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Are you superstitious? Tomorrow, Friday, is the 13th of the month.

Many have a phobia about the figure 13. Some hotels won't have a 13th room or 13th floor.  Airplanes often don't have a row 13.

Friday 13th is especially superstitious. It is associated with the crucifixion of Christ which is supposed to have taken place on that date.  Scripture also mentions that the Last Supper had 13 members - where the 13th member was Judas who ultimately betrayed Jesus.

During the middle ages some Knights Templars were tortured by King Philip IV of France on a Friday the 13th.

In Britain, Friday was “the day of the hangman or the noose” as many public hangings took place on this day, and there were 13 steps to the gallows.

Have you a phobia? My own phobia is the hell of a fear of enclosed spaces - even an MRI scan!  The recent saving of boys from a cave in Thailand did nothing to assuage it!


for those of us who follow other traditions
if the 13th is a friday it is particularly fortunate

There are 13 lunations in a calendar year
in English friday is named for Freya
a remnant of the time of the Norse kingdom on Britain
Freya is the goddess of love and beauty
so, friday the 13th is a day to celebrate good things
in summer it is considered a good time for a festive meal with friends - outdoors if possible
it is a time to recognize and enjoy the bounty of summer

this year it is on a waxing moon
time to celebrate the beginnings of things
to have hopes and plans for a fruitful accomplishment

My only phobia is a fear of snakes, which I try to overcome. But Friday the 13th does not bother me at all.
snakes get a bad name because of the Garden of Eden story
Farmers liked to have a big black snake around
they eat mice and rats
the snake would keep them away from the animal's feed storage

you remind me of a good snake story that i may retell on my site
My phobia came from a bad incident when I was a small child. I realise the good that snakes do and wish them no harm, even the deadly ones. I feel snakes and I should have an agreement - they go their way and I go mine, hopefully in different directions.
sorry you had a bad time
my experience has been that snakes don't want any part of me lol
my mother taught me - if the snake doesn't move when you approach
leave him alone and go a different way
seems like good advice in a lot of situations : )
We have no snakes in Ireland, TG.