Friday the 13th
Happy Friday, or is it? The superstition that Friday is unlucky and dangerous had been around since ancient times. More specifically, Friday the 13th became bad luck in 1307. Cool Quiz Trivia summed it up like this:
The modern basis for the aura that surrounds Friday the 13th stems from Friday October the 13th, 1307. On this date, the Pope of the church in Rome in Conjunction with the King of France, carried out a secret death warrant Against “the Knights Templar”. The Templars were terminated as heretics, never again to hold the power that they had held for so long. There Grand Master, Jacques DeMolay, was arrested and before he was killed, was tortured and crucified.
The site goes on to tell how Scandinavians have a bad relationship with the number 13 due to an evil demigod. There is also believe that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden apple on a Friday. Ancient Romans have a twisted take on the luck of the sixth day of the week. They dedicated the day to their beautiful goddess of love, Venus. One story suggests that after the Norsemen took the Roman method of naming, they adopted Venus as their name for the sixth day of the week. Their translation for Venus was Frigg, or Freya, and it evolved into Friday, a day they considered to be the luckiest day of the week. However, another twist suggested that the goddess of fertility and love was banished in shame and labeled a witch. Wikipedia puts it like this:
Friday is named for Frigga, the free-spirited goddess of love and fertility. When Norse and Germanic tribes converted to Christianity, Frigga was banished in shame to a mountaintop and 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.”
Friday the 13th has always been a good luck kind of day for me. Certainly can’t hurt to hope that the day is ruled by love and beauty, better than frightful death. Nasty stuff happens on every day unfortunately, however cool stuff does too! -ed
See more facts in Friday the 13 Again!
[...] happened 11 years ago and it will happen again in 2015. Last month I posted a little trivia about Friday the 13th superstition. This time I found some calendar facts that I thought you might like to [...]
[...] happened 11 years ago and it will happen again in 2015. Last month I posted a little trivia about Friday the 13th superstition. This time I found some calendar facts that I thought you might like to [...]