It’s Friday the 13th in the middle of Advent. I have thoughts.
Let’s just open door number 13, shall we?
December 13, 2024
I am not a superstitious person. I’ll open an umbrella in the house. I won’t throw salt over my shoulder if I spill some. Like I need to clean that up. I’ve broken mirrors without anything other than fairly normal circumstances ensuing. I will not, however, walk under a ladder. The reason isn’t because I’m afraid of misfortune befalling me, but because I can’t be sure the person who put it up did all of the appropriate ladder-shaking and bottom-rung-jumping to secure it in place. Also, I have a brother who falls off ladders with alarming regularity and, although he assures me that bumbles bounce, I don’t need a bumble landing on my head. Steer clear of ladders, friends.
The biggest well of superstition has been dug around the shiver-inducing date of Friday the 13th. Going back millennia, the number 13 and Friday have each been considered unlucky. Apparently combining them unleashes the kind of bad luck that inspired the coining of an admittedly fantastic word: friggatriskaidekaphobia. I am not making this up. It’s a combination of the Norse goddess of wisdom, Frigga, who is also the root for the word Friday in Norse, and the Greek words for 13 and fear. Say it with me: friggatriskaidekaphobia. Spectacular, isn’t it?
Fabulous etymology aside, friggatriskaidekaphobia is a thing. But not everyone has regarded it as strictly superstitious in nature. Some have used its mystique for amusement. It inspired a dinner club visited by Presidents in late 19th century New York, a novel about stockbrokers by Thomas William Lawson in 1907, and of course, a lucrative film franchise that, curiously, stopped at 12 installments. The day did prove to be unlucky in October of 1307 for the Knights Templar and simultaneously lucrative for King Philip IV of France when he arrested the Knights and executed them to assume their fortunes. Sounds like the really terrifying thing there wasn’t the date, but greed.
I look forward to Friday the 13th when it rolls around. I like to think my embracing it as a welcome guest forestalls any negative energy that the superstitious have attached to it. Everyone deserves a break and it’s Christmastime, fer cryin’ out loud.
Oh, speaking of something deserving a break, if you’re looking for a family pet this holiday season and have a cat on your radar, adopt a black cat. They’re also considered unlucky. As a result, they’re often mistreated and usually the last to be adopted. Don’t let mavrogatphobia cause an innocent animal to be lonely this Christmas. While you’re at it, pick up a hockey mask on your way home. It’ll be a hoot on Christmas morning. I promise.
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