The number 13 has chilled people for centuries around the world. Remember the term: “Triskaidekaphobia”? The Western lore, experts believe the fear over 13 started in Bible. Some believe that at the Last Supper, Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus was the 13th to sit at the table. “It was first thought to be unlucky to seat 13 at a table because of the Bible story but after it developed that 13 was unlucky for everything, says Stuart Vyse, the author of “Believing in the Magic: the Psychology of Superstition.” He says that fears were consolidated in Norse Mythology in the late 8th to the mid-11th centuries. The evil Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston in Marvel’s “Thor” movies, was according to Viking myth the 13th god in their pantheon. Also, death is the 13th card in a tarot deck. Is it Friday or Tuesday the 13th? The myth of the cursed Friday the 13th as immortalized in the cult slasher movie is a relatively new thing. It’s thought that already existing superstitions with the number’s bad luck was merged with the bad association with Friday, the day the people were traditionally hanged in Europe. For Christians, Friday is also the day Jesus was crucified and according to the Muslims, the doom’s day too. It was the Friday when the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. Hussain-Ibn-Ali was martyred, on the brutal sands of the valley of Karbla, (Iran), the most tragic event in the history of mankind. In Greece, Mexico and Spain, it’s Tuesday the 13th that’s thought to be cursed. The Apollo 13, lunar mission, subject of 1995’s acclaimed Tom Hanks film, was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded. Although, before the event, NASA and the crew’s commander brushed off the idea that Apollo 13 was a cursed mission over superstitions. But Numerologists had a field day over the mission’s launch date that when written out---4-11-70--- the individual digits add up to 13. It was also on April 13 that the tank exploded. Air France doesn’t have a 13th row; airlines such as Air France often have a 12th and 14th---but no 13th row. Many buildings in US don’t have a 13th floor, and some airports are constructed without a gate 13. According to a Gallop poll that appeared in 2007----spookily enough----13 per cent of Americans said they would bothered if they were placed on the 13th floor.
Anything Goes : The Power of Number 13 by Hammad Hassan
The Power of Number 13
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Yeah good post! I personally love 13, always been my favorite # despite superstitions.
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13 is my favorite number. I was born on the 13th. (Thursday, not on a Friday. But I'm not superstitious) I've had both good and bad happen on Friday the 13th. It's like any other day to me.
@Jeanette, good for you. Cheers!!
@Annika, good to hear that 13 is your favorite no. Just to add: While in the dominant culture 13 is considered “bad luck”, it is a number that many others cultures and spiritual traditions consider significant, even sacred. At minimum the number 13 can be considered symbolic. Thirteen relates to some of the rhythms, cycles and shapes found in nature. It’s also a number infused with feminine power. There are 13 moons in a solar year. A healthy young woman menstruates 13 times a year (provided she is not taking drugs to prevent it). There are usually 13 segments on the shell of a turtle, symbolic of Turtle Island (how some Indigenous people refer to North America). Thirteen is a significant number in the Flower of Life, a geometric pattern found in the ancient art, stories and spiritual references of many cultures. The Flower of Life contains the fractals (structural patterns) on which all of life -- even all matter -- is structured. The Mayan Calendar, much more mathematically accurate than the Gregorian one used in the dominant society, recognizes the 13 lunar cycles and divides days into 13 segments which are further segmented by 13. Calendars in the Muslim and Jewish traditions are also based on the 13 annual lunar cycles. The number is similarly significant in math and geometry. A couple of examples: Thirteen is a prime number, only divisible by itself. The 12 bordering lines in a cube are all connected to the centre, the 13th point.
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And Friday the 13th became a negative after the Knights Templar were arrested/disbanded on that day throughout Europe.