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Friday, April 13, 2007

Paraskavedekatriaphobia

Seeing as how it's Friday the 13th, I thought I would give a quick post...

Friday the 13th is one of the most superstitious days of the year. It's where some stay home from work to try and avoid any mishaps that may occur on "The Devil's Dozen".

Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have one thing in common... They all have 13 letters in their name, coincidence? I think not. If you have 13 letters in your name, I wouldn't worry, but you should!

There are 13 Witches in a coven... The Bible tells us there were exactly 13 present at the Last Supper. One of the disciples betrayed Jesus, setting the stage for the Crucifixion. The Crucifixion took place on a Friday...

"Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams. Don't start a trip on Friday or you will have misfortune. If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow. Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck..."

"It was on a Friday, supposedly, that Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit. Adam bit, as we all learned in Sunday School, and they were both ejected from Paradise. Tradition also holds that the Great Flood began on a Friday; God tongue-tied the builders of the Tower of Babel on a Friday; the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday; and, of course, Friday was the day of the week on which Christ was crucified. It is therefore a day of penance for Christians."

"In pagan Rome, Friday was execution day (later Hangman's Day in Britain), but in other pre-Christian cultures it was the sabbath, a day of worship, so those who indulged in secular or self-interested activities on that day could not expect to receive blessings from the gods — which may explain the lingering taboo on embarking on journeys or starting important projects on Fridays.

To complicate matters, these pagan associations were not lost on the early Church, which went to great lengths to suppress them. If Friday was a holy day for heathens, the Church fathers felt, it must not be so for Christians — thus it became known in the Middle Ages as the "Witches' Sabbath," and thereby hangs another tale."

Now you see why "Friday the 13th" is the most unluckiest day of them all!

So! Hope everyone has a good day at school, work, home or where ever you are spending your Friday the 13th. And don't worry, if you aren't superstitious, you probably won't even see it coming... So, there's that...