Friday the 13th

[Mad Manfred]

Where'd/when'd the whole "Friday the 13th" thing start?

Just curious.

[LucidElement]

jason vorhees? lol i dont no thats a good question... i would like to know that as well

[Daedalus]

Check the Wikipedia

[Blake2kuk]

Friday the 13th was the day on which the King of France (Phillip) organised a mass arrest of all Knights Templar in France. (About 15,000 were arrested in total).

The Templars supposedly burned/destroyed a lot of their 'treasures' before this happened.

Some Templars supposedly sailed to America before they could be arrested. Though its more likely they sailed to England/Scotland (Rossyln Chapel)

[DJ_Quinn]

Friday the 13th was the day on which the King of France (Phillip) organised a mass arrest of all Knights Templar in France. (About 15,000 were arrested in total).

The Templars supposedly burned/destroyed a lot of their 'treasures' before this happened.

Some Templars supposedly sailed to America before they could be arrested. Though its more likely they sailed to England/Scotland (Rossyln Chapel)

619859[/snapback]

Yes, the Friday the 13th legend started with the Templars. Friday 13th, 1307 to be exact.

When Philip the Fair decided to arrest and torture and burn the Templars on this day in 1307, he had back of him no tradition of bad luck or good luck associated with the 13th day of the month — but it was unfortunate for about one hundred Templars!

Jaques DeMolay, last Grandmaster of the Templars, cursed King Philip and Pope Clement V just before he they burned him at the stake, claiming that they would both be dead before the year was over. They were.

Some of the Templars did escape to Scotland, and Scotish Rite Freemasonery is said to have been formed by this group.

Templar relics have been found in Nova Scotia.

See this link regarding Oak Island: http://ra.nilenet.com/~gaska/oakisland.html

[kwai]

Goes way beyond the arrest and descruction of the Templars .

Bad luck and 13/Friday can be traced back to Norse era and beyond

POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS

Copyright: Charles Platt 1925

Republished by Gale Research Company, Book Tower, Detroit, 1973

"The rise of the compound Three-Ten for Thirteen is so very general all over the world, that it seems clear that to the primitive mind of early Man it had no real meaning--he stopped at Twelve. So persistent are these old instincts that, even today, we stop at "Twelve Times Twelve "in our school multiplication triplication tables, though there is absolutely no reason whatever why we should do so, except for our inherited instinct that it was, and therefore still must be, the utmost limit of mathematical thought.

Thirteen, therefore was not used as number, but as a vague word meaning anything beyond Twelve. To the untutored savage, as to the animal mind of today, anything unknown conveyed an immediate sense of danger. Thirteen was not really an unlucky number, but a fateful one--a number full of vague and unimaginable possibilities and therefore a number to be avoided by any peace-loving man.

This curious point is amply proved by the many superstitions that cluster round this number, for they are all based upon the number itself. In the majority of hotels, for instance, there is no room bearing this number, and the visitor who sleeps in the thirteenth room slumbers quite peacefully because it bears the number 14 on the door. The ill-luck, you see, is not attached to the room, but to the number, which carried to the savage mind such dreaded fear of the Unknown. Possibly that may have been a million years ago, but the fateful character still clings to the number.

Many people believe that the superstition about sitting thirteen at table dates from the Last Supper and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. That is not possible, for the idea goes back centuries earlier: but it does seem clear that this world fatality gave the idea new life and sent it bounding forward along the years to come. As a matter of fact, this was not an isolated case of at thirteen at table, for Christ and the chosen disciples worked together regularly every day, and must, surely, have risked the fateful thirteen many thousands of times.

In Scotland, Thirteen is known as the "Devil's Dozen"--a title characteristic of the worst associations of this much abused number. I have already made reference to the question of Thirteen sitting at table together. But the Romans considered that the fatality followed the number whenever and for whatever purpose thirteen people gathered together.

The Fish was an emblem of Freyja, and as such was associated with the worship of Love. It was offered by the Scandinavians to their goddess, on the sixth day of the week, i.e., Friday. I have already pointed out that many primitive customs were "adopted" by the early Christians, in order to make life easier for their converts--this was a case in point. Fish has been accepted by Catholics as the correct diet on their sixth day fast.

Unfortunately this worship of Love on the Friday of each week gradually developed--or degenerated--into a series of filthy and indecent rites and practices.

Here then we have the obvious clue to the Day's bad name--no decent man would be associated with such practices! Friday started its career as a good day, almost a sacred day--and in many countries it is still the day of all days for lovers. Then love degenerated into lust, and now the day is universally shunned!

