My husbands family has a Finnish tradition of tin melting at the beginning of each year. In Finland there’s a certain tradition; people melt horse shoe shaped pieces of tin in a metal ladle, then quickly pour the molten tin into a bucket full of cold water. This makes the molten tin solidify in a random shape. When done at midnight, when the year changes, you can then view the shadow of the new tin piece against the wall in candle light and predict the upcoming year’s fortune from what you can see in the shadow. We don't do this at midnight but the following day, January 1st. It is a big family affair so there is always lots of conversations going on, picture and note taking so everyone remembers what their fortunes were at the beginning of the year.
