By Chris Cosci

Once a year, people gather for a meteorological event that makes all other meteorological events pale in comparison. It's an event that single-handedly determines the forces of nature for an entire six-week period. It's so extraordinary, the entire day is devoted to celebrating its arrival. One of the most widely attended celebrations of this event is held in Pennsylvania, and it is controlled by a single individual. His name is Phil. And he's a groundhog.

Groundhog Day is a holiday filled with wonder and amazement. It's also the source of countless mysteries. Why the groundhog? What does its shadow have to do with the weather? And how has this pseudo-holiday managed to avoid the overexposed commercialism that plagues other holidays? While there may not be an answer for every question, some issues can be resolved.

A good place to look for answers is the history of Groundhog Day. The origin dates back to a tradition known as Candlemas Day. Candlemas Day was a religious occasion that celebrated the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of Jesus in the Jerusalem temple. Like all good religious holidays, the religious undertones have been overshadowed by a more secular event -- in this case, a fairly poor weather prediction by a hibernating rodent.

As it turns out, Candlemas Day is observed on the date directly in between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox -- February 2. In early Europe, the weather on Candlemas Day was considered to be a sign of what to expect for the remaining six weeks of winter. Good weather indicated a mild first six weeks of winter, which meant that the next six weeks would make up for that little mistake. Conversely, bad weather indicated that the first six weeks of winter were bad enough, and good weather would follow.

It seems like a pretty straightforward system, but standing outside and looking for the sun apparently wasn't accurate enough. So, people started to depend on hibernating animals for their weather forecasts. Animals such as bears would come out on Candlemas Day. If the bears saw their shadow and went back to hibernate, that signaled bad weather ahead. However, if they saw no shadow and stayed out in the open, the upcoming weather would be just fine.

This tradition was going strong until German settlers brought it across the Atlantic to a group of fledgling colonies that was offering freedom of religion while simultaneously removing said religion from every recognized holiday. Once America got its hands on Candlemas Day, the whole "Purification of the Virgin Mary" stuff was pushed aside, and the bear was replaced with the native groundhog. While there's no definitive reason why the groundhog was chosen, it may have something to do with the fact that groundhogs are less likely than bears to claw people to death for pulling it out of hibernation to look for a shadow.

Groundhogs certainly get a lot of attention on Groundhog Day. If the groundhog ever wants to step away from the spotlight for a while, it can always go undercover as its alter ego -- the woodchuck. Scientifically speaking, the groundhog and the woodchuck are the same animal. Why the second name? Maybe because "how much ground could a groundhog hog if a groundhog could hog ground" just sounds stupid.

Whatever you call it, this animal will have its day. However, as many cynics will tell you, it doesn't matter if the groundhog sees a shadow or not -- the calendar still says that winter will be around for another six weeks. Sure, it's easy for them to pick on the poor, defenseless groundhog. If we could only give the forecasting job back to the bear...