Bleigießen

On Christmas, our holiday feast with friends ended with the German custom of Bleigießen. Bleigießen, or lead pouring is an activity similar to reading tea leaves. Each of us heated up a ladle of lead and poured the molten lead into a bucket of cold water.

The shape is then interpreted, and it's meaning (there's a list of shapes and meanings here) predicts what the new year holds.

My first pour resulted in the formation of a hammer. The hammer supposedly means I'll get what I want this year. I'm cool with that.