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Silvester and lead pouring
On New Year's Eve in Germany and Finland, melted metal dropped into water makes a shape that is read as a sign for the year ahead.
About Silvester and lead pouring
Molybdomancy, the reading of shapes made when molten metal is dropped into cold water, is a New Year's Eve custom in Germany, Austria, Finland and some neighbouring countries. Each person melts a small piece, traditionally lead, in a spoon over a flame and pours it into water, then reads the shape: a ball means luck, a crown means wealth, and so on. The practice is a light game in most households, and a sheet of shape meanings is often sold with the kit. Because of health concerns over lead, sets sold in the European Union today use tin or wax. It has an old pedigree as a form of divination among the Greeks and later in Europe.
Also part of it, and being written: Molybdomancy (Divination by molten metal.), Divination (Foretelling as a type.).
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Molybdomancy" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family, and are described as belief and practice. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.