Friday the 13th

[muck_a_luck]

Several 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

Comments

[lise-ann.livejournal.com]

Found this on Yahoo as an explainiation. Doesn't look at religion at all, but rather the number of 'horrific' events that happened on a Friday 13 over the course of history... thereby giving is ther reputation of bad luck.


http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylc=X3oDMTFtMXI2N3ZvBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDMzk2NTQ1MTAzBHNlYwNmcm9udCBwYWdlBHNsawNGUC1Ub2RheUludA--?qid=20061005171810AAiRhJc&fr=hp

[muck-a-luck.livejournal.com]

I'm at the office, so no time to read and consider. However, my first instinct is to think Bermuda Triangle Effect. According to statistics, the Triangle really doesn't have that many more wrecks and accidents that the rest of the ocean. But people sure do pay attention to them there. I wonder how many "horrific" events have happened on every day of the week. You know?

[lise-ann.livejournal.com]

*nods* I know. Btw, I'd heard that while it was Freya's day, the 13th being unlucky had to do with Loki showing up as the 13th and 'uninvited' guest for some get-together (pardon the mundane phrase) that she was hosting. ;)

[muck-a-luck.livejournal.com]

Ha! Making it even more sensible for us to fear Friday the 13th! Because Loki showed up at Freya's party! Oh, noes! Tee hee!

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

13 is also supposed to be unlucky because that's how many people were at the Last Supper while Judas was still there. So 13 dinner guests is always a bad thing? ;-)

[mresundance.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Knights Templar business is the original reason behind Friday the 13th supersitions.

[alpha-strike.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid of 15.0410683837[and some change] cos λ (ΔT)degrees per hour. Thirteen seems pretty friendly after that, doesn't it?

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

Today is my dad's birthday -- it falls on Friday every several years -- so I decided a long time ago that it was a lucky day for me. It hasn't been disproven yet; I think we definitely color our perceptions!

[cocoajava.livejournal.com]

I mean, do you worry about Thor on Thursday?

Well, actually.... gip.