Real Talk!

March 13th is my daughter’s birthday. She was born on a Friday. Up until the Middle Ages when pagans celebrated symbolic days, Friday the 13th was thought to be especially lucky because it combined the goddess’s sacred day with her sacred number (drawn from the 13 months of the lunar year). As a result, Friday the 13th was a celebration and festival day for many Pagans.

When most people hear or talk about the 13th, they usually think of either the movies of the same name or they know that they should be scared for some reason. It has been estimated that the American economy loses roughly $700 million to $800 million on Friday the 13th due to people not leaving the house to go to work and others not wanting to fly in planes.

The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia.
According to medieval lore, there are 12 witches in a coven and the 13th member is the devil. Spooky. In Norse mythology, 12 dinner guests were invited into Valhalla (heaven) and a 13th (uninvited) guest, Loki, attended and had the god of joy and gladness murdered through deceit.

Hindus prefer not to gather in a group of 13. Christians point out that there were exactly 13 people at the last supper, one of whom betrays Christ — who happened to be crucified on a Friday. King Philip IV of France tortured and executed members of the Knight’s Templar on Friday the 13th.

Anyway, this will be my daughter’s fifteenth birthday... for me, a celebration of joy and motherhood... plus another reminder that life is a blurrrrrrrrrrrr.