Hallo!

Silvesterabend is right around the corner und da sind einige New Year’s Eve customs I’d like to share with you. In this post I’ll talk about a fortune telling custom.

Es gibt viele Angelegenheiten to welcome a new year. Manche Leute use this opportunity to make new resolutions. Sie wissen schon — new year, neuer Anfang. Others like to use an ancient and more subjective custom — they have a need to know what’s in store for them. They want to be prepared for what lies ahead.

Zum Beispiel, one method people use to predict the future is called: Bleigiessen (the pouring of molten lead) — Now here’s something I haven’t done in a long time! Pouring lead to predict the future is a ritual that can be traced as far back as the Greeks.

Bleigiessen ist eigentlich sehr einfach. To do this, you will need a small amount of lead (you can also buy a kit, but I’m not sure if you can buy it in the States), a bowl of water and a candle. Here’s what you do: you put a piece of Blei unto ein Löffel and hold it over die Flame einer Kerze. Once the lead has melted, pour it into das Wasser; the water will shape it into a specific form. You then pull out the shaped form and hold it up against the candlelight, so that you can see its shadow against the wall. The form of that shadow will tell you what to expect in the future. Selbstverständlich, it is left to one’s interpretation. This is just for Spaß; so don’t take it too seriously!

There are many forms that can be created once the Blei hits the water. Here are some Beispiele:

• Herz - sich verlieben (falling in love)
• Hut - gute Nachrichten (good news coming your way)
• Kreuz, Kreuze - Tod (death — yikes!)
• Kuchen - ein Fest steht bevor (an opportunity for celebration)
• Kuh - Heilung (healing)

For more examples, go to: http://www.silvestergruesse.de/2-2-1-bleigiessen/index.html

Note: For lack of a better picture I used the one from: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleigießen

Bis bald,

Nathalie

Guten Tag, ich Grüße Sie!

Es ist bald so weit… In wenigen Tagen, werden die meisten Kinder in Deutschland, their slippers, outside, neben der Haustür stellen, with the hope that der Sankt Nikolaus vorbei kommt und dabei ein paar Süßigkeiten in ihren Schuhen schlüpft.

Kennen Sie den Sankt Nikolaus? Aber sicher doch! Sie wussten doch bestimmt das er der Vorfahre von Santa Claus ist und das er im Deutschland, jedes Jahr, am sechsten Dezember gefeiert wird?

It’s true! Not only is he celebrated in Germany, but also in the North of France, including the Alsace and Lorraine regions (and yes! they are two separate regions!), Belgium, Luxemburg, Austria, and the Netherlands; there might possibly be a few more countries, but I am not sure about this. Selbstverständlich hat jedes Land, or region its own Geschichte on how they wish to remember the Patron of Erwachsenen und Kinder.

In Germany people say, das vor langer, langer zeit, ein junges Kind in der Stadt von Patara (angeblich, in der heutzutage Türkei) lebte. This child was named Nikolaus. Leider war der junge Nikolaus sehr traurig, weil er seine Eltern an einer schweren Krankheit verloren hatte. Da seine Eltern sehr reich waren, erbte er ihr Eigentum. But, all the riches in the world could not bring back his parents. Er war sehr traurig und nichts machte ihm Mut.

Eines Tages, quite by accident, did Nikolaus come upon a scroll that contained a Geschichte about zwei Männer. As he reads the story, he learns that one of the men was reich, and the other was arm. Der arme Mann, der vor dem reiche Mann’s Tür lag, hoffte das er leftovers crumbs from the rich man’s table bekommen würde. Leider war der reiche Mann sehr egoistisch und gab ihm nichts. Was geschähen sollte, geschah. Der arme Kerl starb. Als er starb, würde er von Angels in den Himmel getragen. It so happened that the rich man died as well and yes, you guessed it, no Engel came to get him!

Well, our kleine Nikolaus was very concerned about this. There was no way he would turn into the rich man from the story. So, he decided (I am giving you the short version here!) that he was going to slowly give away his riches to the less fortunate; this of course, made him happy again. Eventually, he left home to go to school, but never stopped giving to the poor. When he had nothing left to give, füllte er seine Taschen mit Mandarinen, Nüssen und Äpfel.

One day, he returned nach Hause and became a Bischof. Als Nikolaus wieder ins freie kam, wartete da, sein alter grauen Esel. As a man of faith, it was important to Nikolaus to reach other Christians and preach to strenghten their own faith. He firmly believed that giving was his way to heaven. So, jedes Jahr an seinem Geburtstag, trug der Nikolaus sein schönes Bischofskleid. Er packte einen großen Sack voller Nüssen, Äpfel, Mandarinen und Honigkuchen. Zusammen, mit seinem treuen Esel, ging er dann durch die Strassen sharing his gifts with everyone. Er machte diesen Tag zu einem großen Fest. Man erzählt das, when it was finally time to go to Heaven, the hardest part for Nikolaus was to be separated from the Kinder. He died December 6th.

And so it is that the tradition of Sankt Nikolaus Tag came about. I remember when I was little. I would wait for Sankt Nikolaus to come and fill my slippers with goodies. Actually… I would hide and wait because this guy was way too scary for me! But now that I think of it, you know what makes me sad about this whole thing? I never knew — until now, that is — why it was such a special day. I just knew that it was Sankt Nikolaus day and that I was going to get something sweet to eat. I did not know that it was the day we celebrate the legacy of a selfless, giving soul whose destiny was to bring kindness to other, less fortunate human beings.

Na ja, ich hoffe diese Geschichte helps you understand why Saint Nicholas Day is celebrated by so many children, throughout Germany.

Macht‘s gut und bis bald.

Tschüss,

Nathalie