Images from a studio shoot in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on January 4, 2012
Copyright Steven A Brown and Carla Johnson
Don't walk under a ladder. Don't let a black cat cross your path. And stay home! It's Friday the 13th.
"Beware," the Huffington Post cautioned this morning. "It may be the first Friday the 13th of the year, but it won't be the last." The calendar year allows up to three Friday the 13ths in a year; last year we only had one - on May 13, 2011. This year we get the full deck with a Friday the 13th in January, April, and July.
I hope that doesn't mean 2012 is an unlucky year (knocking on wood as I write this). After all, everyone thinks 2011 was bad enough!
As many as 21 million Americans admit to a phobia of Friday the 13th; that's 8 percent of the U.S. population. The U.S. business and travel industries lose $800 to $900 million every time a Friday the 13th comes around. The sixth day of the week and the number 13 have been considered unlucky since ancient times, though, so don't blame us phobics. Most buildings skip the number 13 in numbering floors, and many airports do not have a Gate 13.
Is there factual evidence to justify this pervasive phobia? The Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics shows fewer accidents on the dreaded day, probably because people stay home, but the British Medical Journal cited an increase in traffic-related accidents over Fridays the 13th that occur in January.
While fewer people choose to drive their cars on Friday the 13th, the number of hospital admissions due to vehicular accidents is significantly higher than on normal Fridays, says the Huffington Post. "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 percent. Staying home in recommended."
A snowstorm arrived in my town during the night, and we are on our way to at least 15 inches of snow cover. I would stay home today, in any case. But I will be mindful of ice lurking beneath the fluffy stuff while I'm out in it, and I will take great care with snow shoveling and snow blowing.
"In Tarot decks the Death card bears the number 13 but retains its original, positive meaning: transformation."I don't know. What do you think?
~ beliefnet.com
16 comments:
Whether there is truth in the Friday 13th myth is moot. People believe there is, and that’s what alters behaviour. Our businesses trading figures are always down dramatically every Friday 13th, and just look at the European financial markets tonight. Madness!
Lastly our trains are all in chaos for no apparent reason that I can fathom and my poor thirteen year old son has taken nearly three hours to travel thirty miles home. Poor kid spent his Friday evening doing his prep (writing an essay about the Holocaust of all things) on an icy train platform in minus three temperatures. He’s home safe now, but assures me that he definitely believes in Friday 13th after today!
Just remember that Thursday the 12th is just as rare.
And what do all those 21 million people do when Good Friday and Friday the 13th fall on the same day?
Is it bad if your lucky number is 13?
If the 31st falls on Friday does that reverse the bad luck of the previous 13th?
I also heard that if as the clock strikes midnight on Thursday the 12th - you spin 13 times to the left, then 13 times to the right, dribble the blood of a virgin [it has to be male if your female and female if your male] between your toes, then rub Limburger cheese under your arms and then not wash until the 14th - you will not have bad luck on that Friday the 13th.
Ok - I made that last bit up. But really, I think you'd stink so bad that bad luck would surely not stop at your door. 8-)
I do consider this Friday the 13th a lucky day indeed. I get to see images with wonderful displays of cups running over with Goddess sensuality. Which leads me to shameless gratitude for this fortunate day.
D. L. Wood
Cups running over is always good fortune, D. L.
Very clever comment. Actually, Friday was considered an unlucky day because the Crucifixion was on a Friday. So there IS a connection to Good Friday. Wonder how you get from Good Friday to Unlucky Friday though? People just can't make up their minds!
Lin, your son's day does indeed seem unnecessarily bad. He will be glad when midnight comes, I think.
I tend to be more cautious on Fridays the 13th. If anything bad happened that I could have avoided, I'd be very upset with myself. But isn't that true any other day when we may not be as conscious of the bad things that can happen?
The British Journal study showing more hospital admissions for transport accidents on Fridays the 13th in January is fascinating though. What do you make of it?
D.L., I forgot to mention something else I read. Numerologists say 12 is a complete number, the number of the 12 apostles, while 13 is odd so incomplete. There were 13 at the Last Supper, and supposedly that did not help the number's reputation. If 13 sit down for a meal, some believe one of them will die.
I think all of them will die eventually.
Lin - You sent a kid 13 out into the cruel world on a Friday the 13th - Ye did temp the demons you know and they responded. 8-)
I'll have to send a note so he gets the next two as free days.
Of course think of the 13 year old kids during next years two Friday the 13th's. 13 years old on Friday the 13th 2013 and your really screwed if it's your birthday.
On I forgot the world ends this year - As Emily Litella would say - Never mind.
D.L. Wood
Personally, I think the increased accidents are simply the result of superstition related anxiety whilst driving.
