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2004-08-12 Friday the 13th I was going to write this entry tomorrow, but with the way work has been this week, I figured I probably wouldn't have time to do a halfway decent job of it. As we all know, the 13th day of the month falling on a Friday has been, for some time, been a day of great foreboding for some. I've often wondered why, but whenever I'd make a mental note to look into it, I'd, er, mis-file it. Well, not this time around. I looked at this site, which was quite helpful and informative. It explains why the number 13 is perceived as unlucky by some, and the same for Fridays in general. It also tells us that no one knows why the two got together to make a most unfortunate day. So, to recap the article, 13 was/is not viewed by everyone as being unlucky. Apparently, it started with either or both Hinduism and the Norse pagan religion. As for the latter, there is a myth about 12 guests being invited to a dinner, with one crasher, and mayhem ensued. Christianity, it seems, liked this idea and used it in the tale of the Last Supper - or, Jesus didn't believe in the unlucky nature of the number 13. In any case, I believe it was my great-grandmother who would never allow there to be 13 guests at a dinner party. If there was and no one offered to leave, she would threaten that she would. Apparently, the number 13 is the number of the feminine in pre-Christian pagan religion, so of course, early Christianity jumped on that and claimed the number was of the devil. As for Friday, well, there are any number of reasons behind that one. Truth be told, I never knew Friday was such an unlucky day. I only associate it with the end of the work-week, so I'll just keep on being happy with it. But in ancient Rome, this was execution day as well as the day to worship the gods. Why these two events fell on this one day of the week is beyond me. According to legend, Friday is also purported to be the day when all the bad stuff happened in the Bible: Eve tempted Adam; the flood; Jesus was crucified; etc, etc. The word "Friday" also apparently comes from the name of the Norse Goddess Freya or Frigg. And, not being ones to change their practices easily in olden days, the Church didn't like this, so they demonized this as well. However, as mentioned above, no one seems to know why the two came together. The author of the article claims that no evidence of such a belief being held before the 19th century has been found. Which puts a wrinkle in the theory that it originates from the time of the Knights Templar. The short version of that story is that on October 13th of 1307, all the Knights Templar were rounded up and persecuted. I should add, however, that if Friday was seen as a sacred day for god-worship and 13 is a number representing the feminine (and is the appropriate number for a coven), then perhaps I should celebrate tomorrow. Huh. Hope you all have a LUCKY Friday the 13th! |
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