molybdomancy
Probably about as far back as humanity has been able to think beyond the immediate, there have been different ways to try to predict what's coming in the future. Sometimes this is possible by paying attention to patterns.
Red sky at night, sailor's delight.
Red sky in the morning, sailor, take warning.
These days we know its atmospheric pressure that tints the skies and the science behind the old mariner's rhyme. Back then, they just knew that seeing it meant a pattern was in place and should be heeded. Just because you don't understand why a pattern happens, doesn't mean recognizing the pattern is foolish.
Unfortunately for humanity, there are a lot of things that happen over the course of a year that have no pattern, or even warning, to recognize. That doesn't mean humans don't still want to be warned about them.
Enter molybdomancy.
Molybdomancy is one of many attempts at foretelling the future.
The way it goes is like this. A piece of lead is put into the bowl of a spoon and melted over a candle. Once the lead is entirely liquid, its quickly dropped into a bowl of cool water. The lead quickly re-hardens and the shape it takes, and sometimes the shadow that shape casts on the wall, predict the future.
The practice itself dates at least as far back as the Romans and Greeks. It was a part of older Jewish folk-medicine that was used when an illness was attributed to fright as well. The shape the lead took would resemble the creature that had caused the scare.
Fast forward to modern New Year's Eve traditions.
In Finland, the tradition is called uudenvuodentina. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland its called bleigießen. In any of these countries, just before the new year, you can buy kits that will provide you with little ingots of lead, the spoon to melt it in and a list of explanations of what the shapes could be predicting. Well - not the lead anymore. That, it turns out, can be pretty dangerous to your health. Instead, these days, the kits come with either tin or wax. It's not the material, its the shape the water reveals that matters. So, somewhere in the midst of all the celebrations, people can take a little time out of their party to try to see if they can catch a glimpse of their future on new year's eve.
Here are a few of the meanings the shapes could take:
Ball, Kugel (ball) = Glück rollt auf dich/luck will roll your way
Degen (epee, sword) = Mut zum Risiko/risk-taking courage
Frosch (frog) = Lottogwinn/lottery win
Gitarre (guitar) = Wunsch/wish
Fuchs (fox) = schlau, Eigenengagement/smart, self-initiative
Kelch (chalice) = glückliche Zukunft/happy future
Maske (mask) = überall gern gesehen/welcome everywhere
Not enough?
Try here and here. No. Of course, they don't agree. That's part of the fun of fortunate telling.
Today's post is sponsored by @damatris who commented on the new year's traditions around the world post with a couple traditions I hadn't heard of before. They were delightful and I had to make a full post for at least one of them.
Kiitos, @damatris!