There is a really interesting article on Paraskevidekatriaphobia (try saying that after a large glass of Chardonnay!) and everything you ever wanted to know about Friday 13th at http://goo.gl/mUVty
I particularly loved the part about the modern widespread fear of Friday the Thirteenth being the result of a novel “Friday, the Thirteenth” by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer published in 1907. The book was a bestseller in its day, and the theory goes that this is why the superstition became so widespread amongst the general public – in much the same way that the movie 2012 popularised and promoted the myth of the world ending this year due to the end of the Mayan calendar. People will believe anything is real if the story is good enough!
Lin, I did read quite a bit more about the "holiday" not included in the post. I say holiday because it reminds me of a kind of secondary Halloween, a time to tell stories with whopping scary details. It's no accident there are major contemporary horror flicks called "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th." We all love a scary story, and teens especially can't get enough of being scared witless.
I saw the scientific names for the phobia and thought better of them (come on, please, don't we have more debilitating disorders than this!) and also took note of the 19th century novel that supposedly brought ancient superstitions forward into our modern, supposedly scientific world.
But it is a good reminder to take care in what we do - any day of our lives. If only we would think to tread carefully on ice no matter what day it is, we might have fewer people my age with hip and knee replacements. Lin, you know I am a believer in self-care. It's not a selfish pursuit. It's our responsibility to our children, our communities, and our health care systems.
So if this day gives people a heads-up regarding our responsibility to prevent accidents and to take charge of our own personal security, I think it's a good thing. I don't know. I'm very interested in your take on it.
D.L., you're right. I saw something on a news show last night about Nostradamus saying the world will end in 2012. I thought seriously about it for a moment, then went about my business, as we all do. I wouldn't want to believe such a thing.
But in the back of mind I wondered how I would feel if this were true and how it might come down.
What are your thoughts on the end of the world this year? We certainly have ample Fridays the 13th for this to occur.
Hmmmm... I'd have to say any statistical evidence about Friday the 13th should actually go under the heading of validating the idea of the self fulfilling prophecy...
And Lin? C'mon. The whole mayan calendar 2012 thing is just a giant publicity scam by the credit card companies... buy all you want, max 'em out folks, the world is gonna end and you won't have to pay back a dime ;-)
As far as the world ending this year....Well the date is 12-21-2012 and this Dec. 21st is a Friday. Every Friday night we go to our favorite Mexican restaurant. I plan on being there and waking up on Saturday the 22nd to send the burrito on its way.
It is as you have discussed a matter of translation. One person says that wording means this and another says different.
They call it the Mayan calendar but it wasn't invented by them. The calendar has been going on for 5125 years. In part of the history supposedly it's the one for the fourth world, the other three failed. As with a lot of history this linear calender is not straight and has a few bends that leave the wording to interpretation.
One interpretation says the date is for the the end of the world as we know it. Another says the date is just the end of a cycle and there would have been a big celebration marking the occasion. Me, I figure the guy figuring out the calendar either got tired of figuring or ran out of rock to write on.
So, being my name means - servant to the god of wine - I'm going to go with the celebration thinking. In fact on December 21st I'm going to order a full pitcher of Margaritas instead of a half as we usually do.
But......just in case the end does show up then....I hope I'm on my hands and knees driving toward the head board when it happens. 8-)
Gotta go now - It's Friday and I can taste that cold Margarita already.
D.L. Wood
P.S. thanks to Wikipedia for filling in the blanks.
hehe, enjoy your evening, D.L.
If I had an issue with the 13th date of any month, I'd be hiding from my own birthday!
And, with regards to a FRIDAY the 13th, that last one for the year? In July? Well, I'm rather attached to that one.
My nephew's 41st birthday would have been yesterday (Friday the 13th), but he died at age 38. I have a friend whose birthday was yesterday as well.
I wish you many happy returns of your day!!!
I was going to say pretty much what Lin said in her first two sentences.
I work in theatre, and there are some superstitions specifically regarding theatre. Some of them have factual bases.
For example, it's bad luck to whistle backstage. There's a historical reason for that. Long before wireless clearcom was invented, stagehands would communicate cues by whistling to each other. If you were an actor who suddenly decided to whistle a tune, you could have a 200-pound sandbag dropped on your head.
Other superstitions are just superstitions, Like the classic, "It's bad luck to wish someone good luck". I'm not a superstitious person, but I do believe in the power of suggestion. If a person believes they're going to have a bad day, they probably will. So I never wish an actor good luck - not because I believe in it, but because they might. It's always, "Break a leg", which doesn't have the meaning most people think it does, either. In vaudeville days, actors only got paid if they actually got on stage. "Breaking a leg" originally meant you actually got one foot on the stage and got paid, even if they yanked you off with a hook. :)
I had forgotten all about the superstitions of theatre, Phydeau, but many abound regarding Shakespeare's "Macbeth." When I played the Lady in college, I heard them all. I have to admit playing that part made me very uncomfortable, much as summoning demons would. I do believe a spirit world exists and sometimes crosses into our dimension.
Post a Comment