gumbo
FIGHT CLUB !
Friday the 13th is an unlucky day in much of Western Europe, North America, and Australia. Many people avoid travel and avoid signing contracts on Friday the 13th. Floors in tall buildings often skip from 12 to 14. And while the superstition is believed to be fading, it nonetheless has deep roots in both Christian and pagan culture.
During the Middle Ages, the superstition against Friday the 13th grew. On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrests of Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templars and sixty of his senior knights in Paris. Thousands of others were arrested elsewhere in the country. After employing torture techniques to compel the Templars to "confess" to wrongdoing, most were eventually executed and sympathizers of the Templars condemned Friday the 13th as an evil day. Over time a large body of literature and folk wisdom have reinforced the belief. In the 18th century, the HMS Friday was launched on Friday the 13th. It was never heard from again. Since then, ships are not usually launched on that date.
Judas Iscariot was the "thirteenth" apostle, the thirteenth tribe of Israel was the only tribe left without land, and the ill-fated Apollo 13 space mission was launched at 1313 hours (central time), from pad 39 ( the 3rd multiple of 13) and had to be aborted on April 13, 1970. Practitioners of witchcraft will point out that the number thirteen equals the number of days in the year divided by twenty-eight, the number of days in a woman's menstrual cycle.
Friday has an equally colorful past. According to Biblical lore, Eve gave the apple to Adam on Friday, the great flood began on a Friday, the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday, execution day was Friday in Rome, and Good Friday exists because it is the reported day of Jesus' crucifixion.
But for all the infamy and credence given to bad luck on Friday the Thirteenth, there are many less-publicized examples of good fortune. In pagan times, Friday was the day of the love goddess, and today, fittingly enough, Friday is the end of the work week. Many actors insist on signing contracts only on Friday because it brings good luck. Novelist Charles Dickens reportedly began the writing of all his books on a Friday, the day of his birth.
At the birth of our nation, thirteen colonies formed the Union, a baker's dozen is considered a fortunate bargain, and, if you are Jewish, age thirteen is the time for a bar or bat mitzvah. For some Christians, thirteen could be considered sacred, since it equals the Ten Commandments plus the Trinity. And, as most sports fans know, Dan Marino, perhaps the greatest of NFL quarterbacks, wears the number thirteen.
It might be easy to laugh at such superstitious foolishness, but this same kind of magical thinking operates to support beliefs that can be harmful. It is estimated that the thirteenth of the month costs America a billion dollars a year through train and plane reservation cancellation, absenteeism, and reduced commerce. One can see why philosopher Edmund Burke proclaimed superstition the "religion of feeble minds."
During the Middle Ages, the superstition against Friday the 13th grew. On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrests of Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templars and sixty of his senior knights in Paris. Thousands of others were arrested elsewhere in the country. After employing torture techniques to compel the Templars to "confess" to wrongdoing, most were eventually executed and sympathizers of the Templars condemned Friday the 13th as an evil day. Over time a large body of literature and folk wisdom have reinforced the belief. In the 18th century, the HMS Friday was launched on Friday the 13th. It was never heard from again. Since then, ships are not usually launched on that date.
Judas Iscariot was the "thirteenth" apostle, the thirteenth tribe of Israel was the only tribe left without land, and the ill-fated Apollo 13 space mission was launched at 1313 hours (central time), from pad 39 ( the 3rd multiple of 13) and had to be aborted on April 13, 1970. Practitioners of witchcraft will point out that the number thirteen equals the number of days in the year divided by twenty-eight, the number of days in a woman's menstrual cycle.
Friday has an equally colorful past. According to Biblical lore, Eve gave the apple to Adam on Friday, the great flood began on a Friday, the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday, execution day was Friday in Rome, and Good Friday exists because it is the reported day of Jesus' crucifixion.
But for all the infamy and credence given to bad luck on Friday the Thirteenth, there are many less-publicized examples of good fortune. In pagan times, Friday was the day of the love goddess, and today, fittingly enough, Friday is the end of the work week. Many actors insist on signing contracts only on Friday because it brings good luck. Novelist Charles Dickens reportedly began the writing of all his books on a Friday, the day of his birth.
At the birth of our nation, thirteen colonies formed the Union, a baker's dozen is considered a fortunate bargain, and, if you are Jewish, age thirteen is the time for a bar or bat mitzvah. For some Christians, thirteen could be considered sacred, since it equals the Ten Commandments plus the Trinity. And, as most sports fans know, Dan Marino, perhaps the greatest of NFL quarterbacks, wears the number thirteen.
It might be easy to laugh at such superstitious foolishness, but this same kind of magical thinking operates to support beliefs that can be harmful. It is estimated that the thirteenth of the month costs America a billion dollars a year through train and plane reservation cancellation, absenteeism, and reduced commerce. One can see why philosopher Edmund Burke proclaimed superstition the "religion of feeble minds."
I was also born on January, Friday the 13th 1984. I've only had a few land on Friday the 13th since.
@ MMdad
day for me!!
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