Post by Dave Smith on Jun 22, 2008 1:40:49 GMT
Friday the 13th is a double-whammy of a day fraught with wicked omens … especially for triskaidekaphobics, those haunted souls who have a crippling fear of that unmentionably evil integer that looms between 12 and 14.
13: The Devil's Dozen
Take a look at this:
• If 13 people sit down to dinner together, all will die within the year.
• The Turks so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged from their vocabulary.
• If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck.
• There are 13 witches in a coven.
This is all what is said in public (Myths). Though no one can say for sure when and why human beings first associated the number 13 with misfortune, the belief is assumed to be quite old and there exist any number of theories purporting to trace its origins to antiquity and beyond.
It is said to have originated in the India with the Hindus (Norse Mythology), who believed, for some reasons, that it is always unlucky for 13 people to gather in one place, say, at dinner.
"Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla. Loki, the Evil One, god of mischief, had been left off the guest list but crashed the party, bringing the total number of attendees to 13. True to character, Loki raised hell by inciting (=showing disloyalty) Hod, the blind god of winter, to attack Balder the Good, who was a favorite of the gods. Hod took a spear of mistletoe offered by Loki and obediently hurled it at Balder, killing him instantly. All Valhalla grieved. And although one might take the moral of this story to be "Beware of uninvited guests bearing mistletoe," the Norse themselves apparently concluded that 13 people at a dinner party is just plain bad luck. "
As if to prove the point, the Bible tells us there were exactly 13 present at the Last Supper. One of the dinner guests, i.e. disciples — betrayed Jesus Christ, setting the stage for the Crucifixion. And Crucifixion took place on a Friday!
The Consequences:
• Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery!
• There is a hush-hush organization in France whose exclusive purpose is to provide last-minute guests for dinner parties, so that no party host ever has to suffer the curse of entertaining 13 guests.
• Skyscrapers and hotels have no 13th floor!
• Airplanes have no 13th aisle!
• The majority of purchasers refuse to complete on Friday the 13th!
• Now there is ‘triskaidekaphobia’! : A phobia which is the fear of the number 13!
Bad Friday
Read this too:
• Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams.
• Don't start a trip on Friday or you will have misfortune.
• If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow.
• Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck :-
Tale of H.M.S. Friday: ... One hundred years ago, the British government sought to quell once and for all the widespread superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned, named "H.M.S. Friday." They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. To top it off, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage on a Friday, and was never seen or heard from again!!!
Friday the 13th: A perfect combination!
Now if you have bad Friday + Unlucky 13 = Friday the 13th , then things turn worst!
Some observations:
• Fewer people chose to drive their cars on Friday the 13th.
• The number of hospital admissions due to vehicular accidents was significantly higher than on "normal" Fridays.
• The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent.
• From British Medical Journal in 1993 entitled "Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?" Their conclusion: Friday 13th is unlucky for some. Staying at home is recommended!"
• North Carolina (USA) estimates that in the United States alone, $800 or $900 million is lost in business each Friday the 13th because some people will not travel or go to work.
Well, the most surprising thing is that this superstition is common in developed countries like US and UK! There is no scientific evidence for ‘Luck’. But can all these be just co-incidences? Or there is something which science has not yet seen! Will this be a mystery making Psychologists to bow down or …?
Better wait for the next Friday the 13th
Dave
13: The Devil's Dozen
Take a look at this:
• If 13 people sit down to dinner together, all will die within the year.
• The Turks so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged from their vocabulary.
• If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck.
• There are 13 witches in a coven.
This is all what is said in public (Myths). Though no one can say for sure when and why human beings first associated the number 13 with misfortune, the belief is assumed to be quite old and there exist any number of theories purporting to trace its origins to antiquity and beyond.
It is said to have originated in the India with the Hindus (Norse Mythology), who believed, for some reasons, that it is always unlucky for 13 people to gather in one place, say, at dinner.
"Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla. Loki, the Evil One, god of mischief, had been left off the guest list but crashed the party, bringing the total number of attendees to 13. True to character, Loki raised hell by inciting (=showing disloyalty) Hod, the blind god of winter, to attack Balder the Good, who was a favorite of the gods. Hod took a spear of mistletoe offered by Loki and obediently hurled it at Balder, killing him instantly. All Valhalla grieved. And although one might take the moral of this story to be "Beware of uninvited guests bearing mistletoe," the Norse themselves apparently concluded that 13 people at a dinner party is just plain bad luck. "
As if to prove the point, the Bible tells us there were exactly 13 present at the Last Supper. One of the dinner guests, i.e. disciples — betrayed Jesus Christ, setting the stage for the Crucifixion. And Crucifixion took place on a Friday!
The Consequences:
• Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery!
• There is a hush-hush organization in France whose exclusive purpose is to provide last-minute guests for dinner parties, so that no party host ever has to suffer the curse of entertaining 13 guests.
• Skyscrapers and hotels have no 13th floor!
• Airplanes have no 13th aisle!
• The majority of purchasers refuse to complete on Friday the 13th!
• Now there is ‘triskaidekaphobia’! : A phobia which is the fear of the number 13!
Bad Friday
Read this too:
• Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams.
• Don't start a trip on Friday or you will have misfortune.
• If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow.
• Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck :-
Tale of H.M.S. Friday: ... One hundred years ago, the British government sought to quell once and for all the widespread superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned, named "H.M.S. Friday." They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. To top it off, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage on a Friday, and was never seen or heard from again!!!
Friday the 13th: A perfect combination!
Now if you have bad Friday + Unlucky 13 = Friday the 13th , then things turn worst!
Some observations:
• Fewer people chose to drive their cars on Friday the 13th.
• The number of hospital admissions due to vehicular accidents was significantly higher than on "normal" Fridays.
• The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent.
• From British Medical Journal in 1993 entitled "Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?" Their conclusion: Friday 13th is unlucky for some. Staying at home is recommended!"
• North Carolina (USA) estimates that in the United States alone, $800 or $900 million is lost in business each Friday the 13th because some people will not travel or go to work.
Well, the most surprising thing is that this superstition is common in developed countries like US and UK! There is no scientific evidence for ‘Luck’. But can all these be just co-incidences? Or there is something which science has not yet seen! Will this be a mystery making Psychologists to bow down or …?
Better wait for the next Friday the 13th
Dave