Author Topic: Friday the 13th  (Read 3245 times)

Offline Sheriff Roland

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Friday the 13th
« on: April 13, 2007, 05:42:38 am »
Today, April 13 happens to be a Friday.

How is your day going to be different because of that combination?

(When I first moved to the Toronto region, I lived on the 14th floor of a building that didn't have a 13th floor - guess that means I was actually living on the 13th floor, hunh? Wonder if that still exists these days ...)
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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Friday the 13th
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2007, 06:34:37 am »
April 13th was actually my son's due date (19 years ago). Of course, he decided to percolate a little longer and wasn't born until May 3rd.

I figured I deserved a treat today on this bad luck day and made an appointment for a hair cut and a waxing. Yes, a little bit of a splurge.

Leslie
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Offline David

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Re: Friday the 13th
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2007, 06:44:41 am »
Roland,

   Buildings here in the States don't have a 13th floor either. 


As for today........Sigh......I'm sure it will be a zoo at the Airport.   Yesterday was VERY busy as people started heading out  for Spring Break.   Today is expected to be worse.

 

Offline Sheriff Roland

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Re: Friday the 13th
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2007, 06:54:07 am »
Roland,
   Buildings here in the States don't have a 13th floor either. 

As for today........Sigh......I'm sure it will be a zoo at the Airport.   Yesterday was VERY busy as people started heading out  for Spring Break.   Today is expected to be worse.

Actually my point is, THEY DO! they're just not callin' em the 13th floor - and that is just sooo silly. So, in your recent experience, your sayin owners of high rises are still not calling the 13th floor by their rightful number, hunh?
« Last Edit: April 13, 2007, 07:07:04 am by Sheriff Roland »
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Offline opinionista

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Re: Friday the 13th
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2007, 07:02:12 am »
I found this online. I have to say however that Friday the 13th is associated with bad luck in some countries only. In Spain, for example, a deeply catholic country, the bad luck day is Tuesday the 13th.

Friday the 13th myth makers
By JENNI DILLON

Watch out for black cats, avoid mirrors and ladders and, by all means, don't spill the salt.

As most people probably already realize, today is Friday the 13th, a date commonly associated with bad luck.

For the next several hours, millions of superstitious individuals across the country will hold their breath anticipating misfortune. Others will avoid leaving the house altogether, refusing to drive, shop or work on the ill-fated day.

But whether you're a true triskaidekaphobe (a person with an irrational fear of Friday the 13th, also called a paraskevidekatriaphobe) or just mildly suspicious, it's probably a good idea to know just where your trepidation comes from.

Though it's hard to pinpoint the exact origins of any superstition, several Internet sites are devoted to the history of the Friday the 13th legend. And most list the same possible origins of the rumoured curse. One of the more lucid sites is David Emery's urbanlegends.about.

According to a biography on the Web site, Emery is a freelance journalist, as well as a staff writer for both a TV sitcom and a satirical newspaper. He has a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Portland (Or.) State University and completed graduate studies in philosophy and the classics at the University of Texas at Austin. He apparently has a particular interest in modern folklore and founded urbanlegends.about.com to "debunk, deconstruct and discuss the most popular tall tales and hoaxes in circulation."

While the Web site explores everything from e-mail hoaxes to dubious quotes, three pages are devoted to the history of Friday the 13th.

According to the site, the superstition is derived from myths about both Fridays and the number 13.

Fridays, for example, are hailed as a particularly significant day in the Christian tradition. Obviously, there is Good Friday, the day Jesus Christ was crucified. But according to Christian lore, Adam and Eve also supposedly ate the forbidden fruit on a Friday, the Great Flood started on a Friday, the builders of the Tower of Babel were tongue-tied on a Friday and the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday.

Of course, the Bible doesn't specifically note many these events occurring on Fridays, and Emery explains some of the tradition may have stemmed from the fact that pre-Christian pagan cultures hailed Friday as holy days. The word "Friday" is, in fact, derived from a Norse deity who was worshipped on the sixth day of the week and who represented marriage and fertility. Fridays in the early Norse culture were associated with love and considered a good day for weddings.

Over time, however, mythology transformed the Norse fertility goddess into a witch, and Fridays became an unholy Sabbath. Incidentally, the goddess' sacred animal was a cat, which may explain the legendary connection between witches and cats, as well as the superstition about black cats heralding bad luck.

In addition to the legendary significance of Fridays, the sixth day of the week also was execution day in ancient Rome and later Hangman's Day in Britain, according the Emery's Web site.

The number 13 also has mythological and religious symbolism.

