SAMANTHA GENTRY
It’s Friday the 13th
Does that make you a little wary of what the day will bring?
Triskaidekaphobia: Fear of the number thirteen.
Paraskevidekatriaphobia: Fear of Friday the 13th.
An obviously irrational concept that a mere number can bring bad luck to someone. Or that a specific day of the week can be unlucky. But that doesn’t stop us from dwelling on the possibility.
The tradition of Friday being a day of bad luck dates back centuries with some of the more common theories linking it to significant events in Christian tradition believed to have taken place on Friday. The Crucifixion. Eve offering Adam the apple in the Garden of Eden. The beginning of the great flood.
Many sources for the superstition surrounding the number thirteen and its association with bad luck also derive from Christianity with the Last Supper being cited as the origin. Judas was the thirteenth person to be seated at the table.
And when you put the two bad luck symbols together you get Friday the 13th”¦the day associated with misfortune.
Superstition is a belief or notion based on neither reason nor knowledge. An irrational belief. Lots of superstitions have their origins in the Dark Ages, a time when living conditions were so severe that people reached out to anything that might bring them help and solace with the results being explanations for what seemed unexplainable at the time. Religious beliefs and lack of scientific knowledge helped to spawn many superstitions.
Superstitions differ from culture to culture, but we all have them even if it’s only paying surface homage to the concept. We don’t believe in the good luck vs. bad luck of chain letters, yet it often comes down to saying what’s the harm, then sending out the letters.
We often follow the tradition of the superstition without really knowing why it’s the traditional thing to do. If we blow out all the candles on our birthday cake with one breath while making a silent wish, then the wish will come true. When expressing a desire for good luck (we’ll be able to go on the picnic if it doesn’t rain), we grin, then we knock on wood as we emit an embarrassed chuckle.
In Western folklore, many superstitions are associated with bad luck. In addition to Friday the 13th, there’s walking under a ladder, having a black cat cross your path, spilling salt, stepping on a crack, and breaking a mirror among others.
In addition to cultural superstitions, there’s also certain occupations that evoke various rituals to bring on good luck. It seems to me that gamblers and sports figures have the most superstitions and rituals to insure good luck.
Do you have any superstitions that you hold dear? Are they more of a traditional situation handed down through your family or are they superstitions that have come down through the ages?
I’d like to hear about them.
This is the last of my scheduled blog days at Coffee Thoughts. I’ve really enjoyed being here and hope to return to blog at another time (knock on wood 
).
0 COMMENTS
Judith Rochelle
16 years agoOkay, I just got my coffee (I have a brand new Keurig coffee maker that is my new favorite toy) and crossing my fingers and spiotting over my shoulder because I am the queen of being superstitious. I always say bread-and-butter when something comes between me and the eprson I’m walking with. I always thtrow salt over my right shoujlder and pepper over my left when I spill either one (not too many people know about the pepper). I believe whem my palm itches money is coming (although sometimes I have a very long wait!). I have my very own wishing well in my yard and I’m sure if I throw enough pennies into it the two things I’m wishing for will come true…sooner or later! And I really believe what’s written in Chines fortune cookies. My grandmother, who came from Poland, believed that superstitions guided your life and I think I inherited all of that from her. So this is my day to holw…according to the shapeshifters wolves in my computer!
April Vine
16 years agoI never knew how superstitious I was until well I discovered I was.
I will never eat a Gatsby (a SA takeaway) again. The first time I ate the sandwich, we got news of my brother-in-law’s death the very next day. The second time I ate the sandwich, exactly a month later, we got news of my mother-in-law’s death the very next day!
I also have a very rigid way of drying clothes on a washing line. It goes in this order – one item of my husband’s followed by one item of my eldest son, followed by one item of my youngest son and then one of mine. And so I’ll continue the pattern. I don’t know, maybe I think there’s going to be a WAR OF THE LAUNDERY and I want my children protected. (Oh, dear, I can’t believe I concretized that!!!)
I also have a mere 11 months left before I can shake the curse of a shattered mirror – 7 years is damn long.
I hate when there’s a gap in the drawn curtains, I always think a red single eye could look through it. (WHOSE, I DONâ€T KNOW)
But I love to spill sugar accidentally – it means good luck and I always get some good news then.
I swear I’m normal on all other fronts.
Emma Lai
16 years agoGreat post! I love superstitions. I’d like to say I don’t believe in them, but who knows what habits I have that come from unconscious fears. I have some lovely Vietnamese superstitions for you though. For Tet, you have to clean the house thoroughly before New Years and after you can’t sweep lest you sweep away your luck for the year. If a loved one dies, you can’t cut your hair for 100 days. (Not sure why. I didn’t ask.) If you want your child to be smart, you’ll eat two swan eggs while pregnant. Those are just the most recent ones I’ve learned. My mother continues to throw little tidbits my way as she thinks of them.
Samantha Gentry
16 years ago AUTHORJudith Rochelle wrote:>>Okay, I just got my coffee (I have a brand new Keurig coffee maker that is my new favorite toy) and crossing my fingers and spiotting over my shoulder because I am the queen of being superstitious<> So this is my day to holw…according to the shapeshifters wolves in my computer!>>
Judith: A coffee pot first thing in the morning is definitely an important thing and deserves whatever it takes to make sure it produces coffee!
And as for the validity of those shapeshifters…well, who’s to say they aren’t correct?
Thanks for posting.
Samantha Gentry
16 years ago AUTHORApril wrote:>>I also have a very rigid way of drying clothes on a washing line. It goes in this order – one item of my husband’s followed by one item of my eldest son, followed by one item of my youngest son and then one of mine. And so I’ll continue the pattern. I don’t know, maybe I think there’s going to be a WAR OF THE LAUNDERY and I want my children protected.I swear I’m normal on all other fronts.<<
April: LOL…have you considered that a clothes dryer might be just the thing to eliminate the possibility of a Laundry War?
