fairywings
New Member
Where did the urban legend of Friday the 13th originate and why is bad luck associated with this date? Is it because of the movie or was the movie made because this legend existed?
Friday the 13th
- Thread starter fairywings
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RLynn
Active Member
¶ It's probably a conflation of two ideas. (1) Jesus was crucified on a Friday. (2) There were 13 people at the Last Supper. There was an old superstition, maybe Norse, that when 13 people are seated together at a meal, one of them will die. Probably there are other variations of this theory.
¶ Here is another theory. The order for the arrest of the Knights Templar was issued on a Friday the 13th. There is also a Masonic legend that the Templars were executed on a Friday the 13th. The Freemasons have had a a subtle but noticeable impact on our culture, so it would not be surprising if the persecution of the Templars was a factor behind the superstition.
¶ By the way, I saw in a Wikipedia article that fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia.
Frigga, of course, is the Norse goddess for whom Friday is named. Personally, I've never noticed anything unlucky about Friday or the number 13.
¶ Here is another theory. The order for the arrest of the Knights Templar was issued on a Friday the 13th. There is also a Masonic legend that the Templars were executed on a Friday the 13th. The Freemasons have had a a subtle but noticeable impact on our culture, so it would not be surprising if the persecution of the Templars was a factor behind the superstition.
¶ By the way, I saw in a Wikipedia article that fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia.
Frigga, of course, is the Norse goddess for whom Friday is named. Personally, I've never noticed anything unlucky about Friday or the number 13.
Myrddin
Well-Known Member
I've always found it to be like any other Friday, myself, and Fridays in general like any other day of the week. No difference at all, except for the date of course.
And that Friday signifies the end of the week, and the begining of the weekend. But otherwise, no difference.
Rhonda Tharp
Active Member
Yes, I had read that the solar calendar (patriarchal society) had replaced the lunar calendar (matriarchal society) which had 13 months. Since 13 was associated with women and Friday was Frigg's day, it was considered unlucky for them both to happen simulataneously... It seems that anytime something "new" is being enforced on a society, you gotta convince people the previous ideas were evil/wrong/unlucky.
