Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Grapes, Laundry, Rhodonite, and Other Things We Do Not Believe

Las doce uvas de la suerte, tradition dating back to 1800s Spain, dictates that at the stroke of midnight of the New Year, one should eat twelve grapes in under a minute, while under a table, in order to bring good luck for the upcoming year. 

And so last night, I crammed myself under the dining table with assorted members of my in-law family, plastic cup of twelve grapes in hand, watching the World Clock on my phone. We all dutifully counted down to midnight, and then stuffed our grapes into our mouths, each no doubt with our own personal wishes that 2025 will somehow be Less Awful in our own private ways. 

I do not necessarily believe that these traditions work. Or even help. But if there was even a chance that it might direct the path of Fate into a better direction, I was going to do it, just in case. 
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There is a belief in Chinese superstition that one should not do laundry on New Year's Day, lest it wash away good luck. (There is also a saying I have seen circulating in various fluff-news-pieces as well as on TikTok, that to do laundry on New Year's Day, is to risk 'washing away' a loved one in the upcoming year.)  Well: the laundry -- particularly that for Mustache, who still needs his washable pet pads cleaned since his health is still precarious -- needs to be done, and so I am doing it today. 

Did I wash away the good luck of last night's doce uvas? Am I risking losing someone?  

The likelihood of my laundry causing harm is small enough that this was a superstition I was willing to overlook. At best, I've moved back to neutral after last night's grapes. At worst... well, the past two years have been so full of grief in assorted forms, that I almost feel as though no loss would surprise me. I would simply acknowledge that the Universe has chosen this path for me, and look to see if I can find the way forward. Again. 
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I have always liked polished stones. Texture, color. Pretty. I had to put away the ones I kept in my little zen garden while the kitties were staying with us because the kitties tended to knock them off of the table. Sometimes, I try to identify the stones I have, and then I end up down the rabbit-hole of "what do these rocks signify?" I do not believe in crystals or their meanings, necessarily (any more than I believe in horoscopes), but it's interesting to see what meanings people ascribe to which rocks.

There's a nice pink stone, with veins of black -- rhodonite. I looked up its 'crystal properties': rhodonite is associated with love, compassion, and healing, especially for matters of the heart, and is said to help heal emotional wounds and release emotions that are no longer serving you. It is said to improve communication and facilitate mutual understanding; bring peace and balance to one's life; help with forgiveness; facilitate inner growth; mend broken hearts. 

After the past two years, I might need a piece of rhodonite as big as my actual heart, to hold in my hands, in order to truly move forward successfully into the New Year.  

I'll settle for a small piece to wear. Will it help? Not likely, any more than the twelve grapes. Will it hurt? Not likely, any more than doing laundry today. But overall, it might it bring me the smallest bit of comfort. And we take what we can get. 

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