Once again. Once again. Once again. This year marks the 30th anniversary of its premiere; a good occasion to revisit this work by Harold Ramis. A film starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, as a result of the movie Groundhog Day (1993), gained special international relevance. This tradition has been celebrated in the United States since the 18th century, over and over again, although predicting when winter will end. It is the day when the groundhog Phil emerges from his burrow, located in the famous municipality of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, for Groundhog Day. Today, February 2nd, is the day.
If winter lasts six more weeks, it will return to its burrow because it is sunny and Phil sees its shadow, on the contrary. However, spring will come early and the worst of winter has passed, that is, if February 2nd is a cloudy day, Phil the groundhog will not be able to see its shadow and will definitively come out of the burrow, according to tradition.
The American and Canadian farmers, provided vital information, even if it was done through unorthodox methods, to predict when the weather would become warmer.
¿DE DÓNDE PROVIENE EL DÍA DE LA MARMOTA?
They used large-sized rodents called hedgehogs in ancient Roman times to make predictions at the beginning of the month of February.
On that day, in Germany, they established a date to honor Mary by lighting candles in the churches and windows, celebrating the Christian tradition of La Candelaria, the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and the purification of the Virgin, which was imposed after the fall of the Roman Empire on February 2nd.
The groundhog, another animal that hibernates, decided to make predictions about the weather. Although they did not find hedgehogs, German settlers imported the tradition to the United States in the 18th century.
The forecast made by Phil the groundhog was the cause for a higher turnout the next year. A local newspaper in Punxsutawney reported this information in 1886, which is another important year as stated on the official Groundhog Day website.
On February 2nd, the organizers of New Jersey have been unable to find another groundhog to replace it, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. In 2022, Milltown Mel died a few hours before Groundhog Day celebration. For the second consecutive year, the tradition will miss another illustrious groundhog, Milltown Mel, from New Jersey. The most famous one in Canada is Wiarton Willie, from the Staten Island Zoo in New York or Chuck, the futurist in Woodstock (Illinois); Willie, for example, is there. Punxsutawney is not the only one that makes predictions, Phil is the most famous groundhog of Groundhog Day.
It is often repeated that something of reference to the recurring employee is also established as a tradition, thanks to the movie Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day.