What is the History Groundhog Day?

Groundhog Day, February 2. You know it as the day that the famous Punxsatawney Phil emerges from his ceremonial hole in Pennsylvania to check for a shadow. If he sees one, tradition dictates that he will scurry back into his warm home to sleep through six more weeks of winter; if not, we will see an early spring.

Why a groundhog? Why a shadow? Why that day? And why six more weeks of winter?

Believe it or not, Groundhog Day has roots reaching back into prehistory, embracing Christian and Northern European pagan beliefs for thousands of years. But to understand why this specific day, you also have to understand the significance of the number 40, and why so darn many things in the Bible and Mayan calendrical history and Celtic history are broken into 40-day increments. And surprisingly, there is layer upon layer of meaning to this somewhat silly holiday.

Groundhog Day: The 40^th Day

What many people don't realize is that Groundhog Day is exactly forty days after Christmas Day. And if you read the Bible at all, forty days is significant: forty days of flooding, forty days in the desert being tempted by Satan, and forty days on Ararat for Moses. The forty-day period is critically important to Aramaic cultures, to the ancient Mesopotamians, to the Northern Europeans, to the Mayans.

Groundhog Day, in essence, is the first holiday in the year according to this old way of counting, and really marks sweeping away the old year in anticipation of the new one. The first day of each 40-day cycle, as evidenced in the Bible and lots of other ancient writings, is seen as epochal, a day that starts a fresh period. This is an ancient belief, and its complete meaning is lost to history, but has much to do with how calendars were calculated.

Groundhog Day: Candlemas

Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year. This Scottish rhyme is widely recognized as the source of Groundhog Day as we recognize it. But it's not just Scottish; in 1841, an entry in a Morgantown, Pennsylvania, storekeeper's diary talks about the German belief that a groundhog peeks out of his hole to check for sunshine, and goes back to sleep if he sees a shadow.

The Catholic Church recognizes February 2 as Candlemas, 40 days after Christmas. In old traditions, it's the day to get rid of the last of your Christmas greenery, lest having traces of the old year keep you from moving forward and eliminating bad fortune in the future.

The six weeks belief comes from the old Julian calendar, in which spring began exactly six weeks after February 2; now it's a few days later, but the six weeks has stuck.

And just to be completely inclusive, you may notice that the date for the Chinese New Year wanders all around February 2, depending on when the first full moon of the year falls and one of the main things celebrants do is make sure the home is clean before the holiday, sweeping away last year's bad luck and preparing the house for the new year's good luck.

Groundhog Day: Imbolc

But there's yet another traditional holiday related to Groundhog day, this one the ancient Pagan holiday of Imbolc, February 1. In Ireland, this was the day all the brown snakes came out to check the weather, whether there was snow on the ground or not. In some local traditions, the curious animal was a badger, possibly the closest European equivalent in appearance to the American groundhog. And to relate it to Candlemas, it was also the day to light candles and fires in honor of Brigid, goddess of the sacred flame. Candle lighting on Imbolc represents the impending arrival of spring, with its warmth and light.

Beyond that, though, the beginning of February is where people living in northern latitudes near
Germany or Britain or Pennsylvania are first able to see the days lengthening significantly. And it's roughly halfway between the depth of winter and the beginning of spring, sometimes called a quarter day in pagan belief systems.

How You Can Celebrate Groundhog Day

Sure, you can just sleep through Punxsatawney Phil's appearance, or treat February 2 as a day like any other. But it might be fun to observe it make sure those Christmas decorations are stowed, the spring sports equipment is cleaned up and waiting to go, and maybe even have a little anticipation-of-spring party. Considering the nasty winter weather many of us have been having, celebrating Groundhog Day may be just the pick-me-up you need to get ready for spring's impending arrival.