Friday was originally believed to be a lucky day

Hearing “thank God it’s Friday” is already a relief, right? Before Friday the 13th was considered ominous, Fridays were generally believed to bring good fortune. With a name derived from the Old English phrase which means “day of Frigg,” Friday was actually dedicated to the Frigga, the Norse sky goddess who is associated with love, marriage, and motherhood. Frigga was often conflated with another goddess named Freyja, who was associated with love, fertility, and war and had the power to perform magic and foretell future events.

And 13 was a magical number

Meanwhile, the number 13 was regarded as an auspicious number by pre-Christian civilizations because of its link to fertility — there are approximately 13 lunar and menstrual cycles in a calendar year. This is why many ancient artworks related to fertility would feature the number. For example, the Venus of Laussel (a 25,000-year-old carving of a female figure), holds a crescent-shaped horn with 13 notches.

Enter: Christianity

As Christianity became more widespread in the Middle Ages, paganism and the practice of worshipping multiple gods, goddesses, as well as the tradition of celebrating prosperity and fortune on Fridays were gradually considered immoral and sacrilegious. The people who believed in this tradition, particularly women, were tagged as witches. Fridays slowly then earned a bad rap.

Fridays were also considered unlucky because of some unfortunate events that were said to have happened on this day. Biblical events such as the death of Jesus, Adam and Eve’s disobedience in eating the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, Cain murdering his brother Abel, the fall of the Temple of Solomon, and the day when Noah’s ark felt the wrath of the Great Flood, were said to have happened on Fridays. Jesus was also said to have been crucified on a Friday, which is why we still celebrate Good Friday to this day.

Connotation of the number 13 in the Middle Ages

When the influence of Christianity gradually became widespread during the Middle Ages, some Norse and Germanic tribes converted to Christians. Frigga was then banished to the mountains and tagged as a witch. Some believed that every Friday, the goddess would meet with 11 witches and one devil, to plot evil for the coming week. This gathering of 13 individuals was believed to have been one of the medieval beginnings of associating bad omen with the number 13.

Another unfortunate event recorded in Norse mythology was the dinner of 12 gods in Valhalla. Loki, the god of mischief, who was not initially invited, gate-crashed this event, making this event a gathering of 13 individuals. Having been offended by his exclusion, Loki tricked the blind god Hodr to kills his brother Balder, the god of light, joy, and goodness, resulting in a commotion.

Friday = Hangman’s Day

Friday was the day when criminals in Great Britain were hung, thereby giving calling it the “Hangman’s Day.” On the Friday of October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered his men to arrest thousands of people who were associated with the religious military order called the Knights of Templar (now known as the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon). A lot of these people were tortured and executed.

What about Asian cultures?

Several cultures and countries have different interpretations as to why the number 13 was considered ominous. In China, adding the number 1 and 3 would result in 4, a number that is believed to bring bad luck because the way it is sounds like the Chinese word for “death“.

13-letter name curse

An old superstition says that having 13 letters both in your first name and last name is also a bad omen. Some of the individuals who have 13 letters in their names are quite notorious, including German dictator Adolf Hitler, Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, and al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Ladan.

But is 13 really that unlucky?

But if you think the number 13 should be dreaded, despised, and feared, the truth is that at the end of the day, it’s just a number. Some people even gravitate towards it. Take, for example, Taylor Swift, who considers 13 to be her lucky number. She was born on December 13th and turned 13 on Friday the 13th. Her debut album, the self-titled Taylor Swift, turned gold in 13 weeks. And for numerous times when she has won an award, she was seated on either the 13th row, 13th section, or in row M, which is the 13th letter of the alphabet. Maybe 13 isn’t unlucky, after all.

What are your beliefs about Friday the 13th? Share with us your thoughts!