So this weekend I attended a party for Groundhog Day and to say the least it was an experience. A room filled with people watching the news to watch the ritual of Groundhog Day. To my surprise, there is actually a mystical aspect to this tradition. The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle believe to have their own language called Groundhogeese, which they use to communicate with Phil. The President of the Inner Circle communicates with Phil via an ancient magical wooden cane made out of acacia wood. After the discussion of charismatic leaders in class, it was easy to establish that this was the type of leadership this tradition holds. The dress of the Inner Circle is very import they can be seen wearing top hats and suits. Now many people including the people who host the event don’t really believe in many of this, but it’s a fun tradition that many people want to take apart of. The thing that struck me is that even in the things we jokingly play into we tend to mimic religion and the religious structure. It is interesting to think about how often we use religion as a structure in things. Also this weekend was the Superbowl and just like Groundhog day this was very much a religious experience, even in one of the invteriews with some of the fans they said that they had “Faith in the Rams for next season” I want to believe that these are the same people that say that they are spiritual but not religious. Again you can see the paraleles between religious ritual and this, start off every game with the pledge of allegiance, a coin flip, and a kick off.