Did you eat your 12 grapes under the table on New Year’s eve? It’s an old Spanish tradition

It’s midnight on New Year’s Eve and the roar of the party cascades around the small apartment. People kiss. People raise their champagne flutes. And four women sit underneath a table eating a single grape with every strike of the clock.

This New Year’s tradition of eating 12 grapes has recently caught my eye. Traditionally every grape represents each month of the year and with every grape eaten, you make that month ever the luckier for your future self.

I first saw this on my Instagram feed, but upon further research, I found out it’s a Spanish tradition with roots going back over a hundred years. I also discovered that for maximum effectiveness of the grapes, you must swallow all of them before the last chime of the clock — which personally seems easier said than done. Moreover, the grapes don’t necessarily need to be consumed under a table, but as the tradition grew, people added this requirement under the pretense that specifically romantic luck would be granted that year. Also, the grapes can’t be any old grapes. They’re supposed to be these aledo grapes, which are green or white grapes traditional in Spain for wine making.

Whenever I hear superstitious traditions, holiday related or not, I always think of Michael Scott’s quote from the office: “I’m not superstitious, but I am a little ‘stitious’.” And I believe most people fall into this category.

Take the grapes for example, eating 12 grapes at midnight will not hurt your life, but it might not make it better either. So, the result is technically value neutral, encouraging the masses to subscribe to the tradition if only for that small chance of the universe aligning just right. And, better yet, if the year turns out to be the best year of your life, you can easily point to the grapes.

If the grapes I ate at midnight have any profound effect on my life, I’ll come back to this column and put in an update. But for now, I’ll be a little ‘stitious’ and hope for the planets and stars to align and those little grapes to do their magic — because in the end, life’s more fun with a little ‘stition’.

Elisabeth Dellit is an 12th Grader at Jesuit High School. She enjoys reading, writing creative stories, baking/cooking and participating in her school’s drama program.