photo taken from zinester.com
It is one of the most feared days of the year. It is a superstition about a day of good or bad luck and derives from Greek words meaning “Friday, thirteen, fear”. There is no evidence for a “Friday the 13th” superstition before the 19th century. The earliest known source of such a superstition was in 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini. However, many believe that the superstition had been passed down by oral tradition. There are in fact several theories proposing the origin of Friday the 13th. Here is one such theory, proposed by author Charles Panati:
The actual origin of the superstition, though, appears also to be a tale in Norse mythology. 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.
The 2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code, made a connection between the superstition and the Knights Templar, which many believe to be recent and merely a modern-day invention. Since people are so terrified when this day comes by, it is said that $800-900 million dollars of business is lost on every Friday the 13th. It is also said that people are fearful of driving that the rate of accidents on this day of superstition is lower than any other.
Despite all of this, there are only two natural events known to occur on this day. On Friday, October 13, 2006, in Buffalo, New York, an early-season, lake effect snow storm struck, killing three people, and causing damages worth $130 million dollars. Also, it is said that on Friday, April 13, 2029, the asteroid 2004 MN4 is said to make its close encounter with Earth.
What will this day of superstitution bring forth to us in the near future? I guess only time with tell.
Jason Friday the 13th
