Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow today making it the first time I can ever remember that we are supposed to have an early spring.  Considering that the temperatures in Pennsylvania have been in the upper 40s and low 50s, I think it was safe to safe that Phil would have had some egg on his face if his prediction was otherwise.

How did it come to be that we let a rodent determine our weather for the next six weeks?  Is he some mythical being?  I have to know.  Time for some serious research.

According to Wikipedia,

Punxsutawney Phil fans say that there is only one Phil, and that all the other groundhogs are impostors. It is claimed that Phil has made weather prognostications since 1886, making the Punxsutawney groundhog a legendary rather than factual figure, since groundhogs only live up to six years.^[2] It is publicly unknown how many groundhogs have actively played Phil.

According to the Groundhog Club, Phil, after making the prediction, speaks to the Club President in “Groundhogese”, which only the current president can understand, and then his prediction is translated for the entire world.

The Groundhog Day celebration is rooted in a Celtic tradition that says if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on February 2, the Pagan holiday of Imbolc, winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow was seen, legend says spring would come early.

The ties in Pennsylvania may actually come from Germans, when clear skies on Candlemas Day, February 2, were said to herald cold weather ahead. In Germany, the tradition morphed into a myth that if the sun came out on Candlemas, a hedgehog would cast its shadow, predicting snow all the way into May. When German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania, they transferred the tradition onto local fauna, replacing hedgehogs with groundhogs.

Each year two scrolls are prepared by the Vice President of the Inner Circle: One says early spring and one says six more weeks of winter. These scrolls are placed during the ceremony on the stump and after Phil is awoken by the crowd, Phil communicates in Groundhogese to the President who is then directed by Phil to the proper scroll and forecast.

Ok, so I’m from Pennsylvania and I always actually thought they used some sort of lighting to see the shadow, but now I read that Phil “speaks” to the President in Groundhogese, what kind of hooey is that?  And then the president picks up the scroll that Phil has directed him to?  Really?  Sounds more bizarre than I originally thought.  Don’t get me wrong, any occasion for a festival in the middle of winter in Pennsylvania is a great idea.  I’m just not really onboard with Phil #26 (or the original Phil according to the people of Punxzy) making weather predictions, although he is often more accurate than trained meteorologists.  Let’s all go out and soak up some of this 50 degree weather, since we never know when or if Phil’s predictions may go awry.

 

• Uncategorized