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Groundhog Day 2012: 5 things you need to know about Punxsutwney Phil

Every Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil makes the most celebrated weather forecast of the year, usually around the crack of dawn. But does he get it right? And who are those dapper guys in top hats? Here are answers to five famous Phil mysteries.

5. Who needs a groundhog?

Petar Petrov/AP/File
Serbian tradition puts a bear in the role of the American groundhog.

Several cultures throughout the world celebrate customs strikingly similar to Groundhog Day – many around the same time – all in the spirit of predicting the weather. 

• In Serbia, Feb. 15 is the feast of Sretenje or The Meeting of the Lord, where it is believed that a bear will awake from hibernating, and if it sees his shadow, it will go back to sleep for 40 more days, thus prolonging the winter.

• In Portugal, Feb. 2 is Candelária Day or the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, where it is said if it’s a sunny day, more winter is still to come, but if it’s a cloudy or rainy day, spring will arrive soon. 

• In Germany, June 27 is Siebenschläfertag or Seven Sleepers Day, where it is believed that if it’s raining that day, the rest of the summer will also be rainy. Curiously, siebenschläfer is the German name for a kind of rodent, but the festival celebrates the martyrdom of seven Christian brothers.

• In the United Kingdom, July 15 is St. Swithun’s Day, where it was traditionally believed if it rained that day, it would rain for the next 40 days and nights.

• In Alaska, Feb. 2 is known as Marmot Day rather than Groundhog Day because few groundhogs live in the state. The holiday was signed into law in 2009 by then-Gov. Sarah Palin. 

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

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The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

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