Unlike the reported 21 million Americans plagued by severe superstitions regarding the unholy day of Friday the 13th, I tend not to find myself hiding in my home and cringing from the universe on this day. And I am one of the most superstitious people you’ll probably meet. In America an estimated that [US]$800 or $900 million is lost in business on Friday the 13th, a staggering amount which I can certainly say that the American economy doesn’t need right now…if we even have that kind of money anymore. I realized this morning that, despite my interest in such subject matter, I knew little of the origins of this dreaded calendar date. After a bit of research I came across a rather interesting article on the life123.com website by Staff Writer, Jennifer Maughan. Here is an excerpt:

Why Friday?
Throughout history, humans have divided time into segments to be tracked and noted. The Western calendar in its modern form has its origins in ancient lunar calendars, with approximately 30 days. These days were divided into 7-day blocks with named days. The Gregorian calendar (used in the Western world today) became official in 1582 AD. With Sunday being the Sabbath and the holy day for Christians, Friday began to develop a bad reputation. Since Jesus Christ was crucified on Good Friday, Friday was traditionally feared as a day of doom. Christian tradition also linked Friday with pagan festivals and celebrations. As the unlucky association with Friday continued, many people refused to do certain tasks on this day—European ships avoided launching on Fridays, and public hangings in Great Britain were held on Fridays.


Why 13?
Numerology has strong pagan and Christian traditions as well. In early pagan rituals, 13 was a powerful feminine number, linked to the lunar calendar and the female menstrual cycle. Christians also vilified the number 13 as the number of people who attended the Last Supper. The number 13 kept its unlucky reputation as people linked coincidental catastrophes to it. However, the number is not universally considered unlucky—ancient Egyptians thought it was particularly lucky.

To read more CLICK HERE. I also discovered that there is a Norse myth which states that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners. Remind me not to invite that number to any of my dinner parties any time soon. Author Charles Panati, one of the leading authorities on the subject of “Origins” maintains that the superstition can be traced back to ancient myth:

The actual origin of the superstition, though, appears also to be a tale in Norse mythology. Friday is named for Frigga, the free-spirited goddess of love and fertility. When Norse and Germanic tribes converted to Christianity, Frigga was banished in shame to a mountaintop and labeled a witch. It was believed that every Friday, the spiteful goddess convened a meeting with eleven other witches, plus the devil – a gathering of thirteen – and plotted ill turns of fate for the coming week. For many centuries in Scandinavia, Friday was known as “Witches’ Sabbath.”

Interesting… If you have any rituals you perform on this day or aspects of life you avoid in particular, I’d love to hear about them! Leave a comment below to let the world know what you think of Friday the 13th?

Tags: America, beliefs, black friday, christianity, Friday the 13th, History, myths, Norse, religion, statistics, superstitions, theories

This entry was posted on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 12:06 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.