OF GROUNDHOGS AND SAINTS
This Friday an annual ritual will unfold in northwest Pennsylvania. Crowds will assemble in the Punxsutawney to consult a large rodent who will determine if we will have six more weeks of winter or can anticipate an early spring. A member of the marmot family, “Punxsutawney Phil” is what most of us call a groundhog. Some people call it a woodchuck or even a groundpig. It’s all a bit of mid-winter fun on February 2.
But why February 2? The easiest answer is that Groundhog Day was brought to North America by 18th-century German immigrants and gradually became popularized in American culture, all of which explains why Punxsutawney Phil’s handlers have to speak to him in a Pennsylvania Dutch dialect and wear funny hats.
The history behind Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil goes back further than 18th-century German immigrants to Pennsylvania, however. Much further. Groundhog Day has its origins in the same ancient calendar that gives us Halloween and May Day. In astronomical terms, Groundhog Day, Halloween, and May Day are all what are called “cross-quarter days.” All are halfway points between a solstice and an equinox. Once we reach February 2, we are as close to the spring equinox as we are from the winter solstice. The winter solstice was about 40 days ago; and the spring equinox is likewise about 40 days ahead of us.
Among the ancient Celtic peoples, these cross-quarter days are absolutely crucial turning points in the year and therefore marked by important celebrations. When the Celts were Christianized in the early middle ages, their traditional Celtic observations were transformed into Christian holy days. February 2, which the Celts had observed as Imbolc or the beginning of spring, became the observance of Mary’s purification and the presentation of Jesus in the Temple. It was dubbed “Candlemas” because people brought their candles to church to be blessed as symbols of Christ, the light of the world.
At the pivot point between winter and spring, Candlemas became a moment to ponder and prognosticate about changing weather. In 1523, John Skelton included among his book of old proverbs:
Men were wonte for to discerne
By candlemas day what wedder shulde holde.
And a few decades later, Reginald Scott explained,
If Maries purifieng daie,
Be cleare and bright with sunnie raie,
The frost and cold shal be much more,
After the feast than was before.
Among Germans, Candlemas weather prediction depended upon the Badger and the day was commonly called Badger Day. When Germans immigrated to Pennsylvania before the American Revolution, the closest animal to their weather-predicting badger that they could identify was the woodchuck or groundhog. Hence, Candlemas or Badger Day became Groundhog Day.
In Ireland, the Celtic cross-quarter day of Imbolc was baptized as St. Brigid’s Day. Brigid was a 6th-century Irish female saint who was as important to the conversion of the Irish to Christianity as St. Patrick himself. Her saint’s day carried over Imbolc’s associations with fertility, especially the fertility of ewes as the lambing season began and pastures started to green. It was a day to celebrate brighter days, warmer weather, and the birthing of farm animals. Families would gather rushes and twist them into a St. Brigid’s Cross, which has a woven center and four arms reaching out. It looks very much like a sun symbol, echoing the ancient association of Imbolc with the Sun’s strengthening light and warmth. They would place these St. Brigid’s crosses on their doors to welcome Brigid. Leftover rushes would be strewn in barns where ewes would soon birth lambs. The previous year’s crosses would be crushed and scattered on fields to insure a good crop. Many Irish households still gather rushes and make St. Brigid’s Crosses for their homes.
Just recently, St. Brigid’s Day has become an Irish bank holiday after much lobbying by feminist advocates. Laura Murphy – a poet and daughter of an Irish church’s “mother-and-baby-home” survivor – was part of that campaign. “Brigid is a figure in Ireland that represents feminism; and with patriarchy, colonisation and the Church, the feminine has been written out of history and out of our society,” she writes.
If you think about it, having a St. Brigid’s Day or Candlemas to observe the February cross-quarter day makes more sense than ask a groundhog for a weather prediction. After all, Punxsutawney Phil doesn’t have the best record of actually predicting when warmer weather will arrive. But we might pause this February 2 to remember how this early February cross-quarter day gives us an opportunity to give thanks to Christ, the light of the world, whose light is quite visibly overcoming the winter’s dark days and cold winds as we move toward the spring equinox. We might also say a prayer of gratitude for farmers who are on the cusp of the agricultural year upon which we still rely for our food and nourishment. And remembering St. Brigid, we might give thanks for and celebrate the gifts of women to the Christian faith and community across the centuries.
With prayer,
Pastor Thomas