Friday - The 13th

Yes...today is indeed friday the 13th. Well, superstitions? Maybe. Some people do believe about it. And I just found that there exist people who are scared of this date...Friday the 13th. It is called paraskevidekatriaphobia .

Quite a mouthful isn't it? There is another case of people scared of the number 13 - triskaidekaphobia . For now, I haven't met people who fall under these two categories mentioned. So, anybody out there who suffers this phobia, let me know, I would like to get to know you more. Hehe

For me, I am totally the opposite of these 2 cases. I love the number 13. I was born on the 13th as well and I can be celebrating my birthday on one of the very few friday the 13th that may happen.

I am also quiet fascinated about the beliefs that people hold about this particular day. Check this out --> The reasons why Friday came to be regarded as a day of bad luck have been obscured by the mists of time — some of the more common theories link it to a significant event in Christian tradition said to have taken place on Friday, such as the Crucifixion, Eve's offering the apple to Adam in the Garden of Eden, the beginning of the Great Flood, or the confusion at the Tower of Babel. Chaucer alluded to Friday as a day on which bad things seemed to happen in the Canterbury Tales as far back as the late 14th century ("And on a Friday fell all this mischance"), but references to Friday as a day connected with ill luck generally start to show up in Western literature around the mid-17th century:

...and that's only the history. How about some taboo that is linked with this Friday the 13th

Harvesting: "My father once decided to start harvest on a Friday, and men went out on the Thursday evening, and, unpaid, cut along one side of the first field with their scythes, in order to dodge the malign fates which a Friday start would begin." (1933)

Beginning a sea voyage: "Sailors are many of them superstitious . . . A voyage begun [on a Friday] is sure to be an unfortunate one." (1823)

Giving birth: "A child born on a Friday is doomed to misfortune." (1846) --> Oh no, if you are pregnant and you know that your baby will come out on friday, keep your legs together, don't let the baby out! Hahahaha.

Getting married: "As to Friday, a couple married on that day are doomed to a cat-and-dog life." (1879) --> I know most catholics get married on Sat but still some of them ended up worse than a cat and dog also... :))

Recovering from illness: "If you have been ill, don't get up for the first time on a Friday." (1923) --> That's Good! More reason to stay in bed...Haha

Hearing news: "If you hear anything new on a Friday, it gives you another wrinkle on your face, and adds a year to your age." (1883) --> Must it be a friday and a news for a wrinkle?? Wrinkle comes with age la...

Moving: "Don't move on a Friday, or you won't stay there very long." (1982)

Starting a new job: "Servants who go into their situations on Friday, never go to stay." (1923) --> Of course la, because the day after that is Saturday. No work on Sat and Sun

But the best one, I think is this one about the thirteen people seated in a table...

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Remember, the last supper?

(The "thirteen at the table" form of superstition again harkens back to the Last Supper: the one who left the table first, Judas Iscariot, died at his own hand soon afterwards.)

Anyone wanna leave the table first? ;p