And the part about being normal…yes, I can relate to that. Me, too, as normal as can be. Yep, definitely normal. I don’t care what those voices keep saying.
Thanks for posting.
Samantha Gentry
16 years ago AUTHOREmma Lai wrote:>>If a loved one dies, you can’t cut your hair for 100 days. (Not sure why. I didn’t ask.)<<
Emma: I think that’s the way it is with so many superstitions. They continue to be repeated and handed down, but we don’t know why. At some point in time they were something that made complete sense to the people adhereing to them.
Thanks for sharing some of your Vietnamese superstitions. So many different superstitions from various cultures pique the curiosity about where and why they originated.
April Vine
16 years agoGreat idea, Samantha, provided of course they spun in that order. Didn’t you hear about THE DRYER WARS.
Oh, and can I please take my e back from laundry?
Lisa Lane
16 years agoI’m superstitious, despite the fact that I feel I should “know better.” I grew up in a house where half of the people were regularly studying “magick” or herbs, and thus I grew up with some very magical thinking. It is hard not to see a possible superstitious cause and effect, when one has grown up watching the cause and effect of spellwork and divination tools. Although I no longer subscribe to witchcraft, and I stopped reading my tarot years ago, I cannot shake the superstitious thinking. My biggest ones, for whatever reason, have to do with numbers and spilled salt.
I do have to say, though: in the theatre, Friday the 13th is considered GOOD LUCK, if the show opens on that day. I was lucky enough to have a show open on Friday the 13th, once; they opening was spectacular … and then the car broke down on the way home….
Linda Wisdom
16 years agoThere’s a lot of things that have to do with my writing that I’m very superstitious about. Black cats walking in front of me don’t bother me and I’ll walk under a ladder, but that’s it.
Linda
Samantha Gentry
16 years ago AUTHORApril wrote:>>and can I please take my e back from laundry?<<
April: Of course you can. After all, it’s your e! 🙂
Samantha Gentry
16 years ago AUTHORLisa Lane wrote:>>I’m superstitious, despite the fact that I feel I should “know better.â€<<
Lisa: I think that’s true of so many superstitions, we logically and intellectually “know better” but that doesn’t stop us from crossing our fingers when wishing someone good or tossing the salt over our shoulder after we’ve spilled it. And having grown up with Magick (I’m assuming Wicca), that gives you a reaffirming of what has been handed down.
Thanks for posting.
Samantha Gentry
16 years ago AUTHORLinda Wisdom wrote:>>There’s a lot of things that have to do with my writing that I’m very superstitious about. Black cats walking in front of me don’t bother me and I’ll walk under a ladder, but that’s it.<<
Linda: I know what you mean about writer superstitions. I think it’s bad luck to let someone read a manuscript before I’m finished with it. Same way with talking about projects I’ve submitted and have under consideration. If I talk about them in any detail, then they’ll be rejected.
Julie Robinson
16 years agoSamantha,
if someone considers numbers to have meanings (numberology), then 13 could be considered occult, or hidden/unknown, but so could any other number. In an effort to rebel against superstition, I have always looked at Friday the 13th as a lucky day. If there is any bad vibes associated with it, then what better way to combat that force than by doing positive acts which promote generosity and feelings of happiness.
Now when Friday, the 13th, falls in the month of February, it’s even better because that puts Valentine’s Day on a Saturday, which is ideal whether you’re single and able to go out that night, or if you’ve been married quite a while and one or both plod to work every weekday, looking forward to having Saturday to spend together or with family.
Julie
Julie Robinson
16 years agoSamantha,
Just wanted to say that I enjoyed your 3-day post.
And you said this was your first time blogging?
Because you chose some great topics.
😛
Julie
Julie Robinson
16 years agoOne last thought on superstitions. I believe that it’s all a matter of perception. If someone is superstitious, then that colors their perception of events, which then becomes their reality. Likewise, someone who is not superstitious has a different view.
It is like a scientist and a poet looking at a cloud. The scientist will see the variations in the forms of the clouds, know what they are called and what they are made of whereas a poet looks at the clouds and sees beautiful colors when the sun is shining through or that the shapes of the clouds form pictures. Same event or situation, different perceptions.
Therefore, if one believes that Friday, the 13th, is bad luck, then any bad event that happens during the day is instantly attributed it being a bad luck day. I even dare say that what you expect to happen may just happen, thereby validating your beliefs.
Julie
Samantha Gentry
16 years agoJulie wrote:>>I have always looked at Friday the 13th as a lucky day. If there is any bad vibes associated with it, then what better way to combat that force than by doing positive acts which promote generosity and feelings of happiness.<<
Julie: Same here. I’ve never treated Friday the 13th as a bad luck day. It’s what the individual projects onto any given situation that works toward shaping and defining it.
Samantha Gentry
16 years ago AUTHORJulie wrote:>>Just wanted to say that I enjoyed your 3-day post.
And you said this was your first time blogging? Because you chose some great topics.<<
Julie: Thanks. I was nervous at the beginning, not knowing what was going to happen (I had visions of no one leaving a comment). But it turned out to be a fun experience.
Samantha Gentry
16 years ago AUTHORJulie wrote:>>One last thought on superstitions. I believe that it’s all a matter of perception. If someone is superstitious, then that colors their perception of events, which then becomes their reality. Likewise, someone who is not superstitious has a different view.<<
Julie: I just said something similar in answer to your other comment. However, I forgot to log in first so the system put me on moderation and that comment hasn’t posted yet. 😳
Samantha Gentry
16 years ago AUTHORAnd one more thing … we have another Friday the 13th coming up next month!