Happy Friday the 13th, my dear friends and readers!
What is the history of Friday the 13th? How did this day become so unlucky?
In Greece, Tuesday the 13th is unlucky. In Italy, it's Friday the 17th. But in the US and other Western countries, it's Friday the 13th which has us tossing a little salt over our shoulders and fearing black cats.
According to Norse mythology, the unlucky nature of the number "13" originated with the 12 gods having a dinner party in Valhalla. The god Loki, who was not invited, arrived as the 13th guest and arranged for Höðr to shoot Balder with a mistletoe-tipped arrow.(1) In the Christian myth of the Last Supper, there were 13 people at the table. Judas, of course, is the 13th person. The Last Supper was on a Thursday, and the next day was Friday, the day of crucifixion. The Code of Hammurabi(2) the Babylonian legal code, where we get such "laws" as an eye for an eye,” was one of the earliest written legal codes. The Code of Hammurabi omits the 13th law from its 282 rules. This is now seen as a clerical error... or is it? A Vox article dated March 13, 2020, entitled "Friday the 13th Isn’t Unlucky. It’s a Meme Disguised as Superstition," states that it's a commonly held belief that the reason Friday the 13th is considered unlucky is that on Friday the 13th in 1307, a raid on the Knights Templar took place, essentially wiping them out."(3)
According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, an estimated 17–21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day, making it the most feared day and date in history. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines of doing business, taking flights, or even getting out of bed. Wikipedia states that an estimated US$800–900 million is lost in business on this day.(4)
Many skyscrapers don't have a 13th floor, hotels won't have a room 13, and airplanes don't have a 13th row. Some restaurants won't seat 13 guests but will add a 14th chair "just in case." If you aren't superstitious, today is a great day to fly, as many airlines will offer cheap tickets to make up for lost revenue.
So this doesn't answer why? According to the same Vox article, the Friday 13th is fairly new to our superstitious lexicon, with its shibboleth beginnings in the 19th century with a book by Thomas Lawson.(5)
"That’s largely thanks to Thomas Lawson’s 1907 book Friday, the Thirteenth. Lawson, a notorious stock market promoter who was essentially a turn-of-the-century Wolf of Wall Street, wrote the book about a fictional stockbroker who chooses thatpy. May you be well. May you be day to deliberately crash the stock market. It’s only a year later that we see the first known mention of Friday the 13th in the media: a notice in the New York Times from March 14, 1908, notes that one brave senator had defied the odds and “introduced thirteen public building bills” into the Senate on the unlucky day. “Friday the 13th holds no terrors for Senator Owen,” the Times declared."
So whether today you will be staying in bed, throwing some salt over your shoulder, smoke cleansing your house, or if you will be flying in one of those cheap seats to some exotic far-off place. Friday the 13th often has even unbelievers in superstition a bit on edge. For myself, I will be adding a few more pieces of hematite and amethyst to my dress and I'll keep the salt shaker handy.
Many blessings on this Friday, May 13th. May you be healthy. May you be safe. May you be loved.
In lovingkindness,
Krystal Linn
Footnote Citations:
1.“Friday The 13th” (last edited on 9 May 2022) Wikipedia Accessed on 2022, May 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th#:~:text=According%20to%20folklore%20historian%20Donald,with%20a%20mistletoe%2Dtipped%20arrow.
2. "Code of Hammurabi”, (2021, September 9) History.com. Accessed on 2022, May 13. https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/hammurabi
3. Romano, Aja. (2020 Mar 13) “Friday the 13th Isn’t Unlucky. It’s a Meme Disguised as Superstition: How the Fear of a Number Became One of History’s Longest Running Meme” https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/10/13/16465896/friday-the-13th-origin-history
4. “Friday The 13th” Wikipedia, et al.
5. Romano, Aja, et al.
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