************************ Greetings from Cornwall on Friday the 13th, a day in which many people either view as lucky or unlucky. Like many superstitions, we believe in this without really knowing the reasons why...For me it began as a child with my mum and then over the years family and friends passing on various sayings and superstitians in every day life....
One of the widely known superstitions is that it is considered to be bad luck if a black cat crosses your path. Well I must have a lot of 'bad luck' because two of my five cats are black (saying that there as been a lot of bad luck for us over the last three years..ha well).....
Phoenix Boo Boo
Willow Bam Bam Bones (my son named her!!!) She is a beautiful cat but a devil to get a decent photo of her...
So between today being Friday the 13th and my darling kitty-cats I best look-out for myself..lol..
But Why Friday the 13th?
It is not known when this day was deemed as unlucky but there are many theories. One being that it is a modern merging of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and Friday an unlucky day.....
The number thirteen has always been associated with 'luck', hence the saying 'unlucky for some'. But why?....
I have always thought that there was a religious connection concerning Judas and the fact that Jesus and his twelve Disciples were present at The Last Supper, thirteen people (put it down to my Catholic upbringing..lol..). However it is said that the reason thirteen is synonymous in this context is because Judas, the Apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the thirteen member of the party to arrive.......
The Last Supper showing Jesus, at the centre, saying to his disciples ''One of you shall betray me'' So Why Friday?
It is thought by some that Friday has been considered an unlucky day since at least the 14th century. Some professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or to start new projects. It is also thought that Friday was the day Jesus was crucified. The author Charles Panati however maitains that superstitians can be traced back to ancient myth.......
Frigga Spinning the Clouds ~ Gueber H.A. (Helene Adeline) 1909 ~
'Friday is named for Frigga, the free-spiried Goddess of love and fertility. When Norse and Germanic tribes converted to Christianity, Frigga was banished in shame to a mountain top and labled a witch. It was believed that every Friday the spiteful Goddess covened a meeting with eleven other witches, plus the Devil - a gathering of thirteen - and plotted ill turns of fate for the coming week. For many centuries in Scandinavia, Friday was known as the 'Witches Sabbath'...
~ Curtsy of wikipedia.org ~
Seal of the Knights TemplarAnother 'unlucky' Friday involved the Knights Templar, whose mission was to protect Christian Pilgrims during the Crusades. It was in France on Friday October 13 1307 that King Philip secretly ordered the mass arrest of all the Knights Templar....
So it appears that throughout history Friday was seen as an unlucky day for some people and I can see why it would be attached the number thirteen....
But this Friday the Thirteen is not seen as 'unlucky' by the people of Gwaun Valley in Pembrokeshire, for it is seen as New Year's Day. It is here that they celebrate Hen Galan, the old New Year, based on the ancient Julian Calendar, which was replaced with the Gregorian Calendar in the 18th century. However the people of Gwaun Valley chose to ignore it....
Gwaun Valley
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