Do you suffer from paraskavedekatriaphobia, a phobia of Fridays and the number 13?
Whether you avoid cracks or wear old jockey shorts to ward off bad luck, the mythology of Friday the 13th is part of our culture. But there’s a history behind it all.
“Folklore, legends, myths like Friday the 13th were essentially created by one religion demonizing another,” said Jeannie Banks Thomas, a professor of English and director of the folklore program at Utah State University.
“As early as the sixth century, Christian missionaries from England would travel to other countries like Germany or Russia, and try to eradicate the existing religions,” Banks Thomas said. Frigg or Freyja, the goddess of the sky, love, fertility and motherhood, was one of the most respected gods in Norse mythology, she said. But as Christianity spread throughout Europe, Christian missionaries demonized her role and she was demoted to a witch.
“As she was shunned more and more, her followers gathered in a cave and worshipped her in secret, which then only added to society ostracizing and fearing her,” Banks Thomas said.
The speculation is that followers gathered on Fridays to worship, later parlayed into the belief that Friday was the day of worshipping a witch. Her name was then linked to the derivative of our word “Friday” and the belief that this was an evil day followed.
Another root story of the folklore is that the number 13 is considered unlucky, especially in Christian tradition. Novels such as Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” popularized the belief that Friday the 13th was the day the Knights Templar were arrested and killed by King Phillip IV. Other stories claim 13 is unlucky because 13 people attended the Last Supper and Christ was crucified on Friday shortly thereafter.
Over time, our culture has supposedly developed ways of warding off evil, such as carrying a rabbit’s foot or throwing salt over your left shoulder.
“In reality, these are just ways of comforting our human psyches during times of stress or danger, or when we don’t have much control in life,” Banks Thomas said.
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