A curious American badger emerges from its snowy burrow, embracing the winter chill. (Von Chris - Adobe Stock)
Every year on February 2nd, Americans who are tired of dealing with shoveling snow, bundling up and slipping on ice, wait with bated (visible) breath to see if Punxsutawney Phil, the famous groundhog, sees his shadow when he emerges from his burrow. If he does, it’s six more weeks of winter; if he doesn’t, people can start planning their first short-sleeved outfits of the spring season. Freezing Americans should not get their hopes up: Out of the roughly 150 years of his predictions, Phil has predicted a longer winter over 100 times.
This ritual has occurred in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania since the 1800s, one assumes with different groundhogs. Yet, there is a belief that Punxsutawney Phil is immortal due to an “elixir of life” he takes every summer. However, while this is a fairly American practice today, Groundhog Day, like many immigrant Americans of the 1800s, has European origins.
According to the BBC, as far back as 5,000 years ago, Europeans attempted to guess when spring would arrive by observing when badgers, and other hibernating animals, emerged from their dens after winter hibernation. As Christianity spread throughout Europe, this practice was combined with the Christian holiday of Lichtmess/Candlemas on February 2nd.
The practice came to America with Swiss and German immigrants in the 17 and 1800s. When they immigrated, the German practice was known as “Bauernregeln” (farmer’s rules), and the badger or the hedgehog were the “go-to” animals. The prediction was for only four more weeks of winter in Germany, rather than six like in America. This was not the only thing to change when the practice traveled across the Atlantic.
The first official celebration of the most popular Punxsutawney practice was in 1877 in nearby Gobbler’s Knob, when a groundhog, because badgers are not native to the area, was consulted. At this first event the groundhog’s “Inner Circle” was established, according to the Library of Congress. The Inner Circle is a group of sharply dressed men donning fancy suits and top hats to whom the groundhog reveals his prediction. While the practice dates back so far, Phil didn’t get his famous name until the 1960s.
Potomac Phil, Washington D.C.’s famous weather-predicting groundhog, makes his snowy appearance on Groundhog Day. ()
Today, the practice has spread all over the United States. Washington D.C. even has its own groundhog, Potomac Phil. Potomac Phil, unlike his immortal counterpart, is a stuffed groundhog who magically reports not only climate, but also gives political predictions to his Inner Circle.
If you do not have a local event, in the U.S. or Europe, you can celebrate by putting on your fanciest suit and hat, watching the popular 1990s movie named after the holiday, singing a groundhog carol, or go all out and cook a groundhog based off recipes from some early American cookbooks.
