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Friday the 13th
Jul. 13th, 2007 12:51 pmSeveral people in my life have been bemoaning Friday the 13th today.
While Wikipedia does not agree with me, my understanding is that this superstition arose from the fact that Friday is Freya's Day. Freya was a pretty bad (assed) goddess, responsible for war and death in Norse mythology. So if the thirteenth fell on her day, that was gonna be an especially bad Friday AND an especially bad thirteenth.
(I have no intention of addressing or attempting to debunk any of the pervasive fear of the number 13. If you are scared of numbers and scared of 13, well, that's a whole different kettle of fish.)
Logically, one should not really be overly concerned about a thirteenth occurring on Friday, unless one is also really concerned about Freya's effects on one's life. And if you are a person who worries a lot about Freya, then it also seems logical that you might want to worry *every* Friday. Or possibly *no* Fridays, because who cares if the day was named after her or not? I mean, do you worry about Thor on Thursday?
And if you are worried about the date because of the 13, well, then do you get all freaked out about every thirteenth? I know some people do, but are *you* one of those people? If not, are you a Freya person? If not, then why the heck do you care about Friday the 13th?
Anyway, I hope that everyone who reads this isn't really worried about Friday the 13th, but just enjoys paying lip service to the event. But if you really do worry on these occasional calendar events, then consider the Norse mythology angle.
UPDATE = I feel like I should have done this as a decision tree, or something. :D
While Wikipedia does not agree with me, my understanding is that this superstition arose from the fact that Friday is Freya's Day. Freya was a pretty bad (assed) goddess, responsible for war and death in Norse mythology. So if the thirteenth fell on her day, that was gonna be an especially bad Friday AND an especially bad thirteenth.
(I have no intention of addressing or attempting to debunk any of the pervasive fear of the number 13. If you are scared of numbers and scared of 13, well, that's a whole different kettle of fish.)
Logically, one should not really be overly concerned about a thirteenth occurring on Friday, unless one is also really concerned about Freya's effects on one's life. And if you are a person who worries a lot about Freya, then it also seems logical that you might want to worry *every* Friday. Or possibly *no* Fridays, because who cares if the day was named after her or not? I mean, do you worry about Thor on Thursday?
And if you are worried about the date because of the 13, well, then do you get all freaked out about every thirteenth? I know some people do, but are *you* one of those people? If not, are you a Freya person? If not, then why the heck do you care about Friday the 13th?
Anyway, I hope that everyone who reads this isn't really worried about Friday the 13th, but just enjoys paying lip service to the event. But if you really do worry on these occasional calendar events, then consider the Norse mythology angle.
UPDATE = I feel like I should have done this as a decision tree, or something. :D
