Tag: Friday 13th

13 Trivial Facts About Friday the 13th

13 Trivial Facts About Friday the 13th

Updated: Friday, 13 Jan 2012, 11:26 AM EST
Published : Friday, 13 Jan 2012, 11:26 AM EST

(EndPlay Staff Reports) – It’s Friday the 13th. If you’re superstitious, you’re likely under the impression that this is the most unlucky day on the calendar. Here are 13 facts about Friday the 13th to help keep your mind off all bad things that could happen today:

1. This is the first of three Friday the 13ths on the calendar in 2012: January, April and July all start on Sunday, which means the 13th day falls on a Friday.

2. The 1980 film “Friday the 13th” grossed nearly $40 million during its initial cinema run, according to information from the Internet Movie Database .

3. Fear of the number 13 is known as triskaidekaphobia, while fear of Friday the 13th is known as paraskavedekatriaphobia.

4. According to information from Time , the mini crash of Friday, Oct. 13, 1989 was the second largest drop of the Dow history. Even scarier? Today the crash doesn’t even rank in the top 10.

5. One psychotherapist, who specializes in the treatment of phobias, asserts that 21 million Americans fear Friday the 13th, according to information from About.com .

6. People in Spanish-speaking nations fear Tuesday the 13th, according to information from The Huffington Post .

7. NASA was almost tragically unlucky with its Apollo 13 mission. The capsule was launched at 13:13 on April 11, 1970. The explosion that ultimately destroyed the craft took place on April 13, which was a Monday.

8. The ancient Chinese regarded the number 13 as lucky, according to About.com. The ancient Egyptians also thought 13 brought good luck.

9. Looking to get inked? Tattoo parlors around the country offer specials for those who chose to commemorate the day permanently, traditionally offering tats of the number 13 for only $13. According Tattoo Artist Magazine , Dallas tattoo artist Oliver Peck started the tradition.

10. President Franklin D. Roosevelt apparently suffered from triskaidekaphobia: According to The Huffington Post, he refused to travel on the 13th day of any month and would not host a dinner party with 13 guests.

11. Worried about being in an accident on Friday the 13th? According to a recent Washington Post report, the risk of being in a car crash on any Friday is higher than other days of the week. Police attribute this fact to alcohol consumption.

12. Some people believe the fear of Friday the 13th goes back to the Garden of Eden. Supposedly Eve offered Adam the forbidden fruit on a Friday, and they were then ejected from Paradise.

13. Want to avoid bad luck on Friday the 13th? There are a number of things you can do to ward off ill fate, according to superstition: Touch wood, cross your fingers, avoid black cats, don’t look at the full moon through a pane of glass, and throw salt over each shoulder.

My Fox Atlanta

 

Advertisement

Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky

Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky

Paraskevidekatriaphobia: Friday the 13th Origins, History, and Folklore

By David Emery, About.com Guide

I HAVE before me the abstract of a 1993 study published in the British Medical Journal provocatively titled “Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?”

With the aim of mapping “the relation between health, behaviour, and superstition surrounding Friday 13th in the United Kingdom,” its authors compared the ratio of traffic volume to the number of automobile accidents on two different days, Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th, over a period of years.

Incredibly, they found that in the region sampled, while consistently fewer people chose to drive their cars on Friday the 13th, the number of hospital admissions due to vehicular accidents was significantly higher than on “normal” Fridays. Their conclusion:

“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 at home is recommended.”

Paraskevidekatriaphobics — people afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th — will be pricking up their ears about now, buoyed by seeming evidence that the source of their unholy terror might not be so irrational after all. It’s unwise to take solace in a single scientific study, however, especially one so peculiar. I suspect these statistics have more to teach us about human psychology than the ill-fatedness of any particular date on the calendar.

Friday the 13th, ‘the most widespread superstition’

The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have foreboding reputations said to date from ancient times. It seems their inevitable conjunction from one to three times a year (there will be three such occurrences in 2012, exactly 13 weeks apart) portends more misfortune than some credulous minds can bear. According to some sources it’s the most widespread superstition in the United States today. Some people refuse to go to work on Friday the 13th; some won’t eat in restaurants; many wouldn’t think of setting a wedding on the date.

How many Americans at the beginning of the 21st century suffer from this condition? According to Dr. Donald Dossey, a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of phobias (and coiner of the term paraskevidekatriaphobia, also spelled paraskavedekatriaphobia), the figure may be as high as 21 million. If he’s right, no fewer than eight percent of Americans remain in the grips of a very old superstition.

Exactly how old is difficult to say, because determining the origins of superstitions is an inexact science, at best. In fact, it’s mostly guesswork.

