Today is Friday the 13th. Superstition tells us that today will be bad news bears. Superstition which gripes its roots in religion. Lets look into that.
Historically speaking, this is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the mid-1800s. However the most likely theory stems from the fact that there are older supersitions marking thirteen is an unlucky number and Friday as an unlucky day.
Thirteen as an unlucky number is based on numerology. The number
twelve is considered
the number of completeness, we see this reflected in Judeo-Christian Westernized culture---twelve months in a year, the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve Apostles of Jesus--whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular.
There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
Coincidentally, the Last Supper myth crosses over particularly well with a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. "Balder died and the whole Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned. It was a bad, unlucky day," says Donald Dossey, founder of the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina.
As for Friday, most blame the Chaucer's
The Canterbury Tales, which regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys. Particularly of interest to our cause however is that, Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Also particularly of interest is the Norse goddess, Frigg.
The etymology of Friday traces its roots from the Old English frīgedæg, meaning the "day of Frigg." Who was Frigg though? Why name a day in the Gregorian calendar after her?
A major goddess in Norse paganism, Frigg was the wife of Odin, and is the "foremost among the goddesses" and the queen of Asgard. Frigg appears primarily in Norse mythological stories as a wife and a mother. She is also described as having the power of prophecy yet she does not reveal what she knows. Frigg is described as the only one other than Odin who is permitted to sit on his high seat Hlidskjalf (try saying that ten times fast) and look out over the universe. She was often worshipped in a association with love and fertility.
However...
The Christian conversion of the Norse and Germanic tribes was a brutal amalgamation of pagan mythos and Christianity. Christian priests found it impossible to make the pagans give up many of their traditions and as a result most elements were absorbed in some fashion. For instance, the tradition of Easter bunnies and eggs stem symbolically from the spring fertility festival. Christmas trees stem from the winter solstice traditions.
As for Frigg, she was 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' Sabbath."
So now you know. Go forth and be careful.
Happy Friday the 13th.
In a slightly unrelated postscript point, since I want to end this on a happy note, the Maya considered 13 to be a good number. They felt that there were 13 layers to the celestial realm of the world, presided over by the Thirteen Gods of the Upper World known as the Oxlahuntika.
