Happy Friday the 13th!!!
For for most Witches and Pagans 13 is actually a very powerful number and has a lot to do with fertility and the Goddess.
HOW DID THE NUMBER 13 FIRST BEGIN TO APPEAR UNLUCKY?
The first record of 13 being an unlucky number appeared in the late 1600s. It was considered unlucky to sit 13 people at a table and people actually believed that the 13th person would cause someone to die within a year.
It seems that this stems from an old norse myth about the Ase gods:
12 gods were having a dinner party at Valhalla. Then Loki arrived as an uninvited guest and guest no. 13. At that dinner party, Loki arranged for Hoder (the blind god of darkness) to shoot Balder (the beautiful god of joy).
Odin loved Balder very much, so he had made sure that all living and dead things made a promise not to hurt Balder. But he had forgot the mistletoe. So, Loki dipped one of Hoder’s arrows in miseltoe and convinced him to shoot it at Balder.
Balder died and the earth turned dark. From then on 13 was considered an unlucky number.
In the bible, we have a very similar setup with the last supper. 13 people at the table and one of them died very soon thereafter.
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE NUMBER 13
•13 menstruations:
In some ancient religions, the number 13 was considered a number associated with the goddess, because a woman menstruates 13 times during a year (28x13 = 364 days).
•13 people:
At the last supper, there were 13 people
•Floor no. 13:
Many hotels, tall office buildings etc. don’t have floor number 13 and some also leave out room 113, 213 etc.
•13 Colonies:
When the US first were created, there were total of 13 colonies. The first US flag also had 13 stripes and 13 stars (this was changed to 15 stripes and stars and later reverted back to 13 stripes, but with 50 stars).
President Roosevelt:
Roosevelt was very fearful of the number 13 and he did everything he could to avoid it. He would never it at a table with 13 people. If he was invited to a dinner party and there were 13 guests, he would invite his secretary to join them.
•A real phobia:
In the beginning of the 1900s, a term was invented for this fear of the number thirteen: triskaidekaphobia
WHAT ABOUT FRIDAY?
It’s not all in the number. What makes this day so special is the fact that it’s both friday and the 13th. So what’s so special about Friday?
In the US, Friday is the 6th day of the week. The number 6 is often ascociated with the devil (666).
Since the 14th centoury, Friday has been considered an unlucky day. Here’s just some of the bad stuff that has happened on a Friday:
Jesus was crucified on a Friday
Eve tempted Adam on a Friday
Abel was Slain by Cain on a Friday (the 13th actually)
The great floods began on a Friday
The whole deal with the Tower of Babel also happened on a Friday
In Rome, people were executed on Fridays
In Britain, people were hanged on Fridays as well
As you can see, for some reason, the Bible and Christianity really has a problem with Fridays.
FRIDAY THE 13TH AND WITCHCRAFT:
For ancient Pagans, Friday was a day where you would (could) receive blessings and gifts from the gods. This makes it a very spiritual and lucky day.
In some ancient Pagan religions, 13 was considered to be the last stage of life. The first 12 were in this life, here on earth and the 13th and final one, symbolized the afterlife.
The name Friday itself comes from Freya, the goddess of love and fertility. Freya had two black cats. A gift from Thor, the god of Thunder.
Author Charles Panati has this to say about Freya and Friday the 13th:
"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 Sabbat”
When Christianity started to convert Pagans, they would do everything they could to make the old gods really bad. I am not really sure why, but for some reason, Freya got it really bad.
For most Witches and Pagans, Friday the 13th is considered to be a lucky day and a good day to do spells for luck!
——Bell Book Candle and Crystal
——Pinterest
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