This trick of attributing to poor old Friday all the disasters that have ever befallen Mankind is a very general one--in addition to Eve's "indiscretion," as I may call it, Friday is popularly, but not historically, supposed to have seen the murder of Abel, the stoning of Stephen, the Crucifixion, the Massacre of the Innocents by Herod, the flight of the children of Israel through the Red Sea, the Deluge (of course !), the Confusion of Tongues at the Tower of Babel and many others, right up to William Tell and the other Apple!

Give a poor dog a bad name, and you might as well hang it!"

Wow! Thirteen has been ‘fateful’ as long as there have been numbers, and Friday has been disastrous since ‘Eve.’ I think Mr. Hitt may have been misled by Spanish conspiracy theorists, anxious to give more importance to the Knights Templar, their attackers, and their defenders. And guess which group succeeded the KsT?

So that’s what I found out about the background of Friday the thirteenth. My sources weren’t impeccable, but they were the only ones available to me. I’m sure there are many other sources with other derivations. Who’s got another version? Which one’s right? Who knows?

Thank you for your support.

Source

http://www.tafkac.org/misc/friday_the_13th_origins.html

Edited May 13, 2005 by kwai

[_Nyx_]

Friday the 13th Phobia Rooted in Ancient History

John Roach

for National Geographic News

Updated August 12, 2004

This Friday some people will be so paralyzed with fear they simply won't get out of bed. Others will steadfastly refuse to fly on an airplane, buy a house, or act on a hot stock tip. It's Friday the 13th, and they're freaked out.

"It's been estimated that [u.S] $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day because people will not fly or do business they would normally do," said Donald Dossey, founder of the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina.

Among other services, Dossey's organization counsels clients on how to overcome fear of Friday the 13th, a phobia that he estimates afflicts 17 to 21 million people in the United States.

Symptoms range from mild anxiety to full-blown panic attacks. The latter may cause people to reshuffle schedules or miss an entire day's work.

When it comes to bad luck of any kind, Richard Wiseman—a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, England—found that people who consider themselves unlucky are more likely to believe in superstitions associated with bad luck.

"Their beliefs and behavior are likely to be part of a much bigger worldview," he said. "They will believe that luck is a magical force and that it can ruin their lives."

Wiseman found that one quarter of the 2,068 people questioned in a 2003 survey associate the number 13 with bad luck. People with such feelings, he found, are more likely to be anxious on days like Friday the 13th and thus more prone to have accidents. In other words, being afraid of Friday the 13th could be their undoing.

Ominous Number

So how did Friday the 13th become such an unlucky day?

Dossey, also a folklore historian and author of Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun, said fear of Friday the 13th is rooted in ancient, separate bad-luck associations with the number 13 and the day Friday. The two unlucky entities ultimately combined to make one super unlucky day.

Dossey traces the fear of 13 to 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," said Dossey. From that moment on, the number 13 has been considered ominous and foreboding.

There is also a biblical reference to the unlucky number 13. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest to the Last Supper.

Meanwhile, in ancient Rome, witches reportedly gathered in groups of 12. The 13th was believed to be the devil.

Thomas Fernsler, an associate policy scientist in the Mathematics and Science Education Resource Center at the University of Delaware in Newark, said the number 13 suffers because of its position after 12.

According to Fernsler, numerologists consider 12 a "complete" number. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus.

In exceeding 12 by 1, Fernsler said 13's association with bad luck "has to do with just being a little beyond completeness. The number becomes restless or squirmy."

This fear of 13 is strong in today's world. According to Dossey, more than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor. Many airports skip the 13th gate. Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.

On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half. In France socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.

Many triskaidekaphobes, as those who fear the unlucky integer are known, point to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13.

As for Friday, it is well known among Christians as the day Jesus was crucified. Some biblical scholars believe Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit on Friday. Perhaps most significant is a belief that Abel was slain by Cain on Friday the 13th.

Phobia Cures

So, what are triskaidekaphobes to do?

Dossey said "practical" cures are as simple as learning to refocus one's thoughts from negative feelings to positive. His mantra: "What you think about, you begin to feel. What you feel generates what you do. And what you do creates how you will become."

In other words, those stricken with negative thoughts about Friday the 13th need to learn how to focus on pleasant thoughts. Those, in turn, will create pleasant feelings that make one's fears less overwhelming, according to Dossey.

"They haven't lost their mind. They've lost control of their mind," Dossey said of triskaidekaphobes. "They are focused in the wrong direction. In their mind they have a big, large, looming picture of something horrible that could happen."

Wiseman, the University of Hertfordshire psychologist, offers similar advice to those stricken with the fear of Friday the 13th.

"They need to realize that they have the ability to create much of their own good and bad luck," he said. "And they should concentrate on being lucky by, for example, looking on the bright side of events in their lives, remembering the good things that have happened, and, most of all, be[ing] prepared to take control of their future."

Folklore offers other remedies, however. One recommendation is to climb to the top of a mountain or skyscraper and burn all the socks you own that have holes in them. Another is to stand on your head and eat a piece of gristle.

