Wheat Grains are used in a Christmas divination ritual practiced in several Northern countries. Peasants gather around a large fire, heat a round iron plate, and place twelve wheat grains on twelve points marked with chalk, each representing a month of the year. A burning grain indicates scarcity and high prices in that month. If all the grains disappear, it signifies a year of misery. Divination practices using grains and fire are common in European folklore, often associated with predicting the harvest and the weather. This ritual is a form of pyromancy, divination by fire, and reflects a deep-seated human desire to predict the future and control the uncertainty of agricultural life.
