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di's Insite
Friday, the 13th
Good Friday is well known to the religious among us as a Christian holiday. This year it falls on a Friday known as "Friday the 13th", what some would call unlucky. Though the Last Supper had 13 apostles attending, one of them turned out to be unlucky, at least that is what they all thought when Judas betrayed Jesus.
At least that is the way the Bible tells the tale of the supper, though there were more than the 13 apostles. I suppose those Jews long ago thought it unlucky to be crucified. When you stop and think about it, it turned out to be a lucky day for all those who accepted the savior for their hope of a future. The supper was not the only Biblical event for unlucky thirteen. The great flood was supposed to have started on that day as was the ejection from the Garden of Eden.
Superstition on Friday the 13th dates back long before the Bible though. Norse mythology reveals a banquet where one of the Gods crashed a party of 12 Gods, thus the thirteenth, an evil God, Loki, killed one of the favorites.
In Israel, Friday the 13th is considered a lucky day. Friday evening is their beginning of Sabbath and in the year 2000, their Thanksgiving was celebrated on Friday the 13th. A number of good happenings began on Friday in the Bible. There are 13 attributes listed for God. Jews celebrate the bar mitzvah at the age of 13 and there are 13 months in their lunar calendar. There were also 13 members in their first formation of the Israel government. Try telling them that was unlucky!
There are many signs in our own government that 13 is not unlucky. Take a good look at our one dollar bill: 13 stars, 13 stripes, 13 steps, 13 arrows, and an olive branch with 13 leafs. There were 13 colonies, and you know what the first flag had: 13 stripes. I wonder if Betsy Ross thought about that as she sewed?
It is with some irony I bet that Alfred Hitchcock wrote his first thrillers: He was born on Friday, August 13! I wonder if he was laughing all the way to the bank!
We are not the only nation that is superstitious about Friday, the 13th. Others have some interesting reactions to it too. In Russia, they won't shake hands over a threshold on that day: Well, they don't like doing that at any time I am told! Something about a house spirit being offended besides the host. And there is something to not starting a new venture on a Friday-- now that makes sense to me when most banks will be closed for the weekend!
There are a number of bad luck happenings world wide associated with Friday, the 13th. The plane crash in the Andes happened on that day in 1972. That was the one where cannibalism spawned the movie of that crash. Sea captains refuse to set sail on Friday, the 13th, believing it unlucky for their voyages. A British HMS sailed to oblivion on that unlucky day back in the 18th century.
There is a black statue, shaped like a black cat named Kaspar, used in a hotel for those who are superstitious. It seems in 1898, a businessman was murdered when hosting a dinner party for 13 on Friday, the 13th. The chair is ordered to be used for the cat if the dinner party numbers 13.
On Friday 13, 1307, the pope of the Roman Catholic Church in combination of the King of France, ordered the death of the knights of Templar ( a religious order) and the torture of their leader. For more on the knights, see this web site. Priests of olden times considered thirteen to be unlucky: menstrual cycles (lunar) occurred then and so did the worshipping of fertility of goddesses of prehistoric cultures. Hindus and ancient Scandinavians were convinced that it was unlucky for 13 to gather in one place.
There are music groups called unlucky, as there are people. We often tell each other we are unlucky at love, games, events. But in the long run, perhaps we are only looking at the negative. That happening we fear makes us unlucky, can also be the lucky one with hindsight. What would have happened had it turned out to be lucky for us? It all depends on how you view yourself and fate!
Did you know that at one time having a wedding on a Saturday was considered unlucky? Wonder how many are now on Friday, the 13th? That was unlucky too-- consider the rhyme used when considering a wedding date in the past:
Monday for wealth
Tuesday for health
Wednesday the best day of all
Thursday for losses
Friday for crosses
Saturday for no luck at all.
Thirteen is considered a prime number. It is also a Fibonacci number. That is the term used for numbers used in a sequence where two previous numbers are added together to get the next one. For example, the first ten Fibonacci numbers are 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55. (1=1=2, 1=2=3, 2=3=5, 3=5=8, 5=8=13....). I knew you would be interested in that one!
Some artists refuse to use anything in their art that numbers 13 for fear of superstitious customers, thus loss of sales. You don't usually see suns for example, with 13 rays. Motels often won't use the number on their rooms either for the same reason. I should have known that would be unlucky, I stayed in room 13 on my honeymoon of my first marriage!
The term for fear of this unlucky number is triskaidekaphobia, a long name for those who fear a day that lasts such a short time. If you are really worried about breaking superstitions, there are many books on the subject. Here are some listings.
I used to worry about superstitions and no one could convince me to walk under a ladder! I laughed at breaking my mother's back by stepping on a crack though. It was just too impossible to avoid the cracks in the sidewalks in my neighborhood! Come to think of it, maybe I should have at least thrown some salt over my shoulder-- Mom does have arthritis in her back now!
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© 2000 di
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