Friday 13th.

Do you have Paraskevidekatriaphobia? If you do, then you need help, because it’s very silly to have an irrational fear of a particular day! That particular day is, of course, Friday 13th, the origins of which have been lost or confused in the mists of time!

The number 13 has long been considered unlucky. Twelve was always considered a lucky number – 12 apostles, 12 months, 12 signs of the zodiac, so 13 was just not quite right.

The unluckiness of the number 13 has roots in both Christianity and Norse legend.

Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla. Loki, the Evil One, god of mischief, had been left off the guest list but crashed the party, bringing the total number of attendees to 13. True to character, Loki raised hell by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to attack Balder the Good, who was a favourite of the gods. Hod took a spear of mistletoe offered by Loki and obediently hurled it at Balder, killing him instantly. All Valhalla grieved. And although one might take the moral of this story to be "Beware of uninvited guests bearing mistletoe," the Norse themselves apparently concluded that 13 people at a dinner party is just plain bad luck.

As if to prove the point, the Bible tells us there were exactly 13 present at the Last Supper. One of the disciples betrayed Jesus Christ, setting the stage for the Crucifixion.

So the superstition is that if you have 13 guests, one of them is bound to die.

Did I mention the Crucifixion took place on a Friday?

Friday has also been considered to be unlucky. As I said, the crucifixion took place on a Friday. Apprently Eve tempted Adam on a Friday, the Great Flood began on a Friday, and the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday. And in pagan Rome, Friday was execution day.

In pre-Christian cultures, Friday was the Sabbath, so anyone caught doing anything on that day could not be guaranteed the blessings of the gods. Also, it was never considered to be a good idea to start projects or journeys on a Friday.

The Christian Church decided that obviously pagan Sabbath days must be quashed as they were just heathens, so Friday became known as the Witches Sabbath.

Another theory is that the Knights Templar were all rounded up and executed on Friday the 13th in 1307.

The strange thing is that the Friday 13th superstition does not appear to be any older than 19th century. Separately, there were already the superstitions about the number 13 and about the day Friday, but they don’t appear to have been put together until then. Some scholars are convinced that the Friday 13th superstition is an entirely 20th century invention.
Personally, I think it’s all a load of old cobblers! What about you? How was your Friday 13th? Lucky, or unlucky?

If you are an unlucky person then beware! - we have three Friday 13th's in 2009 in February, March and November.