The Witches Origins of Friday the 13th

     Lets talk about the real reasons Friday the 13th is such a special day for many Witches arounds the world, before it was taken over by those that decided it was more fun to assocoiate this most blessed day with fear and fear mongering and sensationalized it for the almighty dollar. 

   

Superstitions abound, black cats, ladders, the number 13, breaking mirors, no 13th floor in most buildings, spilling salt, I could go on and on, but the question remains, how did this all come to be? To figure this out we need to go back in time and see where it all began. 

Here are a few of my favorite fun facts

  *Some 4,000 years to the ancient Babylonians because the number 13 didn’t divide easily, this then became an unlucky number.

  *In Christian mythology, thirteen guests attended the Last Supper, the day before Jesus’s crucifixion on a Friday. History.com says this is the root of a Christian superstition that having 13 guests at a table is a bad omen.

*Weddings in the Middle Ages, for instance, were not held on Fridays, and it was not a day someone would start a journey.

 *Western cultures have historically associated the number 12 with completeness, 12 days of Christmas, 12 months and zodiac signs, 12 gods of Olympus and 12 tribes of Israel whereas the number 13 is associated with bad luck.

 *The ancient Code of Hammurabi omitted a 13th law from its list of legal rules. Though this was probably a clerical error, superstitious people sometimes point to this as proof of 13’s longstanding negative associations.

 *Fear of the number 13 even has it's own term: triskaidekaphobia. The superstitious say if you can pronounce the term, you will be cured of the phobia.

 *Friday was also said to be the day Eve gave Adam the fateful apple from the Tree of Knowledge

  *Friday is also said to be the day Cain killed his brother, Abel.

  *According to folklore, the unlucky nature of the number "13" originated with a Norse legend, about 12 gods having a dinner party in Valhalla. The trickster god Loki, who was not invited, arrived as the 13th guest, and arranged for Hoor to shoot Balder with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Balder died, and the whole Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned. It was a bad, unlucky day." This major event in Norse mythology caused the number 13 to be considered unlucky.

Random Superstitions Associated With Friday The 13th

  *Getting your haircut on Friday the 13th will result in the death of a family member.

  *Avoid combing your hair on Friday the 13th. If a bird uses your fallen locks to build a nest, you might go bald.

  *Some high rise buildings are developed without a 13th floor and may planes are missing a 13th row

  *If you break a mirror, you will have bad luck for seven years.

 *Walk under a ladder it will lead to your own hanging. The myth dates back to the medieval age. That said, you might be able to avoid it if you say “bread and butter” as you walk under. Or you can try crossing your fingers until you see a dog.

  *An old wives’ tale says children born on Friday the 13th will be unlucky for life.

  *Knocking over the salt is thought to lead to bad luck on any day, and especially on Friday the 13th.

  *Three things you should not do on Friday the 13th: put your shoes on a table, sleep on a table, or sing at the table. The superstitious say doing any of those will increase your risk of bad luck.

  

Show Me The Bloody Money

  So what happens when you combine superstition with the almighty Hollywood dollar? You get movie magic and a genre of new horror films. Pandering to our fears that are deep seeded and passed down though the generations. On one hand it is just good fun, but if step out of the commercialism of it,  you will come to understand the  devaluiation of the  long held sacradness of this day and the true meaning of "Friday the 13th"  that witches hold so dear, and strive to honor as opposed to the fear mongering that society places on it today.

Friday The 13th and Witchcraft 

  For many Witches Friday the 13th derives from

*Celebrating divine feminine power

*A day to worship the Goddess

* The cycles of creation... 13 moons and 13 blood cycles

*Friday is Venus' day

 *The day of birthing something new 

*Creating divine magic

I hope this helped you to see that there is more to this day than meets the eye.

Many Blessings J