Friday The 13th and Other Superstitions

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Friday The 13th and Other Superstitions

This post isn’t about any Friday the 13th movie. Instead I want to delve into the world of superstition and the idea that bad things happen on Friday the 13th.

I must admit I’ve been rather tentative when it comes to Friday the 13th. I vividly recall Friday February 13th, 1976. Three minutes short of the halfway point from Winnipeg to Denver en route to San Diego, Frontier Airlines turned us back to Winnipeg due to engine trouble. Obviously I missed the connecting flight in Denver.

Then there was Friday November 13th, 2015 in Mazatlan when the ATM thought it would be fun to eat my debit card. Needless to say I don’t use BBVA Bancomer anymore.

All other Friday the 13ths have been proven to be uneventful although today is far from over.

But why the big deal about Friday the 13th? Here’s a few tidbits I gleaned from history.

I’ll begin with a Christian root. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus. He was also the 13th guest at The Last Supper.

Next we turn to Norse mythology. Twelve gods were invited to a banquet. A thirteenth god named Loki (the trickster god) crashed the banquet. This resulted in fighting and death.

We then go to France where King Philip IV decreed that all Knights Templar in his kingdom were to be arrested. These people were viewed as heretics as they denied Christ and worshipped idols. Many were executed and the Church disbanded the group.

Now let’s look at some other superstitions and what some people do to avoid bad things from happening.

Break a mirror lately? That could mean seven years of bad luck.

Don’t walk under a ladder or something bad is sure to happen.

Watch out for that black cat, especially on Friday the 13th.

Throw a pinch of salt over your left shoulder to keep evil at bay.

Remember this one from childhood? Step on a crack and you break your mother’s back.

How about looking for four-leaf clovers for luck? Or carrying around that lucky rabbit’s foot? Walk into any Casino or Bingo game and look around at all the lucky charms people have.

And let’s not forget knocking on wood.

How superstitious are you?

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About iamkaren23

I am a Canadian writer currently living in Aguascalientes, Mexico. When Glad Becomes Sad was published in 2009. Alive Again was published in March of 2015. Both are self-help books. I am currently writing fiction. The first book in the trilogy introduces the reader to a troubled child. In the second book he is diagnosed as being bipolar in his late teenage years. The third and final book in the trilogy follows his struggles as an adult. Estimated publication date is the spring of 2026.

2 responses »

  1. My grandma used to spit on broom bristles if it touched her. My aunt will not sit her purse on the floor, she says doing so causes your money to walk away. Some of the women in my family believe babies shouldn’t see themselves in mirrors until after the age of one. I have no idea why, and neither do they. And there’s one about pregnant women taking pictures while with child means they’ll keep having babies.

    I’ve heard these and more lol. As for my own superstitious, splitting poles. I won’t do it.

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