Groundhog Day in Christianity

Groundhog Day in Christianity

Introduction

According to Bill Vaughn, “The groundhog is like most other prophets; it delivers its prediction and then disappears”. This statement stands true in the religious point of view because Groundhog is the central figure associated with weather prediction on Groundhog Day. February 2nd is an important day in the history of Christianity religion. This day is also known as Candlemas Day, a church festival which celebrates the presentation of the infant Christ in the temple, though some say it had a pagan origin in the custom of burning candles to the goddess Februa, mother of Marc, whose festival was celebrated in February (McNamara and Gordon, pp.103-106).

A film is also prepared with the same title that was released in the year 1993. In this film, the protagonist Phil Connors played the role of a TV weatherman who got the assignment to cover the event of Groundhog Day on 2nd February (Foley, p.73). In the form of a narrative film, Phil presents the ways of transforming life in order to produce better results. The basic purpose of all the transformation is to live for others and as a result, your own life will be transformed.

Discussion

Overview

In reality Groundhog Day is a religious event. According to legend, if the furry rodent comes out of his burrow and sees his shadow on 2nd February, winter will linger for another six weeks. If the day is dark and cloudy and the chuck doesn't see its shadow, an early spring is foretold. The first report of Groundhog Day was in 1887 when the same people saw the groundhog come out of his hole and look for his shadow (Moore, p.61). The significance of February 2nd dates back long before the groundhog was considered an important part of the occasion. The date marks the halfway point between winter solstice, the shortest day of the year which falls on December 21st and marks the start of winter, and spring equinox on March 20 which features 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark and marks the beginning of spring.

Christian Origins

As early as the 4th century AD, the Christians in Jerusalem celebrated the ritual of purification of the Virgin Mary “February 2”, on the 40th day of the birth of Christ. In the 5th century, Christians introduced the tradition of lighting candles on this day. On February 2nd, priests blessed the candles as the symbols of relation of Christ and the world, and distributed them among the believers who have placed them near the windows of their homes (MacCulloch and MacCulloch, pp.34-41). This is an important holiday for Christians became known as Candlemas. Christians are also closely watching the weather on this day, as well as the Celts. With the spread of Christianity in Europe, the old pagan traditions mixed with new Christian traditions. The old belief that the weather on the first day of February, we can predict the duration of the winter, mixed with Christian ...