This year, rather than go into the Dublin City center to have some crazy party and trouble getting back out, I went over to Paddy’s flat for the New Year’s Eve celebrations. It was a grand party, with plenty of people, a bit of foosball, and one interesting tradition that I was familiar with from living in Germany – the fortune telling by melting lead over a candle. I have been wanting to explain this – and it’s slightly amusing that I had to come to Dublin – to see a German tradition in action.

Basically, what happens is that you buy this package of lead that is in various “lucky” shapes. These are things like coins, pigs, mushrooms, etc. (I’m not sure why some are lucky – but each culture has their own connections). You take the spoon and hold it lightly over a candle and get the lead warm until it melts…

Once the lead is melted, you quickly pour it into a bowl of ice water (you can see the ice water in the bottom here)

The lead quickly hardens – and then you pluck it out.. and try to determine what shape your lead piece has taken –

Is it a butterfly?

Is it a blob or a thumb’s up?

Once you kind of determine what shape it is – you look on the back of the package and get your “fortune” for the next year –

some of which are quite amusing – even if you have to translate from German.

About the time this was complete, it was time to pop our head out the door for the New Year’s count down, and midnight kisses all around. Welcome to 2012 – the end year of the Mayan Calendar. Here’s hoping it’s a great one!