Oh the misogyny! A woman has been replaced by a rodent! Punxsutawney Phil has been substituted for the Cailleach Béara.
Phil is famous in the USA for being the best friend of comic actor Bill Murray.
The Cailleach Béara is famous in Ireland for being “one of the oldest and most powerful of mythical beings associated with Ireland”. She plays an important role in the ancient Celtic festival Imbolc which takes place on February 1st.
An Irish blogger explains the purpose of the festival:
Irish Central explains the Cailleach Béara’s role in Imbolc:
From Mythopedia:
So, how did a Celtic woman get changed into a groundhog?
That answer is given by the Irish Post:
So, why did people in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania start using a member of the rodent family as a weather forecaster?
From Germanology Unlocked:
As to why Bill Murray would go for a groundhog when selecting a best friend, perhaps Bill is pretending to be jeepy.
Featured Image shows actress Andie MacDowell holding a groundhog.
Featured Image by anoldent, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
The “Wanted” posters say the following about David: “Wanted: A refugee from planet Melmac masquerading as a human. Loves cats. If seen, contact the Alien Task Force.”