Around the fifth century, 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 groundhogs
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
When Christianity
came into being, the formerly pagan observance also came to be
called Candlemas.
Some assert that the tradition of Groundhog Day originated in
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on February 2, 1887, however the
earliest American reference to Groundhog Day can be found at the
Historical Society of Berks County in Reading, Pa. 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.
According to the Works of Carmi (published in 1974) the
groundhog is psychologically shaken when it sees its shadow, its
lack of shadow is a blanket of security and when a groundhog
sees it- he is determined to hide for 6 weeks"
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 and Hedgehog Day. Although the date is often referred to as one of
the four quarter days of the year (the midpoints between the spring and
fall equinoxes and the summer and winter solstice), it is in fact one of
the cross-quarter days[2] and has roots in the pagan festival of Imbolc
and the Celtic festival of Brigid celebrating the fertility which
follows the growing light of Spring. Indeed, bright, clear weather in a
North American winter is often associated with very cold temperatures.
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, 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 more days of winter. In other words, the
Groundhog Day/Hedgehog 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.
In 1723, the Delaware Indians settled Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania as a
campsite halfway between the Allegheny and the Susquehanna Rivers. The
town is 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, at the intersection of Route
36 and Route 119. The Delawares considered groundhogs honorable
ancestors. According to the original creation beliefs of the Delaware
Indians, their forebears began life as animals in "Mother Earth" and
emerged centuries later to hunt and live as men. The name Punxsutawney
comes from the Indian name for the location "ponksad-uteney" which means
"the town of the sandflies." The name woodchuck comes from the Indian
legend of "Wojak, the groundhog" considered by them to be their
ancestral grandfather. When German settlers arrived in the 1700s, they
brought a tradition known as Candlemas Day, which has an early origin in
the pagan celebration of Imbolc. It came at the mid-point between the
Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Superstition held that if the
weather was fair, the second half of Winter would be stormy and cold.
For the early Christians in Europe, it was the custom on Candlemas Day
for clergy to bless candles and distribute them to the people in the
dark of Winter. A lighted candle was placed in each window of the home.
The day's weather continued to be important. If the sun came out
February 2, halfway between Winter and Spring, it meant six more weeks
of wintry weather.
The Groundhog Day- Its History
The earliest American reference to Groundhog Day can be found at the
Pennsylvania Dutch Folklore Center at Franklin and Marshall College:
February 4, 1841 - from 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."
According to the old English saying :
If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.
From Scotland :
If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,
There'll be two winters in the year.
Another variation of the Scottish rhyme :
If Candlemas day be dry and fair,
The half o' winter to come and mair,
If Candlemas day be wet and foul,
The half of winter's gone at Yule.
From Germany :
For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day,
So far will the snow swirl until May.
For as the snow blows on Candlemas Day,
So far will the sun shine before May.
From America :
If the sun shines on Groundhog Day;
Half the fuel and half the hay.
The Roman legions, during the conquest of the northern country,
supposedly brought this tradition to the Teutons, or Germans, who picked
it up and concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day,
an animal, the hedgehog, would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more
weeks of bad weather, which they interpolated as the length of the
"Second Winter".
Pennsylvania's earliest settlers were Germans and they found groundhogs
to in profusion in many parts of the state. They determined that the
groundhog, resembling the European hedgehog, was a most intelligent and
sensible animal and therefore decided that if the sun did appear on
February 2nd, so wise an animal as the groundhog would see its shadow
and hurry back into its underground home for another six weeks of
winter.
The passage from Germany, may be the one most closely represented by the
first Punxsutawney Groundhog Day observances because there were
references to the length of shadows in early Groundhog Day predictions.
Another February 2nd belief, used by American 19th century farmers, was:
Groundhog Day - Half your hay.
New England farmers knew that we were not close to the end of winter, no
matter how cloudy February 2nd was. Indeed, February 2nd is often the
heart of winter. If the farmer didn't have half his hay remaining, there
may have been lean times for the cows before spring and fresh grass
arrived.
The ancient Candlemas legend and similar belief continue to be
recognized annually on February 2nd due to the efforts of the
Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.
If the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, an animal would cast a
shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of Winter. Germans watched a
badger for the shadow. In Pennsylvania, the groundhog, upon waking from
mid-Winter hibernation, was selected as the replacement. Pennsylvania's
official celebration of Groundhog Day began on February 2nd, 1886 with a
proclamation in The Punxsutawney Spirit by the newspaper's editor,
Clymer Freas: "Today is groundhog day and up to the time of going to
press the beast has not seen its shadow." The groundhog was given the
name "Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of
Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary'' and his hometown
thus called the "Weather Capital of the World.'' His debut performance:
no shadow - early Spring.
The legendary first trip to Gobbler's Knob was made the following year.
