I think we all have hopes and dreams for
2026, just as my great uncle Phillip, and great Opa
Heinrich, did back a hundred plus years ago in Germany.
They were probably having a fish dinner and saving a carp scale, or
more likely a sauerkraut and pork dinner.
Good luck was important before we had financial advisors, welfare, credit cards, weather forecasts, etc to help us see the future. we have software to see if someone is near our house and 911 to call if they do. We know many of our medical needs, and with testing know which medication to take.
Also if you put your faith in god that relieved
In my great granpa's time, approaching New Years Eve, You had no way of knowing what menacing situation was coming your way. Of course you put your faith in god, and that has always been huge in Germany whether you were Catholic or Lutheran.
However depending on the degree you were religious you often would
play a centuries old fortune telling game that could be taken somewhat serious or just for fun, like some folks use a Ouija board or Tarot, that was called
Bleigiessen.
While the churchs strictly forbid the use of any divination, many families still did this activity on New Years Eve. I mean trusting in god was great but families that did still often had bad fortune. So likely
they looked for anything that might help with the anxiety of the new year to come.
Cultures diverse in lifestyle seem to share the idea of some sort of fortune telling
for the new year, so it is interesting in understanding how this has always been important.
These activities are not as serious as a Ouija board, more like opening a fortune cookie.
It is fun to see how our grandparents and relatives spent New Years Eve.
Also to understand how going centuries back they
viewed what had the spiritual power
to affect our lives.
Bleigiessen
Bly + Geezen
Blie = Lead and Geissen = Pouring
The game is simple, you melt a silver dollar size piece of lead and pour it into water.
Since the early days in the age of metals and alchemy, molten lead had the unusual ability to harden into amazing shapes when poured into water.
It was associated with Saturn the planet that ruled time and hence had the ability to whisper the future.
Depending on the shape or the shadow that shape made on the wall your future held good fortune, travel, a new position in life, or death or perhaps trouble with relationships in the family.
There are charts that tell help to tell interpret the strange shape, and I am sure that families would have someone that was more the expert in determinig what animal or object the blob of lead was trying to communicate what the year was going to bring you.
This is a sample chart that they might use.
Figure
Meaning
Anchor
You will receive help when you need it; stable times ahead.
Angel
Good fortune is coming your way.
Axe
Disappointment in love or a cutting change.
Bee / Butterfly
The prospect of marriage, love, and success in relationships.
Bird
Good luck is coming.
Boat / Ship
Travel opportunities are in your future.
Clover
Satisfaction and luck in life.
Cross
Traditionally signifies death or misfortune, but can also mean challenges.
Crown
You will use an official position, or potential wealth.
Elephant
You possess good comprehension and strength.
Fish
People are talking about you, or financial luck.
Heart
Luck and health in the coming year.
House
Your ventures and plans will go well.
Horseshoe/ Pig
Good business, general good fortune, and not starving.
Key
Career advancement or letting others keep their secrets.
Below is a nice video explaining how the Lead Pouring or Bleigiessen works, performing it and interpreting his result.
I find it fun because it takes some imagination to try and guess what this shape can be and it definitely
Is up to interpretation and hunches. It may take a year to guess what this shape is trying to tell you.
Bleigießen: Discover This Magical Fortune-Telling Tradition
The Walnut Boat Oracle
Walnussschiffchen Orakel
Floating Nuts Tell the Future
While floating walnut candles in a bowl of water make a nice centerpiece, many of our ancestors used these to
guess what may be coming in the new year.
"Walnut Boat" Oracle
Preparation: Participants carefully crack open walnuts to retrieve two intact half-shells.
The Candle: A small birthday candle or tea light wick is fixed into the bottom of the shell using a drop of melted wax.
The Water: A large bowl or basin is filled with water. Each person places their "walnut boat" into the water and lights the candle.
The Reading: The fortune is told based on how the shells move and interact in the water:
Staying at the Shore: This suggests a year with very few changes or little progress.
Floating to the Other Side: This is a positive sign that you will achieve your goals or get what you want in the coming year.
Touching Another Shell: This indicates new friendships or a romantic relationship.
Forming a Circle with Others: This represents a future of respect, coexistence, and strong community or family ties.
Spinning in Place: This suggests confusion or that the person does not yet know what they want in life.
Flame Going Out: This is often interpreted as a sign of complicated emotional relationships or difficulties ahead.
An alternative is to make Islands in the glass bowl like what this website suggests
Fill a dish with water and make “islands” with different pretty rocks.
I sometime prop them up on glass jars like in the picture. If it’s not below freezing you could do this outside with a bigger pail of water, but we usually use a serving dish on our table.
Before you start assign the “islands” different meanings. Like success, love, travel, etc- I usually let the kids choose so they are often ridiculous.
Then, one at a time, everyone the lights a walnut boat and places it in the middle of the dish. Next, watch and wait to see which island your boat touches first- thereby predicting what will happen in the new year. I love that it’s both silly and solemn (everyone watched their boat with great intensity)
This is from a 1908 article on a German New Year's Eve Customs
A recipe book and short biography of my Grandmother Emma Block. Her recipes, culture and cooking styles that were brought over from Germany. How they evolved when she came to America in the early 1900s and settled in Portland, Oregon on the west coast of the United States. Over 100 recipes
Bonus Recipe CD with the Ebook and recipes with step by step pictures
Biography of my grandma
Emma Block From Germany with Love tells the story of my grandma, Emma Block, growing up in a little town in Baden/ Würtemberg, Germany near Heidelberg named Steinsfurt. Then at the age of 15 immigrating to the United States, taking a train with one of her sisters and brothers to Hamburg and sailing the Atlantic with other hope filled Germans wanting to make a life in the "New World". It was not easy but with good values learned in her German upbringing made a full life, had a wonderful family with lots of fun and celebration including the great German meals.
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