The Phenomenon of Friday, 13-th
by Irina Timchenko
Since time immemorial Friday the 13-th has had a reputation of the unluckiest day of all. There have been numerous opinions about how the Friday the 13th "unlucky day" idea originated, and all of them are based on paganism, witchcraft and Satanism.
Even though Friday the 13th on the Roman Calendar has no date connection to God's calendar of the Bible, although the first to seventh days of the week have been the same since the time of Creation some Christian-based communities have invented a number of non-existent "Friday the 13th" events in the Bible e.g.
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"Eve gave the apple to Adam on Friday"
There is no record as to what day of the week Eve gave the apple (Bible doesn't even specify what kind of fruit it actually was) to Adam. In fact, what Adam and Eve did was not a matter of "luck" - they chose to disobey God.
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"The great flood began on a Friday"
There is no record what-so-ever as to what day of the week the flood began, but regardless, it was not a matter of "luck" - it was caused by God to wipe out a humanity that had chosen to corrupt itself (Genesis 6:11-13).
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"Jesus Christ was crucified on Friday the 13th"
Totally false, but even if He was, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God was not "bad luck."
It is not only Christians that paint Friday black; muslims have the same opinion. In many Islamic countries people prefer not to do anything important on Fridays.
The number 13 is considered the unluckiest number of all. In the Russian language it is even called the “devil’s dozen”. The Soviet leaders tried to teach people to ignore the superstition during more than 70 years, but did not succeed. Russians still tend to seek ways to avoid doing important things on Friday, 13-th. Similarly, the West prefers not to use the unlucky number when giving names to streets, buildings, etc. You cannot find seat 13 on board a passenger jetliner or cabin 13 on board a ship. Experts of many insurance companies that register catastrophies and breakdowns assure that the largest number of tragedies occurs on Fridays. Surgeons try not to conduct any important operations on Fridays the 13th. Doctors believe that the risk of an unlucky operation doubles on such days.
Unfortunately, we know too many facts proving that this is not a joke or a stupid belief. Modern science has not been able to explain this unique phenomenon although practically all scientists, including doctors, acknowledge its existence.
Scientists call the fear of the number 13 with a long term «Triskaidekaphobia».
The fear of Friday, 13-th seems to turn into the all-world disease, being discussed too much by press, and on Television. The mass media seem to finish the work of doubling our fears of the terrible date! Why don't all people of the world simply throw this date away from their calendars?!
The only cool-minded people who refuse to surrender are psychologists. Those of them who are not superstitious, claim that the root of the problem is not the bad luck around us. The reason of the Friday,13-th mishaps is hidden in our own minds.
Superstitious people tend to anticipate bad luck on Friday, the 13-th. They start thinking about the upcoming day beforehand, and prepare themselves to take every little event of the day as being lucky or unlucky. Thus, many of us tend to «attract» bad luck by thinking that, however carefully we hide, it is going to find us anyway.
As a perfect proof to this, you can read a diary of my old friend, who did not want to have her name publicized. But she let me translate a page from her diary where she describes her Friday, 13-th experiences. It answers the question whether it makes sense trying to guard yourself from mishaps on Friday, 13. Enjoy!
My Friend's Diary of a Friday, 13
«... It is morning of Friday, the 13-th. For a good number of people the date itself is a good reason to cancel all plans and lock up at home for all day. Well, though I am skeptical about superstitions, I can't help noticing little mishaps happening with me this morning.
So far, nothing really upsetting has happened to me... almost nothing... Well, maybe, just a few little things. You see, my computer did not start at the first try... And there was no water in the tap when I wanted to brush my teeth.... And a bulb in my table lamp exploded (thankfully, no one injured)... And those road workers just outside my window are a bit too loud... And the printer's run out of ink.. and...
... It is 8:30am now. Am I going to see the sunrise tomorrow?!!»
«If it were not Friday today, I would not pay any attention to the road-works outside my window, or to the lack of ink in my printer. I would not make any mental connection between these facts and my bad luck at all. I'd just follow a «healthy», self-protective way of behavior, by saying to myself «Well, it should have happened some day. So, I need to change the ink-tank for a new one today...»
But it is Friday, the 13-th, and I am sitting at home in fear of going out and facing bad luck! Is this normal?.. I think I am simply worn out after a hectic week at work, that's all. I just thought that I am lucky to be enjoying my day at home today, rather than running about the city, meeting people and «collecting» mishaps!
My mind begins to wander in search of connection with other unhappy situations I used to have in past... Did any of them happen on the 13-th?.. It is not difficult to remember, for my birthday is on March, 13-th. Yes, I remember, it was in 1998! I was robbed! I was shopping in the morning, before giving a birthday party to my friends, and I was robbed. The thief took my purse while I was selecting some foods in a store. There was not much money in the purse, but the keys to my home were stolen with my purse! So, I could not enter my home. I was sitting on a bench under my window thinking what I should do, when my friend turned up (he was one of the guests I invited for the party. He climbed up the fire stairs and got to my home through the window... and opened the door from inside for me... We had lots of fun remembering it afterwards... But it happened on Friday, 13th, and I will never forget it!»
«...It is 1pm, and nothing really bad has happened yet... But gloomy suspicions are still tearing my mind. Possibly, a thick cloud of evil is accumulating its energy over ny head now, and something really terrible is going to happen by the end of the day... Time to look through my will for the last time, isn't it? I start laughing at the thought, and all of a sudden another thought strikes me – «this black humor must have some reason behind it! It is definitely connected with my bad luck today»...
«2:30pm. Well, I decided to search through Internet to find Howto guides against bad luck. But I came across an article instead. It describes my state of mind very well. According to the article (it's 13 Signs of Burnout and How To Help You Avoid It, by Henry Neils, there are a number of signs of Burnout-
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Chronic fatigue - exhaustion, tiredness, a sense of being physically run down
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Anger at those making demands
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Self-criticism for putting up with the demands
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Cynicism, negativity, and irritability
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A sense of being besieged
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Exploding easily at seemingly inconsequential things
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Frequent headaches and gastrointestinal disturbances
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Weight loss or gain
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Sleeplessness and depression
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Shortness of breath
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Suspiciousness
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Feelings of helplessness
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Increased degree of risk taking
«Stop! Why did he find exactly 13 signs?!!! - this is not without reason...», I say to myself and look at the clock. It's almost 3pm and I am still alive! Great! I must be a hard nut to crack, aren't I?»
«It's 3:30pm. I am beginning to feel hungry, but it is too dangerous to do anything in the kitchen today. I should not use the stove for the fear of fire, and I can't use knives to make a sandwich – I'd better take a couple of apples, that's all.
... The very first bite into an apple makes me jump in pain and in sudden realization – I have bitten my lip! Bad luck again! Oh, my, what can I do? I can't protect myself even at home!»
«6:00pm. By this moment, I am too tired of struggling with bad luck. I am going to bed. I want to go asleep till after midnight, when I can finally relax, and feel what a lucky person I am to have survived through Friday, 13! ...If I never wake up, please, pass this on to my friends...»
My closing comments:
Well, I had lunch with this friend of mine in a cafeteria two days ago. She is doing pretty well, and there is nothing that can show that she can be so cautious about things. But when I reminded her that Friday, the 13-th is going to happen this week, her face turned pale, and she grew cautious again! I think I'll give her a call on Saturday, the 14-th...
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