Good luck!

31. Dezember 2004 By Elizabeth Goetze

Now that the chocolate Santas, angels and snowmen have disappeared from the shelves of the supermarkets they've been occupying since September, new faces and figures have appeared on the scene in my local store: fuzzy little chimney sweeps stuck in pots of four-leaf clovers, plump little pigs made of marzipan with a one-cent piece stuck in their backs, chocolate ladybugs, along with other objects such as little porcelain red-capped mushrooms and horseshoe charms. Not to mention the little trinkets made of lead ready to be melted down on New Year's Eve.
Faced with the abundance of these lucky charms, I decided to investigate why these objects have become mainstays of any decent German New Year's Eve party. I was in store for some surprises. Take the one-cent piece, the lucky penny - now this one seems fairly obvious, right? A piece of money becomes a token to assure financial happiness in the coming year. But there's more to it, as I found out. The copper in the coin is commonly associated with Venus, the goddess of love, and therefore should increase the bearer's lovemaking abilities - an ancient aphrodisiac, if you will. Lucky pennies were also once nailed on stable doors to keep away witches. Carried in your pocket the penny is supposed to ward off sham and deceit in your business dealings. Now that's more than you can ask from a Viagra pill, if you ask me.
The Fliegenpilz, a red-capped mushroom dotted with white spots, has long been associated with witchcraft and sorcery in Germany - good powers to have on your side for the new year. The chimney sweep, on the other hand, has a more practical background. A clean chimney was vital to villages and town centers with wood-constructed buildings: one single fire could easily wipe out an entire settlement. And the pig has been a symbol of fertility and wealth for centuries in many cultures. The Germanic goddess Freya was also known as Syr, which means sow, and the wild boar was a holy animal among Germanic deities.
So when you look a sugar piggy in the eye tonight or spot some mushrooms in your host's table decoration, rest assured you now know their origin. And don't forget to put that lucky penny in your pocket.