Most people tend to think that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day, where you are prone to get into accidents or horrible things will happen, but for a pagen, friday the 13th is actually a very lucky day!
In numerology the number "12" is the number of wholeness; a perfect and harmonious unit. It is connected to the 12 months of the year, 12 hours on a clock and there are many religious links as well:
12 gods of Olympus
12 signs of the Zodiac
12 apostles of Jesus
(I bet you know of even more!)
The number 13 is, compared to 12, known as the number of change and transition; at odds with the number 12 - trying to undo it's perfection.
For example; the 13 diners of the Last supper with Jesus and his apostles; Jesus tells that one of his beloved friends at the table will denounce and betray him - the 13th guest is noted to be Judas, who betrays Jesus and brings inevitable change and transition, as Jesus is changed from the son of God, to our saviour.
In Nordic mythology, having 13 people seated at the table is considered really unlucky, as it is old superstition, that one of the diners with die before the night is over.
This comes from a story of the Nordic Gods having dinner in Valhalla, when Loki (trickster of the Gods) walks in as an uninvited guest, making 13 for dinner. Loki arranges for Hoder, the blind God of Darkness to shoot Balder (God of light, joy, puriy, beauty, innocence and reconciliation) with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Once Balder dies, the Earth falls into darkness and mourns his loss.
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| "Balders Death" by C. Eckersberg 1840 |
In the fairy tale "Sleeping beauty", only 12 of the 13 fairy godmothers were invited to see the baby, which has dire konsequences, as it is the 13th fairy who puts the sleeping curse on Aurora (sleeping beauty). So in this case, it might have been more lucky if they had seated 13!! hehe
Even today at dinner parties here in Denmark, we will make up a seat for a 14th person, if we will only be 13 for dinner! So the superstition still lives!!
The number 13, is also linked to the perfect number for a witches coven. Nordic mythology tells of the witches of the north gathering under the dark moon, near the entrance to Valhalla. On one of these occasions the Goddess Freya herself came through the doorway and appeared before them. Noticing they were only 12 witches present, she gave them one of her sacret cats to complete the rite, and since a full witches coven has been comprised of 13 members.
The name Friday stems from the Nordic goddesses Frigg and Freya, who were both honored on the 6th day of the week. Freya is often pictured with her cats Bygul and Trjegul, who pull her chariot - hence also the name "Black cat day". The Cat being her sacred animal, was recast as a "witches" familiar and became associated with a consort of evil when Christianity came to the North.
Freya also had many other titles and functions; the leader of the Valkyries where she claimed half of the slain as her own; the Mardoll (moon shinin on the sea), the creatress of the primeval waters; Syr - a seeress and sage, who wise-women, seers, rune-mistresses and healers were closely connected with, as she was the Deity of magick, Witchcraft and love affairs.
Freya's secret magick was known as seidr, which was shamanistic-like, represented by her falconcape, that made her able to turn into a bird, travel to the underworld and bring back prophecies.
Seidr, was a form of magick trance and divination that originated with Freya and was basically a feminine mystical craft.
This "feminine" link between the mystical powers of seidr and "friday" may also be why the christian church, when trying to turn the population from the pagan ways, condemned friday as being unlucky - and friday the 13th as being especially unlucky, as both Friday and 13 were connected with the Great Godess.
Today i celebrate Friday the 13th as a day of femininity with the spirit of Freya in mind, she is after all the Goddess of sex and fertility ;)
Happy Friday all !!
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