One of my fellow bloggers at The Daily Scribe wrote a terrific essay exploring the basis for the superstitions surrounding Friday the Thirteenth, which happens to fall this week. The essay is one of the most comprehensive looks at the subject I've read and I found it both fascinating and enjoyable. Reb Chaim HaQoton asked to hear my thoughts. Such is my interest in the topic and what turns out to be the extent of my answer to his question that I decided to formulate my response in a blog post of my own.

Friday the Thirteenth has always been a lucky day for me. This stems from a purely personal mythology: When I was in high school, the opening night of a play I was starring in was a tremendous success, and since that day good things have always happened to me on Friday the Thirteenth. The power of personal belief is a mighty thing!

Apparently, the Egyptians were the first to develop a superstition for the number thirteen, but for them it also brought good luck. They believed that there were twelve steps on the ladder to eternal life and knowledge and to take the thirteenth step meant going through death into everlasting life. Thirteen, for the Egyptians, was associated with immortality.

But back to Reb Chaim HaQoton's essay. I agree with his supposition that much of the demonization of the number thirteen (and Friday for that matter) was perpetrated by the Christian church, both for the many reasons he mentions that are particularly Christian in nature and as a result of the church's systematic efforts to wipe out native pagan religions. There are numerous examples across history and cultures to suggest that before Christianity's pervasive influence, the number thirteen was largely celebratory and even reverential. The website Pagan Astronomy offers a thorough discussion of some of the various cultural associations with thirteen on this page: The Numbers of Heaven: 13. This collection of stories, while covering some of the same topics as Reb Chaim HaQoton's essay, does provide a good overview of some of thirteen's more auspicious associations.

Ironically, there are plenty of modern "thirteens" that are perfectly respectable as well. In addition to the example from the Jewish faith that Reb Chaim HaQoton mentions, there are other more secular examples. There are thirteen players on a rugby team.

Since much of the fear surrounding Friday the Thirteenth seems to stem from a demonization of Pagan practices and a derogatory association with witchcraft, from a Wiccan and Pagan perspective I can shed some light on the significance the number thirteen holds in our belief system.

Triple Moon Stained Glass 1, © 2004-2006 copperphoenix at deviantART

Witches consider the number thirteen not only to be fortunate, but also to be magickal. This has to do with its strong connection to the Moon and lunar energy. The Moon is one of the most significant icons in Wiccan and Pagan spirituality. In fact, few religious symbols occur in such diverse contexts as symbols of the Moon. There are thirteen Moon cycles in a year. The thirteen Full Moons are celebrated by witches as holy days known as Esbats. Witches invoke the Goddess by "drawing down the Moon." Moon is referred to as Mother and she is the source of feminine energy, intuition and psychic ability. The triple Moon symbol stands for the Triple Goddess, consisting of maiden, mother and crone, which is a common theme throughout Wiccan and Pagan mythology and spiritual practice. There are many, many more examples of the Moon's sanctity among witches and other Pagans about which much could, and has, been written. Suffice it to say that the Moon's place within Wiccan and Pagan spirituality is the primary reason why the number thirteen has importance.

Thirteen also refers to the ancient lunar calendar, in which there were thirteen months of 28 days each plus one additional day. Although the lunar calendar eventually was given up in 1582 in favor of a solar calendar (Wikipedia has a very interesting historical account of how the Gregorian Calendar came to be), many modern Pagans still follow the old lunar system for the timing of rituals and other spiritual work. For example, the typical length of time for witches to undergo formal study or training is for "a year and a day," based on the ancient lunar year.

As Reb Chaim HaQoton mentions in his essay, thirteen is the traditional number for a coven of witches and it is generally accepted among Wiccans that the reason for this relates to the thirteen moon phases in a year. Interestingly enough, the Pagan Astronomy article mentioned above offered this tidbit of historical data on why covens have thirteen members:

In 1662 we find a record from the witch trial of Isobel Gowdie which states that she belonged to a coven of 13. Chaucer even uses the word "convent" in Canterbury Tales to refer to an "assembly of 13". Coven is a variation of the word convent, and by association, the words Covent, and Coventry. A poem from 14th century England mentions a "coveyne" as a gathering of 13 people.

Scott Cunningham, an American witch and much-respected author on Wicca and witchcraft, wrote in his book Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner a list of "Thirteen Goals for a Witch." These are believed to have been based on an older, British traditional source. The Thirteen Goals, along with the Wiccan Rede, constitute a set of guidelines for witches to live by. The fact that there are thirteen goals doubtless refers back to the significance of the number thirteen already discussed.

Addressing the issue of Friday's role in the superstition is much simpler. Aversions to Friday seem entirely based in Christianity, starting with the fact that Christ was crucified on that day and including other occurrences Reb Chaim HaQoton mentions in his essay, particularly the church's efforts to demonize anything associated with pagan religions and the vilification of anything that had to do with sex and feminine power. Witches and Pagans still acknowledge Friday's association with Venus (and Freya if one honors a Norse pantheon) and Friday is viewed as the best day to perform any magick relating to Venus' areas of expertise: love, fertility and beauty.

The numerous ways that people react to the Friday the Thirteenth superstition and the lengths that people will go to in order to avoid the number thirteen in particular, seem particularly hilarious to me, especially since most of them have nothing to do with the original reasons behind the superstition itself. I would have expected that by now the hysteria would be wearing off. But with so many centuries of belief and tradition behind it, I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised. As I said, the power of personal belief is a mighty thing indeed.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 4:19 PM