The Badgers of Imbolc

Amused Grace: For the Groundhog, Blessed of Brighid, artwork by Thalia Took

Yesterday was Groundhog Day, so in the true modern, post-1993 meaning of the phrase, I’m going to revisit it. That is, for those who have not seen the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day, to become stuck in an endless time loop until able to sufficiently reform one’s behavior. I don’t know what behavior I should reform, perhaps getting to the point quicker? So let’s revisit Groundhog Day.

In celebrating the spirit of the season, I will ask three critical questions about Groundhog Day. Why there? Why that? and Why now? Yes, you can read this stuff on Wikipedia, but if you did, you won’t get any jokes. And since it’s 3 questions, it’s kind of magical and mystical, which is also fitting. Although I’m not sure the townspeople of Punxsutawney know this.

Baby relatives of Punx. Phil, photo from Mansfield Journal News.

Because “Visit the Land of Insects” Was Less Appealing on a Billboard

1. Why Punxsutawney Phil?

You may have heard on the news yesterday, if you still do anything in America as quaint as listen to news anymore, that Phil saw his shadow, and therefore there will be six more weeks of winter. You may have asked yourself, as I have for lo about sixty years, why Phil gets to be the decision-maker here. And who put the Pennsylvanians in charge? And where is Punxsutawney anyway (and that’s the last time I’m going to spell Punxsut–DOH!) I’m calling it Punx. from now on.

The little town of Punx. and its high-tech weather discovery center science museum, bumper car arcade, and glow-in-the-dark gift shop is on the Ohio side of Pennsylvania, northeast of Pittsburgh and due south from Buffalo. The middle of nowhere northern U.S., I might say. Deep snow winters; torchy humid summers. In fact, the town got its name because of the local creature of fame–the sand fly. In the summer, swarms of gnats are apparently abundant. The original indigenous people called them ponkis and named their little village “land of the ponkis.”

Some places embrace their natural misfortunes to drive tourism–Manchester likes to be known as the “Rainy City” even though it gets less rain than Cardiff. However, the enterprising 19th century Pennsylvanians didn’t grok to being land of the sand flies, could not visualize the possibility of Sand Fly T-shirts or sand fly-themed cocktails or sand fly Halloween masks for the kiddies. They still wanted the tourists, so they came up with something else. And that was the German Dachstag, the day of weather prediction based on the interpretation of an animal observing its shadow.

Before unpacking why This particular animal, I’d like to note that there’s been a lot of jealousy of Punx. Phil, the mascot of the little town of sand flies, famous know for predicting the weather. Skimming down the list of American small-town-weather-predicting animals, there appear to be a whole nest of wannabes and copycats: Milltown Mel, Essex Ed, Great Neck Greta, Dunkirk Dave, and French Creek Freddie. Staten Island Chuck supposedly bit Mayor Mike Bloomberg and was dropped by Mayor Bill DeBlasio, which only proves that this weather-predicting gig is fraught with peril.

Wikipedia informs me that Chuck in Manchester, Connecticut is a “self-proclaimed woodchuck.” It really is a miracle if we have all along had a woodchuck in Connecticut that speaks English (how else could he proclaim himself?) But there is the microphone and there is Chuck about to speak in tongues or something, and, I tell you what, I would not take my eyes off a rodent that was being squeezed like that.

Chuck, the self-proclaimed prognasticator, image from Fox61.

The Rodent – Carnivore Cage Match

2. Why Groundhogs?

Not a groundhog at all! The American badger, wikimedia photo.

If you know a little German, you probably recognize the “day” part of Dachstag, but weren’t sure about the “Dachs” part? isn’t a Dachshund a wiener-dog, so does Dachstag mean Wiener Day? No, though that might have been fun! It doesn’t mean Groundhog Day either.

Ain’t no groundhogs in Germany. Dachs means badger, which was the original weather-predicting animal in Germany, Hungary, and those Eastern Europeans lands where humans created this idea. In fact, it was originally bears. If a bear came out of hibernation on February 2nd, then headed back in, then more winter was ahead. But after chasing a few bears around, the enterprising Germano-Hungarians who survived decided that using badgers would be better. Dachstag was the day when the badger would come out of hibernation and either “see his shadow” and go back into hibernating or stay out.

Knowing a tiny bit about taxonomy from where else? studying dinosaurs! as I have, I can explain with confidence that groundhogs and badgers are not really alike. Groundhogs are rodents, the most populous species among the mammals (40%), defined as herbivores whose incisors keep growing. That means they’re veggie eaters rather than meat-eaters, surviving on all manner of grasses, clover, and even seeds. This seems apt, as we shall soon see. Groundhogs are the largest member of the squirrel family, famous as tenacious burrowers, which is about the only thing they have in common with…

…Badgers, which are carnivores, not rodents. Carnivora is another wide-ranging group of mammals that contains creatures as different as the massive 1500 pound polar or Kodiak bear and the tiny British weasel, which can weigh in at less than an ounce. Badgers are part of the order Mustelidae, which includes said weasels as well as otters and wolverines.

If you are a little squeamish about leaning in to a groundhog, you ought to really rear back when facing the teeth of a badger. They are ferocious diggers, though, which is why the Germans had to breed long skinny dogs to follow them into their tunnels, ah! the origination of the Dachshund!

A Celtic Imbolc cross, from retrobite.com.

Spring, Poised

3. Why February 2nd?

So why were the Eastern Europeans watching the burrowing animals anyway? Across the Northern Hemisphere, everyone was looking for the same thing. Signs of spring. Farmers were hoping the weather-prognosticating animals could help them out with the planting.

While the town of the sand flies might have chosen itself as the “groundhog capital of the world,” neither they nor their German ancestors chose the date at random. February 1st and 2nd are highly symbolic, both physically and metaphysically. This is the time period directly between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, the knife edge upon which planting season is balanced.

The Celtic pagans called it Imbolc: I mbolg’ or in the belly, in the womb. They also honored the goddess Brigid, whom the Irish Catholics transformed into St. Brigid, a goddess-er-saint of wisdom and health. The rest of the Catholics also labelled it Candlemas, choosing to sanctify a day arbitrarily 40 days after Mary gave birth (why’s that not February 3rd now? 40-6 days after Christmas-31 in January = oh? that’s too much math?)… Anyway, the carefully-chosen 40 days after Mary popped out Baby Jesus happens to fall on the exact day between solstice and equinox, fancy that!

Chinese New Year, I should further like to point out, falls typically on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Lunisolar New Year, or whatever you wish to call it, would embrace and celebrate February 1/2nd. Same time period, same basic reason. A time for preparing, cleaning out the old, creating a hospitable environment for the new. Preparing for what is in the womb.

My buddy, Shawn Marie, who knows many things wiccan that Wikipedia does not, points out that Imbolc particularly focused on the seed. Time to prepare the seeds. As in, maybe it’s a time to put seeds into warmer soil inside to start with, especially if your rodent or local burrowing carnivore has fled back into the burrow, and the ground is too frozen as yet.

As yet. Because this is a time of potential, where anything could happen next. That’s what Groundhog Day is really all about.

My camellia bush already knows what Imbolc means. Photo by kajmeister just today.

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