McDowell) is cinematic greatness. You should see it.
http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/10980/2004080268206334975_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004080268206334975)