Today’s post is brought to you by… my curiosity about groundhogs, and what they have to do with spring. To my surprise, it turns out it’s completely related to my post from Wednesday, about the Celtic tradition of Imbolc, marking the beginning of spring and the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox (as one of the four cross-quarter holidays).
Apparently, in addition to the milking of the ewes, one of the important traditions at Imbolc was weather divination, as this would have a great impact on the coming weeks and months. It turns out that groundhogs – and the more likely subject for Celtic weather divination, the badger – tend to emerge from their hibernation right around the beginning of February. The theory goes that a cold and crisp (and therefore sunny, I know as a former resident of Minnesota) day on February 2nd would allow groundhogs, badgers and any other creature to see a shadow, indicating a longer winter. If it is overcast, raining or snowing, it’s likely that spring is already taking root, and is just around the corner.
There is a bit more to the story than that – I discovered lots of information about Germans moving to Pennsylvania and establishing the Pennsylvania Dutch communities, who later popularized Groundhog’s Day, why groundhogs hibernate, and also a good deal of fascinating information about they mythology and folklore behind the day, but for now, this satisfies my curiosity. Happy Groundhog’s Day! It looks like we’re in for an early spring this year!
Comments, questions? We'd love to hear from you!