海角大神

Groundhog Day, Feb. 2, has basically everything going for it that I love in a holiday:聽 It marks a point in a season; it鈥檚 full of folklore and wisdom, superstition, ceremony, civic charm, science, mystery, agrarian history, and weather; and it was featured in perhaps my all-time favorite movie of the same name, which itself is a study in acceptance and inner calm while being outright hilarious in nearly every frame.

Altogether now: It鈥檚 Groundhog Day!

In an early morning ceremony, groundhog Punxsutawney Phil will rise as he has for 125 years from his heated burrow at Gobbler鈥檚 Knob, Pa., and signal to his handlers whether or not he sees his shadow. No shadow means an early end to winter. And if the groundhog does see his shadow? Six more long weeks of the season. Over the years that the ceremony has taken place, Phil has seen his shadow 98 times and not seen it only 17. (Records don鈥檛 exist for every year.) In 2008, the crowd heartily booed the prospect of 鈥渟ix more weeks of winter鈥�.

Some have stated that Phil鈥檚 鈥渉andlers鈥� make the prediction for him. What do we think of that?

History and science of Groundhog Day

According to this excellent Groundhog Day site, German settlers arrived in the 1700s to an area northeast of Pittsburgh, Pa. that had been settled previously by the Delaware Native Americans. The Germans celebrated Candlemas Day, originally a Medieval Catholic holiday, to mark the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. The holiday also has roots in Celtic-Gaelic and Pagan cultures, where it is celebrated as St. Brigid鈥檚 Day and Imbolc, and is a time of festivals, feasting, parades, and weather prediction, as well as candles and even bonfires to mark the sun鈥檚 return.

According to Wikipedia, 鈥淚mbolc鈥� comes from an Old Irish word meaning 鈥渋n the belly.鈥� Among agrarian people, Imbolc was associated with the onset of the lambing season.

The German settlers of Pennsylvania put candles in their windows and believed that if the weather was fair on Candlemas Day then the second half of winter would be stormy and cold. While this has always seemed counter-intuitive to me, this site explains the science of Groundhog Day and that cloudy weather is actually milder than clear and cold. It makes sense, then, that the shadow would portend six more weeks of winter. (A lifelong mystery is solved.)

Punxsutawney鈥檚 first Groundhog Day celebration was in 1886, and though other towns, particularly in the eastern US, have Groundhog Day ceremonies 鈥� Staten Island Chuck, anyone? 鈥� none are as famous as Punxsutawney鈥檚. Some of this may lie with the groundhog鈥檚 official name, 鈥淧unxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary鈥�. Still more popularity, and tourists, has come as a result of the movie Groundhog Day. The first official Groundhog Day prediction in Punxsutawney? No shadow 鈥� early Spring.

Groundhog activities and crafts

It鈥檚 fun to play with shadows in honor of Punxsutawney Phil and his. Try making hand shadow puppets, something people have been doing since 2,000 years ago in China, where puppet shows were performed by oil-lamp light.

Have someone project a flashlight onto a wall or other surface. Hold your hands between the light and the wall in various shapes to create shadow puppets. Here are some classic ones to try:

Rabbit鈥擬ake a fist with one hand. Place the other palm over it and make a peace sign (for ears) with two fingers.

Hawk鈥擫ink your thumbs together, with your hands facing away from you. Stretch out your fingers and hands and flutter them like wings.

Spider鈥擶ith palms facing up, cross your hands at the wrist. Press your thumbs together to form the spider鈥檚 head. Wiggle your fingers in a climbing motion.

Wolf or dog鈥擯lace your palms together, fingers facing outward. Put your thumbs up to form ears. Let your pinkie drop to form a mouth. Bend your index fingers to create a forehead.

Camel鈥擫ift one arm. Hold your hand in a loosely curved position. Hold the pinkie and ring finger together. Hold the other two fingers together, thumb pressed in. Curve both sets of fingers and hold them wide apart to form a mouth. Your arm, from the elbow up, will be the camel鈥檚 neck.

There are also a lot of very appealing shadow and groundhog crafts for Groundhog Day, like this one and others from Motherhood on a Dime.

Shadow or no, here鈥檚 wishing you a happy remainder of the winter, a ceremony or two, a dash of lore and wonder, and a fruitful spring.