Superstitions

I was originally going to post this yesterday, on Friday the 13th. But, I had other things to talk about yesterday... I'm still jumping up and down about New Concepts! But, for now, let's talk about Friday the 13th and other superstitions:


Are you a superstitious person? When you and a friend walk around a pole on opposite sides, do you say "Bread and butter?" When you spill salt, do you pick up a pinch and throw some over your left shoulder? Or when you're talking about something good or lucky, do you say, "Knock on wood?" and then rap your knuckles on your head? (Or other handy wooden surface.)

I have said "bread and butter" in the appropriate circumstance (not just with dinner), I have "knocked on wood", and as a kid, I used to hold my breath when we'd pass a cemetary. (Take my word for it. It's much easier to do when you're in a car than when you're walking. Cars move faster.)

What about Friday the 13th? The number 13 in and of itself is considered to be an unlucky number. Add it to a Friday and you've got impending doom in your day. Does this day fill you with dread, with the feeling that if anything unlucky could happen to you, it will happen to you today specifically because it's Friday the 13th?

Where do all of these superstitions come from? I'm glad you asked, because I just happened to have spent some time doing some quick and dirty research.

When you're walking with a friend and are separated by a pole (or other object that you each walk around on opposite sides), you say "bread and butter" to preserve your relationship until you meet up again.

In ancient times, salt was a highly-prized commodity and very expensive. If you spilled salt, you immediately had to throw some of it over your left shoulder to appease the evil spirits that lurked there and thereby keeping them from inflicting you with sickness.

Knocking on wood was done to frighten the wood sprites that may be listening so they wouldn't steal your good luck.

And the cemetary thing? To keep the spirits of the dead from entering my body, of course. :)

And the big one. Friday the 13th. Why is it considered with such dread?

First of all, the number 13 is considered by many to be unlucky, especially in the U.S. where it's not uncommon to find hotels with no 13th floor. During early Christianity, because 13 was considered by many Pagans as a holy number, Christians associated it with evil. And, thus, helped deter people from following their pagan ways and pointed them to the path of righteousness.

So, we put a Friday on the 13th and we're filled with dread. Why? There are a lot of opinions on it. Some are tied into Christianity (Adam and Eve were expelled on a Friday, Christ was crucified on a Friday, there were 13 at the Last Supper...), some are from ancient civilizations such as the Babylonians.

The fear of Friday the 13th actually has its own name: Paraskevidekatriaphobia. Say that five times fast. Hell, say it even one time fast and you're doing better than me! Considering that the word Friday comes from Norse for Freya (or Frigg), the Norse goddess of love and sex, I (of course) tend to side with the following explanation:

It seems that there was a banquet in Valhalla, of which there were 12 guests. Loki, God of Deceit, intruded, becoming the uninvited 13th guest. In Norse mythology, Balder was the god of light and beauty. The most beloved of the gods, he was the son of Odin and Frigg, and the husband of Nanna, goddess of the Moon. Balder was killed by Loki’s treachery during the banquet. Through Loki’s interference, the return of Balder from the possession of Hel was an impossible task. To return Balder, Hel demanded that all living things beg for the god’s return. All respond except a giantess, Thokk (Loki in disguise), whose refusal to weep forces Balder to remain in Hel's domain. And so, Friday the 13th becomes an unlucky day.

What about you? What superstitions still hold you in their thrall?