One of our readers sent a newsclipping she found in some
of her mother's papers. Her mother passed away in 1983. There was no date on the article
but at the bottom was a note hand-written by her mother stating that "she and her
cousin used to do this and it was a lot of fun." The article was entitled "Pouring
of Tin Brings the Year In". Our reader, knowledgeable of curses, took
the information to heart and prayed deliverance prayers over herself.
The article was not completely intact but in part read as follows: "Happy New Year! I
have on my desk, four little silver-colored statues - a dragon, a swan, a tree, and one
that looks like a mushroom. They "tell" our fortunes for the year, much as tea
leaves do. My Finnish parents brought with them, from the "old country", the
custom of pouring "tin" on New Year's Eve."
Here at LHBC we did a bit of research on this Finnish custom. We found the following on a
websites dedicated to Finland customs.
In the last century, the majority of Finns were farmers. The seasonal changes in the
farmer's work ruled the rhythm of life. The passage of time was marked by the important
dates in the farming seasons, with the year's feast days being a combination of church
holidays and celebrations connected with farming. One of the most important days of the
farmer's year was the autumn kekri, the final feast of the harvesting season and also the
beginning of a new year. The events of the coming year were foretold by pouring melted tin
into cold water to cast it in an irregular shape and then studying the shadows it cast.
The importance of kekri declined as Christmas increasingly came to dominate the calendar
in towns. The old kekri traditions, including tin casting, were transferred to the
Christmas and New Year celebrations. Even today, this method of foretelling the future is
a widespread New Year ritual in Finnish homes.
La 5:7 "Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their
iniquities."
Joe 3:21 "For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for
the LORD dwelleth in Zion."
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to May/June 2006 Voices