Happy Friday the 13th!

I never understand the superstitions of things like this and how it grips people as it does. Buildings with well over thirteen floors often don't have a designated thirteenth floor. It is skipped over and no one in this society - or any other British/American areas - seem to question it or have any issue with it. And it is not merely the number 13, there are a great many superstitions that flood the world that really have no basis in reality or actual events or repeating problems of signifigance. One's luck is a chance thing. Luck - whether bad or good - is one of those freaky, uncontrollable things. It is what we do with that luck - how we react to it - that matters, and little else.

But back to the number 13, which has taken on such ominous meaning...

I have two books, one entitled "13 - The Story of the World's Most Popular Superstition" by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer, and one entitled "A Dictionary of Omens and Superstitions" by Phillipa Waring. Just because I am not a particular believer in superstition that does not mean I am not fascinated by the things that different societies consider frightening or of ill fate or bad luck or whatever. And every single society, no matter how practical or pragmatic, has them - boatloads of them!

I never did get far into the first book, since it is a little on the dry side. I know that it opens with 13 Superstitions About 13...

1. Thirteen is an unlucky number

2. If thirteen people sit at a table, one will die within a year

3. The thirteenth day of the month is unlucky

4. Friday the 13th is an unlucky day

5. It is unlucky to start a journey on the 13th

6. The 13th floor is unlucky

7. Room No. 13 is unlucky

8. It is unlucky to have the number 13 in your street address

9. Thirteen steps lead to bad luck

10. A clock striking 13 protends a death in the family

11. It is unlucky to have 13 letters in your name

12. Numbers that add up to 13 are unlucky (e.g., 454)

13. It is unlucky to have 13 coins in your pocket

Yikes. Seems like everything is fraught with the bad luck that only the number 13 can bring. You'll notice that while Christians consider the number 6 to be bad and 666 to be the sign of the devil, you won't really see anyone going that much out of their way to avoid it. And some embrace it, such as the movie makers behind the recently redone "Omen", which was released on 6 June 2006 - 6.6.06. Very funny. I feel bad for the numbers 6 and 13 - how'd they get such a bad reputation? And yet the number 7 is lucky. Go figure that one out.

Friday has long been considered an unlucky day - how this is I don't know and will need to research, as most everyone I know, at least in the corporate world, looks upon Friday as a wonderful day - the start of the weekend! Who doesn't look forward to those two days off between the work weeks? So that must have started prior to the determined workweek, and even then, I suspect that Saturday was the last working day and Sunday the only day off, as people used to work much more and without any protective laws until only in recent times.

13 as an unlucky number has been around far longer and quite honestly, its origins are steeped in the Last Supper - a supper attended by 13 people - Christ and his 12 apostles (trust Christians to give 13 a bad name. Those people seem to consider everything to be bad luck or ill-fated).

It turns out that Friday is unlucky because this day, supposedly, is the one on which Eve tempted Adam with the apple. Again, the Christians. I was born on a Friday - Friday, 26 January, 1968, at 10h39. I don't view any of my birth or my life as unluckier than most. In fact, I have been lucky in many, many ways and can look back on events that were negative then and turned out to make for a better journey through life in the current. So. I think that trashes that right there. As for the thirtheenth and Friday, I have noted the day as it is by most every time it occurs (usually twice to three times per calendar year) and it is day like any other. Some are spectacular. Some are awful. Most are just regular days with regular happenings. And since they are almost always work days (Good Friday possibly being the only exception, and that isn't part of my beliefs anyway), well, then they truly are a mix of good and bad. I did fire someone today... pretty funny, hmmm. I guess it was an unlucky day for him but the fact is, he did it to himself. The day and date had nothing to do with it. (I'm surprised no one mentioned it...)

So much for that!