Again. Today, February 2, is Groundhog Day. Again. It is the day that Phil the groundhog comes out of his burrow, located in the already famous municipality of Punxsutawney (Pennsylvania), to predict when winter will end. This tradition has been celebrated in the United States since the 18th century, over and over again, although it gained special relevance internationally as a result of the film Trapped in Time (1993), starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, a film that this year celebrates 30 years of its premiere; a good occasion to review this work by Harold Ramis. Again.
According to tradition, if February 2 is a cloudy day, Phil the groundhog will not be able to see his shadow and will leave the burrow for good. In other words, the hardest part of winter has passed and spring will come early. But instead, it is sunny and Phil sees his shadow, he will go back to his burrow because winter will last six more weeks.
Predicting when the weather would warm up, even in unorthodox ways, provided vital information for American and Canadian farmers.
Some experts place the origin of Groundhog Day in the predictions made by the ancient Romans at the beginning of February, although they used hedgehogs instead of this large rodent.
The date of February 2 was established after the fall of the Roman Empire, when the Christian tradition of La Candelaria was imposed, a festivity that celebrates the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and the Purification of the Virgin. On that day, candles are lit in the windows and churches to honor Mary, although in Germany they took advantage of that date to continue launching predictions based on hedgehogs.
As early as the 18th century, German settlers imported the tradition to the United States but, finding no hedgehogs, they decided to make their weather predictions with another hibernating animal: the groundhog.
Another date to note, according to the official Groundhog Day page, is 1886, since that year was the first time that a local Punxsutawney newspaper echoed the tradition. This news caused that the following year more people came to see what Phil the groundhog’s prediction was.
Phil is the most famous groundhog on Groundhog Day, but the Punxsutawney groundhog isn’t the only one throwing out his predictions. There are, for example, Willie, a futurologist in Woodstock (Illinois); Chuck, from the Staten Island Zoo in New York or Wiarton Willie, the most famous in Canada. Another illustrious groundhog, Milltown Mel, from New Jersey, will miss out on the tradition for the second year in a row. In 2022, the Milltown Mel died just hours before the Groundhog Day celebration, and as The Wall Street Journal reports, organizers in New Jersey have been unable to find another groundhog to replace him on February 2.
Thanks to tradition and the Bill Murray movie, Groundhog Day has also established itself as a recurring expression, used to refer to something that is constantly repeated.
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