Both the Hindus and Vikings reportedly had a myth in which 12 gods were invited to a gathering and Loki, the god of mischief, crashed the party and incited a riot. Tradition in both cultures holds that 13 people at a dinner party is bad luck and will end in the death of the party-goers.

Following in that vein, the Last Supper in Christian tradition hosted 13 people and one betrayed Christ, resulting in the crucifixion.

The number 13 also has been associated with death in other cultures. The ancient Egyptians, for example, believed life unfolded in 12 stages, and the 13th stage was death. The Egyptians considered death a part of their ultimate journey and looked forward to the spiritual transformation ‹ thus 13 was not an unlucky number in their culture ‹ but like so many others, the tradition warped through time and cultures, eventually associating the number 13 with a more negative and fearful interpretation of death, Emery writes.

Finally, Emery suggests the number 13 may have an unlucky connotation because of its association with the lunar calendar (there are 13 lunar cycles in a year) and with femininity (women have 13 menstrual cycles in a year).

Then, there's the event that ties the two superstitions together.

"Though it's clear that superstitions associating Fridays and the number 13 with misfortune date back to the ancient times, some sources assign the precise origin of the black spot on the day itself, Friday the 13th, to a specific historical event," adds Emery.

It was on Friday, Oct. 13, 1307, that France's King Philip IV had the Knights Templar rounded up for torture and execution. The Knights Templar were an order of warriors within the Roman Catholic Church who banded together to protect Christian travellers visiting Jerusalem in the centuries after the Crusades. The Knights eventually became a rich, powerful ‹ and allegedly corrupt order within the church and were executed for heresy.

So, who knows?

The date may be forever cursed by one event that occurred nearly 700 years ago, or by a series of cosmic coincidences.

Or it may be a figment of human beings' collective imaginations.

Peninsula Clarion (Arkansas)

Friday, June 13, 2003

http://www.rosslyntemplars.org.uk/friday,_13th.htm

[
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. -Mark Twain.

Offline j.U.d.E.

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Re: Friday the 13th
« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2007, 07:11:07 am »
Yes, the no-13th floor buildings still exist. I was in - let me think - I think it was Cleveland in 2003 and there was no 13th floor. There was no 12th floor either, because it was a 6-storey building! I'm kidding of course. There was no 13th but a 14th floor, a 15th and so on. I was on holiday with a big group and we were scattered over many floors, calling each other from one room to the other. On the ninth floor they had kept the room number 911.... Dangerous! And it wasn't even a Friday 13th!  ;D

Tonight I will go to an event that happens every year here in Brussels. It's called the BIFFF (Brussels International Festival Of Fantastic Film - www.bifff.org). It lasts several days and one day they always have a party called "Bal des Vampires" - vampire's ball. I'm not into horror/gore movies at all, but with a friend we have been volunteering every year for the "Bal des Vampires". In order to access/participate, you have to wear make-up - and I mean horror/gore/fantastic make-up. So my friend and I (and others) will put make-up on people's faces all night! It's fun! You need a lot of imagination and it's exhausting! But it's fun!

That's what I will do on Friday the 13th!

j. U. d. E.
« Last Edit: April 13, 2007, 07:15:35 am by j. U. d. E. »
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Offline j.U.d.E.

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Re: Friday the 13th
« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2007, 07:12:41 am »
I found this online. I have to say however that Friday the 13th is associated with bad luck in some countries only. In Spain, for example, a deeply catholic country, the bad luck day is Tuesday the 13th.
I knew that Natali! I spent a year in Madrid in 1993/94 and that's when I was told. Funny, really.

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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Friday the 13th
« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2007, 07:15:52 am »
I haven't paid attention to floors in buildings in a while, so I can't honestly say if I remember the missing 13th floor.

I have sat in row 13 on an airplane, though, and I remember being surprised that it was numbered 13.

Leslie
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Re: Friday the 13th
« Reply #8 on: April 13, 2007, 07:29:54 am »
13

Was a very good year.  Discovered I liked boys...and some of them liked me :)

Offline David

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Re: Friday the 13th
« Reply #9 on: April 13, 2007, 08:06:31 am »
Actually my point is, THEY DO! they're just not callin' em the 13th floor - and that is just sooo silly. So, in your recent experience, your sayin owners of high rises are still not calling the 13th floor by their rightful number, hunh?

LOL,  Good point!


Actually,  I have seen a few buildings where the 13th floor was only used for building machinery.  Air conditioning units etc.    It is only accessible by the service elevators.

Sometimes when you look up at tall buildings, you'll see that the 13th floor (if you count up windows) has a different look.   Usually just vents and such.   Then floor #14 and up have regular windows.