Friday! Friday! Friday! Thank Goodness The Weekend Is Almost Here!

Days Of The Week Comments

 

 Hello, my dear friends! I hope you are having a fantastic Friday the 13th. Are you superstition and believe bad things happen on this day? Personally I don’t even think a thing about it. There are even occasions when I realize it was Friday the 13th after the day was over with. I know my little pup, Kiki, will think it is a very unlucky day. I have to take her to the Vet today. She was playing with Stinker and Razzy and rounded a corner and ran into the leg of a cabinet. She has hurt her shoulder. I took her to our regular Vet and he told me she just pulled a muscle and she was a drama queen. That pissed me off. He didn’t do a damn thing for her except give me four pain pills and shove us out the door. He kept talking about how she needed her shots. I told him I agreed completely and I knew she needed her shots. But first, I wanted her shoulder taken care of. He acted like he didn’t hear me. He was more concern with giving her the shots because he would make about $100.00. More concerned with a dollar than the health of an animal, some Vet. So I found another Vet, I am going to take her today. Hopefully this Vet will do something to make her better. I know you are going to think this is strange but I have heard others ask what I am getting ready to ask you. Kiki is my family. I love her to pieces and it kills me to see her in pain. I have been able to take the pain away when she hurts but it always comes back in a few days. Would you please send some healing energy to her. With you and me together perhaps we can permanently heal her shoulder and she will never be in pain again. I would appreciate it so much and I know Kiki will also.  

 

Enough with my troubles. Have a great weekend!

  

Now on with the magick…..

  

Correspondences for Friday

 

 Magickal Intentions: Love, Romance, Marriage, Sexual Matters, Physical Beauty, Friendship and Partnerships, Strangers and Heart
Incense: Strawberry, Sandalwood, Rose, Saffron and Vanilla 
Planet: Venus
Sign: Libra and Taurus 
Angel: Ariel 
Colors: Green, Pink, Aqua 
Herbs/Plants: Pink Rose, Ivy, Birch, Heather, Clematis, Sage, Violet and Water Lilly Stones: Rose Quartz, Moonstone, Pink Tourmaline, Peridot, Emerald and Jade 
Oil: (Venus) Cardamom, Palmrosa, Rose, Yarrow
Friday belongs to Venus, and its energies are warm, sensuous, and fulfilling. Efforts that involve any type of pleasure, comfort, and luxury, as well as the arts, music, or aroma (incense and perfume) works well on this day. As Venus lends its sensuous influences to the energies of this day, use it for any magical work that deals with matters of the heart.  

 

Spellcrafting for Friday

 

CAST A WITCH’S LUCKY CANDLE SPELL

Take an orange candle anointed with cinnamon oil, clove, or lotus oil.
Light the candle and say 3 times:
“brimstone, moon, and witch’s fire,
candlelights bright spell,
good luck shall I now acquire,
work thy magic well.
Midnight twelve, the witching hour,
bring the luck I seek.
By wax and wick now work thy power
as these words I speak.
Harming none, this spell is done.
By law of three, so mote it be!”
Do this spell at midnight.

 

CHANT FOR GOOD LUCK AND WELL BEING

To the moon. To the sun.
To the skies. To the waters.
Stars, let your fire burn.
Winds let your strength grow.
Let us unite. Let me shine bright.

 

SPELL FOR LUCK

A small package of Alfalfa kept in a cupboard to bring good luck to the home.

 

LUCK JAR

If you are unlucky enough to break a mirror, collect all the pieces, put in a glass jar and stand on you window sill, the shards deflect all the bad luck away from the house.

 

CHARMS FOR LUCK

Place dried seaweed under the busiest portion of the house to draw luck and prosperity to you.
To change your luck, add one tablespoon of nutmeg to six cups of boiling water.
Steep for three hours. Use for body anointing or add to a ritual bath.

 

LUCK AND WISHES CHARM

Supplies: a Tiger’s eye (gemstone), nutmeg, allspice, and a charm (e.g. rabbits foot)
Cast the circle. Hold the tiger’s eye in one hand and the charm in your other hand.
Meditate for a few moments, see yourself and see what your luck could bring.
Now sprinkle the nutmeg and the allspice on the charm.
Say these words, filling the blanks with what your charm is:
“_________, _________ bring me good luck.
May my luck change from this day forward.
_________, _________ bring me good luck.”
Close the circle. Now be sure to keep your charm on you at all times.
If your luck doesn’t change after a few weeks, recharge the charm again with this spell.

 

Magickal Graphics