Friday, the 13th

One of the most commonly held superstitions in our so-called civilized, educated society is that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day, and since, in this equation, each is held to be unlucky, added together, their sum can only equal double trouble.

The modern basis for the aura that surrounds Friday the 13th stems from Friday October the 13th, 1307. On this date, the Pope of the church in Rome in Conjunction with the King of France, carried out a secret death warrant Against "the Knights Templar". The Templars were terminated as heretics, never again to hold the power that they had held for so long. There Grand Master, Jacques DeMolay, was arrested and before he was killed, was tortured and crucified.

Superstitions swirling around Friday as being lucky or unlucky have existed since ancient times, beginning with the northern nations. Ancient Romans dedicated the sixth day of the week to their beautiful, but vain, goddess Venus, so, when the Norsemen adopted the Roman method of naming days, they naturally adopted Venus as their name for the sixth day of the week. Their closest translation for Venus, Frigg, or Freya, eventually evolved into Friday, a day they considered to be the luckiest day of the week.

From a religious standpoint, Muslims tout Friday as the day Allah created Adam, legend has it that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, the apple, on a Friday, and later died on a Friday, and Christians consider Friday as the day on which Christ was crucified by the Romans.

The Scandinavian belief that the number 13 signified bad luck sprang from their mythological 12 demigods, who were joined by a 13th demigod, Loki, an evil cruel one, who brought upon humans great misfortune. The number 13, in the Christian faith, is the number of parties at the Last Supper, with the 13th guest at the table being the traitor, Judas. When Christians combine this day and number, the combination can only hold special significance.

Whether or not a person considers Friday the 13th as unlucky, he or she must understand that this superstition, as well as others, merely stem from beliefs or practices man used, and continues to use, to explain, and to protect himself, from events beyond his control in his complicated world. He worked, and works only with the bag of knowledge he has on hand.

Only when factual, scientific bases for these beliefs are unearthed, and people do not dispel the beliefs, but instead cling to them, the beliefs become superstitions. Today's beliefs may very well be tomorrows superstitions. Until then, however, don't step on a crack!






From coolquiz.com

 

Ive said it before, and I shall say it again......
You learn some stuff in these boxes..:gnthb:
Thanks for the education Kedi-Gato
robert

 

Thanks for sharing that information Kedi-Gato. I knew some of those facts, but the Knights Templars bit is new for me.

As a totally useless piece of information - in the Greek world, Tuesday is the unluckiest day of the week, because that is the day that Constantinople finally fell to the Ottomans.

And left handedness was considered "evil" for such a long time partly because the Latin word for left is "sinister".

 

Friday the 13th is good luck in China!

 

Here are some more good points for the number 13. Copied from an American forum that I am on.


You raise some very interesting points, kedigato. However, 13 is also a lucky number to many.

There were 13 states in the original Union of the United States
The great seal of the USA shows 13 stars (in the "glory" above the eagle's head)
13 stripes on the shield
13 arrows in the eagle’s talon
13 letters in the mottos "e pluribus unum" and "annuit cœptis" (apparently coincidental
There are 52 characters on the whole seal, which is itself evenly divisible by 13)
13 olive leaves (by custom, not by law)
13 olives on the branch (by custom, not by law)
13 brick levels of the pyramid (by custom, not by law)
13 sides showing on the ribbons

Other significant '13' uses;
13 is the age a Jewish boy has his bar mitzvah
13 was the number worn by Wilt Chamberlain, the basketball player
13 was worn by quarterback Dan Marino throughout his career
13 is worn by Michael Ballack , the Chelsea and Germany footballer (soccer)
And of course, the Friday 13th series of films has grossed a handy sum at the box office.
Finally, 13 is the only number with its own phobia named for it "triskaidekaphobia"

Happy Friday the 13th