As we approach the threshold of a new year, it's only human to wonder what's ahead. In Germany and a few nearby countries, the answer to this age-old existential question is found in molten lead.
When Gesine Krätzner had some scraps of lead left over from a roofing project last winter, she knew just what to do with them. Krätzner lives in Portland, Ore., but grew up in Germany. As a kid, she would melt bits of lead with her family for a New Year's Eve tradition called Bleigiessen.
"We would take a spoon and melt the lead above a candle," she says. "Then you take the molten lead and you pour it into some cold water, and it would ... harden in crazy shapes."
When you look at the shapes, you may get a glimpse into what the future will hold.
"They were all blobs, pretty much. But with a bit of fantasy, you imagine they were hearts, or plants or whatever," Krätzner says.
But why use a candle when you can use a blowtorch? Krätzner, along with her family and a few friends, step outside on a windy Portland night to show how it's done. After their torch melts the lead, each person takes a turn tipping his or her molten spoonful into the tub of water. Maybe it's because it's so cold, but the hardening lead makes more of an explosive pop than a sizzle.
The shapes that result are pretty spectacular, like shiny little abstract sculptures. After you fish them out of the water, it's time to read the future.
"The thrust of the tradition is people joking about the shapes and debating and arguing and laughing over what it might represent," says Peter Tokofsky. "But that really is a playful way of dealing with really big questions."
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