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The School Newspaper of Harriton High School

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The School Newspaper of Harriton High School

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The Background on Groundhog Day

Punxsutawney Phil’s shadow was waiting for him when he poked his head out of his hole this February 2nd, and for the lesser informed, whether or not Phil sees his silhouette when he wakes up on Groundhog Day means whether we will see six more weeks of Winter or an early Spring.  Of course, the irony is that if the sun is shining, it will cast the little guy’s shadow on the ground, whereas cloud coverage prevents this from happening.  At any rate, Phil’s most recent prediction has thus far proved to be pretty accurate, but why are we relying on a little brown rodent to tell us how much of the cold season still lies ahead in the first place?  Do we not have meteorologists with much more accurate instruments than an absence of light for deciding these sorts of predictions?  For those who didn’t get enough groundhog out of this year’s holiday, here’s a short history.
Groundhog Day actually grew out of a much older holiday called Candlemas Day, which was originally brought to Pennsylvania by German settlers in the 1700s.  According to this Catholic custom, which is similarly celebrated on February 2nd and marks the end of the season of Epiphany, a bright and sunny Candlemas Day would foretell bitter and icy conditions for the second half of the season (and vice-versa).  In Europe, the clergy would give out blessed candles to churchgoers, who would then adorn the windows of their homes with them.  There are numerous versions of an old rhyme associated with the tradition, the English translation of which goes, “If Candlemas be fair and bright/Winter has another flight/If Candlemas brings clouds and rain/Winter will not come again.”  Candlemas Day itself is rooted in the Pagan celebration of Imbolc, which falls on February 1st, the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.     (continued from page 3)

“The Festival of Lights,” as it was also called, would be observed through the lighting of candles to symbolize the regaining strength and imminent return of the sun.  Pagans would interpret whether serpents, badgers, or sacred bears hid in their dens or came out for fresh air during Imbolc as a sign of either sunshine or snowfall to come.  This ancient piece of Pagan history, perhaps, is what we can consider to be the oldest root of the Groundhog Day tradition as we know it today.
Initial acknowledgement of the great and all-knowing groundhog is owed to Clymer H. Freas and the editor of his newspaper, W. Smith.  Together, the two used the press to popularize their own incarnation of the Imbolc and Candlemas Day traditions, with all attentions paid, for the first time on February 2nd, 1886, to Punxsutawney Phil.  On that day, an article written by Freas for The Punxsutawney Spirit stated, “Today is Groundhog Day and up to the time of going to press the beast has not seen its shadow.”  It was by this declaration, which coincided with a festival in Punxsutawney Freas and Smith had organized, that Phil would come to be called the “Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Report Extraordinary.”  Similarly, Punxsutawney came to be recognized as the “Weather Capital of the World.”  Just for the record, Phil did not see his shadow, and the Spring of 1886 came early.  The following year, upon proclaiming Phil to be “the one and only weather prognosticating groundhog” in the Spirit, Freas and a number of associates who called themselves “The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club” made a pilgrimage to Gobbler’s Knob, where it would become a yearly ritual to go groundhog hunting on the newly established holiday.  123 years later, not a lot has changed.  Punxsutawney Phil, who has somehow survived the past 124 years while retaining an impressive amount of spunk, remains the most famous and most recognized groundhog of the day, in spite of copycat soothsaying groundhogs who have cropped up across the country, including Buckeye Chuck, Wiarton Willie, and Shubenacadie Sam.  Phil’s mysticism has even evolved to be technology savvy, as he now sends his insight into the future through text message (try texting ‘Groundhog’ to 247365 next February 2nd).  Most likely, he has no idea that his place of importance comes from old time German and Pagan customs, but that hardly matters, as he has his own adaptation of the Candlemas poem.  The American version of the rhyme spoken today goes, “If the sun shines on Groundhog Day/Half the fuel and half the hay.”

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