A newcomer to Germany may wonder what a certain Silvester has to do with New Year’s Eve.

THE first time I was asked what plans I had for Silvester, I was agog.

The only picture that came to mind was of the Looney Tunes cat that constantly coveted Tweety the canary.

Only later did I learn that Silvester is the German name for New Year’s Eve – and yes, it is associated with yet another saint whose feast day falls onDec 31.

To be precise, he was Pope Sylvester I, who held office from Jan 31, 314 to Dec 31, 335. It was during his pontificate that some of Rome’s magnificent basilicas were built, among them the iconic St Peter’s and St John Lateran. Despite that, not much else is known of him, save for the legend that he had cured the Roman Emperor Constantine I of leprosy.

As in many other countries, Silvester is celebrated with fireworks and much merry making. This apparently goes way back to the time of the ancient, pre-Christian, Germanic tribes who believed that raising a ruckus kept evil winter spirits at bay.

In fact, several local traditions can be traced back to the pagan Rauchnächte (“smoky nights”) that ran between what is now Christmas Eve (Dec 24) and Epiphany (Jan 6). The smoky bit refers to the act of smoking spirits out of the house with incense – not that much different from our Asian kemenyan action.

Silvester, which occurred in the middle of the 12 Rauhnächte, was then believed to be the night of the god Wotan’s wild hunt, a time of much commotion and celebration.

Given the long, dreary darkness of winter, the Teutons at that time feared that the sun, “which they thought of as a wheel that rolled around the earth, was slowing to a stop. So, they lit wooden wheels on fire and sent them rolling down mountains and clubbed trees with flaming cudgels.” Perhaps this was the ancient precedent to our present day practice of setting off fireworks.

This belief that the sun was slowing down also led to the tradition of doing no work on New Year’s Eve. Most importantly, no one was allowed to do any laundry, for fear of incurring the wrath of the aforementioned god Wotan who might get entangled in any stray clothes lines while merrily making his menacing rounds with his dastardly band of brutes.

Given the supernatural goings-on during these 12 nights – including the belief that barnyard animals could talk on New Year’s Eve – divining the future also became commonplace.

Till today, Bleigiessen or lead casting remains a popular New Year’s party game. A small piece of lead or pewter is placed in a special spoon and melted over a candle. Once liquefied, it is quickly dropped into a bowl of cold water. The random shape of the resulting “form” is used to foretell someone’s fortune in the coming year. For instance, if the object resembles a ship, you might be travelling abroad. An eagle, for example, indicates career success, while a flower forecasts the blossoming of new friendships.

Naturally, given the copious amounts of spirits (of the liquid kind) that have already been consumed, this activity can be pretty subjective and would depend largely on whether someone is already seeing double.

Other oracle traditions on Silvester include swinging a pendulous object, such as a necklace or watch, and asking it a yes-or-no question. If the pendulum swings in a circle, the answer is “yes”, if it swings vertically, the answer is “no”, and if it swings horizontally, the answer is uncertain. Bibelstechen (or “Bible poking”) involves flipping open the Bible at a random page, and pointing to a random verse with closed eyes. The verse should provide some wisdom or advice for the New Year.

All this is probably done while feasting on jelly doughnuts with or without liquor fillings. People also give each other little gifts like miniature chimney sweep dolls, four-leaf clovers, horseshoes and pigs. The latter are considered lucky animals and most supermarkets stock tiny, edible, pink marzipan pigs that are also consumed for good luck.

Finally, there is also a very German New Year greeting: Guten Rutsch, which translates to a “good slide”. The belief is that it originated from the Yiddish word Rosch – which means “beginning” or “head” – and somehow through the play of words became Rutsch.

And so, on that note, I wish all of you a “good slide” into 2013 and may it be a fruitful and blessed year for all.

Brenda Benedict is a Malaysian living in Frankfurt but who is ushering 2013 with family in Johor this time. She relishes celebrating in just one layer of clothes and open-toed sandals.

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