So if you fear the 13th, take your pick of remedies and let tomorrow bring its luck—good or bad.

[Method]

Cool

[DJ_Quinn]

13 is actually a luck number for me. Always has been, even last night at the horse races. I won € 64 on the # 13 horse in the second race.

Anyone else have 13 as a lucky number???

[ABOTU]

My subsitute teacher told us it's because so many years ago it was a Friday the 13th that hundreds of witches were burned at the stake(Salem Witch Trials) I'm not sure where he got that information though, because when I looked it up on google and Dogpile I didn't find anything.....

[101]

I got married on Friday the 13th. Sorry but it ended in divorce

[DJ_Quinn]

I got married on Friday the 13th. Sorry but it ended in divorce

620004[/snapback]

I hope that you're luckier in love the next time 101.

[marduk]

I got married on Friday the 13th. Sorry but it ended in divorce

620004[/snapback]

I hope that you're luckier in love the next time 101.

620009[/snapback]

i once fell asleep on the train on the way home from work on friday the 13th and ended up 75 miles from home

it was also the last train.

and i didn't have money to pay for a return fare the next morning

[DJ_Quinn]

I got married on Friday the 13th. Sorry but it ended in divorce

620004[/snapback]

I hope that you're luckier in love the next time 101.

620009[/snapback]

i once fell asleep on the train on the way home from work on friday the 13th and ended up 75 miles from home

it was also the last train.

and i didn't have money to pay for a return fare the next morning

620092[/snapback]

I hate when that happens....

[Daedalus]

I got married on Friday the 13th. Sorry but it ended in divorce

620004[/snapback]

I know of 2 people marrying today... Well 4 people actually; 2 couples.

[Shivel]

So, from everything I just read, either there is no way to explain the exact origins or so many bad things have happened on that day that it's just become well known as unlucky.

[101]

Thanks I don't think it was the day I think it was the man. But I still love him. He gave me a wonderful little girl. Must say I will never hate him because of that.

[baastetnoir]

Hi there !!!!, :how:

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Friday 13th

here is a link for those who want learn more about this supersticion.

Friday 13th

[LucidElement]

so basically wikipedia just says that it is a day of bad luck, do to superstitions, so im guessing if u dont believe in superstitions then your ok =)

[Netwolf111]

Skipping the number 13 in high rises, homes (12 and a half), hospital (room) etc... would only make a change on the surface. You might live on the 14th floor but actually you are living on the 13th. You're just fooling yourself... A rose by any other name...

[TooFarGone]

Actually, today went great for me...........we had subsitutes most of the day, so we didnt have to do any work

But unfortunatly, the grade 12's are having thier Grad today, and they ususlly have a big bon fire after....but,tonight its raining...so, not to lucky.

[Elfstone810]

My subsitute teacher told us it's because so many years ago it was a Friday the 13th that hundreds of witches were burned at the stake(Salem Witch Trials) I'm not sure where he got that information though, because when I looked it up on google and Dogpile I didn't find anything.....

619998[/snapback]

I don't know where he got it either, but he needs to be more careful about what he teaches. There were no "witches" burned at the stake in Salem. Nineteen men and women were hanged for witchcraft and one elderly man was pressed to death with stones for refusing to submit to trial. (By refusing to be tried he made it impossible for them to find him guilty and so preserved his property for his family. If he had been convicted of witchcraft they would have been dispossessed.)

Here's a site on the Salem witch trials if anyone's interested.Link

[Elfstone810]

By the way, I know of at least one instance where the superstition itself proved fatally unlucky.

A group of engineering students decided to celebrate their graduation by bungee jumping off their dorm (or apartment building or something -- a tall building). Being engineering students, instead of dropping a line to measure the distance they measured the individual storeys, including the space taken by the floors and ceilings, then multiplied that by the number of floors the building had. They then used that to determine the length of cord they needed.

Unfortunately they overlooked the fact that the building had no thirteenth floor. The cord was about ten feet too long and the first jumper was killed.

This story was apparently on one of the infamous "Faces of Death" movies. I've never even been tempted to watch them myself, but a friend who did told me about this.

[Murdison]

i once fell asleep on the train

620092[/snapback]

Hey..! Ive done that as well..? Maybe we should start a thread for those who suffer from this rare form of sleep paralysis..? hee hee

[Netwolf111]

Friday the 13th is not all bad luck! I was looking for article on Friday the 13th and came upon one stating that on Friday the 13th 2029 an asteroid 320 meters wide is set to pass within 18,600 miles above the Earth's atmosphere (our own satellites in geosynchronous orbit are 22,300 miles out). It will not hit the earth but were it to hit us, it would level an area the size of Texas. So you see, this day can be a lucky one

Article here