Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
Department
Philosophy and Religion
School
Humanities
Abstract
Groundhog Day animal weather forecasting ceremonies continue to proliferate around the United States despite a lack of public confidence in the oracles. This essay probes religio-historical and original ethnographic perspectives to offer a psychological argument for why these ceremonies exist. Employing Paul Shepard’s notion of a felt loss of sacred, intimate relationships with nonhuman nature, as well as Peter Homans’ concept of the monument that enables mourning, this essay argues that groundhog oracles serve as monuments that allow humans experientially to attempt to heal lost sacred relationships with animals like weather forecasting bears, hedgehogs, and badgers
Publication Title
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
Volume
51
Issue
2
First Page
1
Last Page
20
Recommended Citation
Capper, D. S.
(2016). Groundhog Oracles and Their Forebears. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, 51(2), 1-20.
Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/14853
Included in
Animal Studies Commons, History of Religions of Western Origin Commons, Social Psychology Commons
Comments
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: "Groundhog Oracles and Their Forebears," which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/zygo.12247. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.