Some black cats for Friday the 13th.... lucky for some, unlucky for others!
Have a great weekend!
Showing posts with label Friday 13th. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friday 13th. Show all posts
Friday, 13 January 2012
Friday, 13 November 2009
Friday, 13 March 2009
Two Down, One To Go
13 unlucky fears and facts about the number 13 or the day Friday:
"If 13 people sit down to dinner together, one will die within the year."
As if to prove the point, the Bible tells us there were exactly 13 present at the Last Supper. One of the dinner guests...er, disciples...betrayed Jesus Christ, setting the stage for the Crucifixion. Interestingly enough, precisely the same superstition has been attributed to the ancient Vikings. Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla when Loki, the god of mischief who was not invited, turned up, bringing the total number of guests to 13. True to character, Loki raised hell by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to kill Balder the Good, favourite of the gods.
"If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck."
The serial murderers Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names. Coincidentally ‘Prime Minister’ also has exactly 13 letters.
"Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck."
One hundred years ago, the British government sought to quell once and for all the widespread superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned, named 'H.M.S. Friday'. They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. To top it off, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage on a Friday....and was never seen again.
“Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams.”
Similarly, “If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow.”
And, “If you start a trip on a Friday, you'll have misfortune.”
Tarot Card number 13 is the Death Card, depicting the Grim Reaper (although it is read as transition or change and not literal death).
Thirteen is also know as a 'baker’s dozen'. It is superstition that prevents this number be mentioned by name, in fact the extra loaf, presumably the runt of the litter, was baked as a special bribe for the devil not to spoil the batch of loaves.
The ill-fated Apollo 13 launched at 13:13 local time on Apr. 11, 1970 on Pad 39 (3 times 13). The sum of the date's digits (4-11-70) is 13 (as in 4+1+1+7+0 = 13). And the explosion that crippled the spacecraft occurred on April 13 (not a Friday). The crew did make it back to Earth safely, though.
Hotels rarely have a room number 13. Usually it is called 12a or 14. Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor. Most hospitals do not have a number 13 room, and few airplanes have a 13th row.
Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment.
In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the gallows....13 knots in a hangman's noose, while the guillotine blade falls through 13 feet.
Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s.
And, looking to the future….the asteroid 2004 MN4 will make its close encounter on Friday, April 13, 2029.
"If 13 people sit down to dinner together, one will die within the year."
As if to prove the point, the Bible tells us there were exactly 13 present at the Last Supper. One of the dinner guests...er, disciples...betrayed Jesus Christ, setting the stage for the Crucifixion. Interestingly enough, precisely the same superstition has been attributed to the ancient Vikings. Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla when Loki, the god of mischief who was not invited, turned up, bringing the total number of guests to 13. True to character, Loki raised hell by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to kill Balder the Good, favourite of the gods.
"If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck."
The serial murderers Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names. Coincidentally ‘Prime Minister’ also has exactly 13 letters.
"Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck."
One hundred years ago, the British government sought to quell once and for all the widespread superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned, named 'H.M.S. Friday'. They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. To top it off, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage on a Friday....and was never seen again.
“Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams.”
Similarly, “If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow.”
And, “If you start a trip on a Friday, you'll have misfortune.”
Tarot Card number 13 is the Death Card, depicting the Grim Reaper (although it is read as transition or change and not literal death).
Thirteen is also know as a 'baker’s dozen'. It is superstition that prevents this number be mentioned by name, in fact the extra loaf, presumably the runt of the litter, was baked as a special bribe for the devil not to spoil the batch of loaves.
The ill-fated Apollo 13 launched at 13:13 local time on Apr. 11, 1970 on Pad 39 (3 times 13). The sum of the date's digits (4-11-70) is 13 (as in 4+1+1+7+0 = 13). And the explosion that crippled the spacecraft occurred on April 13 (not a Friday). The crew did make it back to Earth safely, though.
Hotels rarely have a room number 13. Usually it is called 12a or 14. Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor. Most hospitals do not have a number 13 room, and few airplanes have a 13th row.
Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment.
In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the gallows....13 knots in a hangman's noose, while the guillotine blade falls through 13 feet.
Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s.
And, looking to the future….the asteroid 2004 MN4 will make its close encounter on Friday, April 13, 2029.
Friday, 13 February 2009
A Touch Of Paraskevidekatriaphobia
Back in 1993, the British Medical Journal published the results of a study, provocatively titled, "Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?" Here's the abstract for this publication:
OBJECTIVE: To examine the relation between health, behaviour, and superstition surrounding Friday 13th in the United Kingdom.
DESIGN: Retrospective study of paired data comparing driving and shopping patterns and accidents.
SUBJECTS: Drivers, shoppers, and residents.
SUBJECTS: Drivers, shoppers, and residents.
SETTING: South West Thames region.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Numbers of vehicles on motorways; numbers of shoppers in supermarkets; and hospital admissions due to accidents.
RESULTS: There were consistently and significantly fewer vehicles on the southern section of the M25 on Friday the 13th compared with Friday the 6th. The numbers of shoppers were not significantly different on the two days. Admissions due to transport accidents were significantly increased on Friday 13th (total 65 v 45; p<0.05)
CONCLUSIONS: Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52%. Staying at home is recommended.
[BMJ 1993 Dec 18-25;307(6919):1584-6]
Any paraskevidekatriaphobics (people afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th) reading this – well, they most likely won’t be doing much else, given their fear of even venturing out today - are probably nodding sagely about now, thinking “You see, there’s scientific evidence that the day is unlucky!” Personally, I think it's a bit far-fetched to base the ill-fatedness of any particular date on the calendar on a single, rather peculiar scientific study. More likely, these statistics can teach us something about human psychology. Could the fact that it's Friday the 13th make you anxious and that will make you more likely to have accidents, drive less well, and perhaps find it harder to relate to other people?
Unlucky or not, today is the first of three Friday the 13th days we’ll get through in 2009....touch wood!
[BMJ 1993 Dec 18-25;307(6919):1584-6]
Any paraskevidekatriaphobics (people afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th) reading this – well, they most likely won’t be doing much else, given their fear of even venturing out today - are probably nodding sagely about now, thinking “You see, there’s scientific evidence that the day is unlucky!” Personally, I think it's a bit far-fetched to base the ill-fatedness of any particular date on the calendar on a single, rather peculiar scientific study. More likely, these statistics can teach us something about human psychology. Could the fact that it's Friday the 13th make you anxious and that will make you more likely to have accidents, drive less well, and perhaps find it harder to relate to other people?
Unlucky or not, today is the first of three Friday the 13th days we’ll get through in 2009....touch wood!
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