We all know the legend of Groundhog Day, or do we?
According to the American Philosophical Society in 1888: “If the groundhog sees his shadow on the second of February, he goes back to his hole in the ground for another six weeks’ doze, as he knows that the winter will endure so much longer; per contra, if he cannot see it, he stays out, for he knows that the severe weather is past.”
Yeah, like that will really work, especially with Climate Change.
In Christianity, February 2nd marks 40 days after Christmas. In Scripture, the Evangelist St. Luke tells us that Joseph and Mary took the baby Jesus to the Temple as was the custom on the fortieth day after birth for all babies to be presented to the Temple, hence, the name “The Presentation.” In the West, it is referred to as Candlemas.
Only problem with this story is that Jesus was not born on December 24th, the Winter Solstice was the old pagan ritual that took place around December 24th when the sun appeared to die and return after three days.
So what was February 2nd before the Christian takeover?
The roots of Groundhog Day can be traced to the Irish Celtic festival, Imbolc, which marks the beginning of spring. Celebrated on February 1 and associated with the goddess of fertility, now known as St. Brigid, Imbolc marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It is a celebration of the upcoming spring and the longer days ahead.
Celtic fertility goddess Brighid
It was said that on the eve of Imbolc, February 1, the Celtic fertility goddess Brighid was said to travel from home to home granting blessings to virtuous inhabitants while they slept.
The people even left milk and food for Brighid as she went about her travels. The goddess was believed to have had the power to shift the season from the months of darkness to the months of light, and people would light candles to symbolize this.
The Cailleach / the witch
Fire was always a central theme in this battle between winter and spring. In Celtic myth, it was said that an old woman or witch, known as the Cailleach, gathered firewood for the rest of winter.
A dark figure the Cailleach wished winter to last longer and would ensure February 1 was bright and sunny so she could collect enough wood for the rest of the winter. If the day was dark and cloudy it means the Cailleach would sleep and be unable to gather more wood, therefore spring would surely arrive soon.
So where did the groundhog come into this story? For this, we must look back to the ancient Romans who also believed they could predict the year's weather however in their case it was linked to soothsaying.
The Romans looked to hedgehogs for guidance. It was said that if during hibernation, he (the hedgehog) looks out of his den on Feb 2 and sees his shadow it means there is a clear moon and six more weeks of winter so he returns to his burrow.
This tradition was carried through Europe, including in Germany, with the arrival of Germans to Pennsylvania that they took up the tradition once more. However, as hedgehogs are not native to the state they turned to the now-famous groundhog for their predictions.
The rest is history.
Here is a video I restored for this post.
~~ Eso Terry
