Friday the 13th: meaning and why we consider it unlucky

13 is a number with a strong spiritual meaning but, at the same time, it scares many. And generally the 13 days have a bad reputation… But if the 13th falls on Tuesday or Friday this is even worse.

It’s that for the superstitious -like almost all of us- Friday the 13th is synonymous with bad luck, fatality and bad luck.

Yes, there are many who fear the friday the 13th and act accordingly. alone take some precautions a Extreme situations How not to decide important things, get married or start travelling, anything is possible in one of these disastrous ones? trips.

And information that certainly surprises many: this day also has an advantage since it is the unique appointment with your phobia.

paraskevidekatriaphobia -its scientific name- derives from the Greek and is the sum of three words: paraskevi (Friday), dekatria (thirteen) and phobia.

Friday the 13th or Tuesday the 13th?

To begin with, it is necessary to clarify that both files tuesday 13 As the friday the 13th They are bearers of bad omens. Both are considered as “witch days”just the difference it depends on the country where are you

so inside United States of America the most feared is Friday meanwhile a Latin America and Spain and he Tuesday. And another curiosity: in Italy the day of bad luck is Friday the 17th.

Now, is there an explanation based on a specific fact or the bad luck of the friday the 13th it’s just a universal myth?

The idea that the friday the 13th it is an ominous day to say the least, it has its roots in a fundamental historical event that took place on Friday 13 October 1307at the time of the Templars.

That day, the Holy Inquisition captured and arrested the Knights Templar order in Paris. It was a great massacrein which all the Templars were burned at the stake.

It’s still…

The literature and the cinema they have also contributed their grain of sand to add “terror” to this day.

In the 1980s, American director Sean Cunningham took advantage of the fear of superstition to create friday the 13th (“Friday the 13th”), the famous horror movie in which little Jason drowns and produces a series of crimes.

The film – now a cult for fans of the seventh art – was premiered on Friday June 13, 1980 and made Jason Voorhees one of the most popular horror characters. The film was inspired by the book Friday the XIII, published by Thomas Lawson in 1907.

13, a taboo number

On the one hand, it is said that the negative meaning of number 13 Arising in recent times, however, its bad reputation is already found in antiquity.

The Babylonians they designated his thirteenth month of leap years as “crow of misfortune”, and the Chinese called him “lord calamitous”.

In the Bible, the end of the world begins in the 13th chapter of the Apocalypse. The 13 also refers to Judas, who was the thirteenth participant in the last supper and, therefore, the number indicates the death of Christ (and of all). Friday the 13th is particularly unfortunate because Christ died on a Friday.

In a totally distant place like inside Scandinavia There is also a similar tradition: according to ancient mythology, the god Baldur was hacked to death while the 12 great gods were sitting at the table. He was invited to dinner and didn’t make it.

Others believe the destruction of the Tower of Babel there was a 13, so it is also associated with all kinds of destruction.

13’s bad reputation may also have to do with the tarot card who has that number This letter is called El Arcano XIII and its sheet has only the number, the word is not written Death, simply not to name or see that word. He is represented by a skeleton, who carries a sickle in his left hand with which he cuts heads and herbs.

In a symbolic sense, 13 brings bad luck because it catches us over 12 which is considered a kind of “perfect” number., symbolizes the zodiac and, therefore, the Universe. The 13 spoils the perfection of the 12 because it means a New Creation.

Moreover, twelve are the signs of the zodiac through which the Sun passes in a year and 13 those who transit the Moon.

Number 13 is associated with lunar cycle, which in our patriarchal culture is undervalued. So, negatively, we can see that 13 is a symbol of femininity transgressed by so much rationality and so much masculinity.

Inside annual lunar calendar, is in the last month, on the 13th, when the death of the Sun occurs, the winter solstice. In cultures that defend the idea of ​​a cyclical life process in which one is born and dies continuously, it is not a problem that the sun dies, because in the following days it will be reborn again.

However, in patriarchal cultures where there is a linear concept of time, defending the idea that there is a beginning and a definitive end, that end can be experienced in a more terrible way.

Furthermore, in those patriarchal cultures which prefer the principle of a “constant” Sun to the existence of a more variable Moon, the apparent “death” of the central axis of their life would be a catastrophe.

And what about Friday?

The Friday is assigned to Venus, the other female goddess of the zodiac, the goddess of love, pleasure, beauty and enjoyment; the goddess who represents erotic love and lustful femininity.

Those who investigate the age of matriarchy assume that the 13 it was originally a sacred number which it became with the arrival of patriarchy in “diabolical” numbers, outlawed and feared.

Proof of this is the fact that the first calendars were lunar calendars, according to which the holidays of almost all religions are regulated.

With the introduction of the solar calendar, the number twelve becomes sacred, while 13 is cursed, as is the case with all religious values ​​of ancient cultures, since the most effective way to discredit these principles is to equate them with dishonor.

Since, the Moon, Venus, night and the number 13 constitute a marginal group of symbols while the male ensemble is formed by the Sun, the day and the number 12.

well, the friday the 13th It can be a good time to express our senses, deliver emotions that we would not dare on any other day. And we could also meet the feminine again – thus attacked – and give it a space in our lives.

By Patricia Kesselman, astrologer and professor of astrology and tarot. On Instagram: @oroskopo.