It's Friday and It's the 13th

Come on, admit it.  You are triskaideka'phobic.   What's more you are friggartriskaidekaphobic.  Both are phobias brought on by superstitions that trigger deep overwhelming fears.   In this case it is the fear of the number 13 (the first big word I accused you of being) and the uncontrollable fear of the date Friday 13^th (the second big word), which is today.  Take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. I'm the biggest scaredy cat of all.  We'll face this together, until I have to run and hide.  Friday the 13^th is only twenty-four hours long (I keep telling myself this).

Friday is a dark day for many reasons.  It was the day of the week when the Roman Empire executed the condemned.  Hence, it is the day when Jesus was crucified. Eve gave Adam the apple on Friday (so the story goes) and on a Friday they were expelled from Eden. The Great Flood started on a Friday, in Houston.  It rained torrents for 24 hours then the sewers backed up.  Terrible!   Noah and the Arc floated down Buffalo Bayou and the rest is history.

The number 13 is a fearsome number. Cities do not have a 13^th avenue, expressways do not have a 13^thth floor.  There are thirteen members in a witches' coven; very ominous.  It is incredibly unlucky to seat thirteen people at a table for dinner.  The belief is the last person to sit down and the first person to rise from the table will die in that calendar year.   This has roots in the story of the Last Supper. exit, highrises do not have a 13

Considering all of the above, when the thirteenth day of the month falls on a Friday it is not surprising there would be an uprising in anxiety.

Fearing Friday the 13^th may have something to do with the following story.  The Knights Templar, a monastic military order (founded in 1118 C.E.), was charged to guide and protect Christian pilgrims along the road from Europe to Jerusalem.  They also developed a monetary system that protected the pilgrim's finances on their long journey.  This monetary system was so successful that it spread throughout Europe.  Countries and kings would borrow from the Templars.  The Knights became very rich and powerful.

French King Philip IV amassed a huge debt with the Templars, too big to pay back.   Philip devised a plan to arrest all the Knights Templar and charge them with spitting on the cross, performing homosexual acts and worshiping the devil.   These were devastating accusations and no one had the courage to step forward in defense of the Knights.  So on Friday, October 13, 1307 King Philip ordered all Templars murdered in their sleep or burned at the stake.  Nice guy.

Anyway, there are only a few more hours left in this Friday 13^th.   I’m not going to step under any ladders and I won’t shatter any mirrors.  I don’t think I’ll go outside, that way I wont’ see any black cats.  Good Luck!