Make Friday the 13th Your Lucky Day

[Anne Toinnette]

Make Friday the 13th Your Lucky Day
Bad Luck? BS!
by S.K. Smith


Friday the 13th is so reputed for bad luck, that fear of the day has an actual name -- paraskavedekatriaphobia (try saying that three times fast)! But while this day of the week/date of the month combo may indeed carry some historic associations, there's no need to be superstitious. In fact, if you know how to play your cards right, this calendar conundrum could turn out to be your lucky day! Here are three unique ways to take today's odds and turn them in your favor!

Take an impromptu trip
A recent study showed that there are fewer accidents on the 13th of the month when it falls on a Friday. Whether it's because there are fewer cars on the road or drivers are more cautious, we'll never know, but it doesn't matter! Take advantage of this statistic and brave the two hour drive to that amazing restaurant you've heard about or start a weekend away somewhere that doesn't require a flight. There are bound to be last minute deals in your favor and who knows -- you might just have the place to yourselves, since others will have given into their fearful feelings and stayed home.

Shop 'til you drop!
A little known fact about Friday the 13th is that retail revenues decline on this day, no matter what time of year it rolls around. While stores won't be likely to advertise mark downs made for this reason, odds are you'll be more likely to find day-of deals. Smaller, privately owned retailers may even be willing to haggle! So, do a little digging (it never hurts to know the best rate you can find for whatever it is you're looking to buy) and see if you can get a store manager to beat it. You might be surprised at the deals you'll be able to strike in the (silent) name of superstition!

Create your own fate
Finally, research shows that those who believe themselves unlucky are more likely to be frightened of Friday the 13th (or hold onto any number of other superstitions/irrational fears). So, rather than buy into the hype (and essentially set yourself up for strife), why not turn it in your favor? Declare that today is your lucky day… and watch how fast the tides turn, bringing with them blessings large and small. After all, energy is everything. Spend yours in the right way (and the right places) and it will return to you tenfold… which can be good or bad, depending on what vibrations you emit.

[Anne Toinnette]

The Truth About Friday the 13th
by Margaret Kohut
 
Are you superstitious? Do you avoid black cats and cracks in the sidewalk? Are you terrified of having seven years of bad luck if you break a mirror? Me neither. However, the origins of some of our superstitions are largely unknown in today’s world. This is unfortunate because
 superstitions are a part of our heritage. We may not believe in them, but it’s always interesting to know their genesis just for the heck of it. So many of these legends have passed into the modern vernacular, yet we don’t understand why we’re saying or doing things that keep us from stepping on cracks and breaking our mothers’ backs and throwing salt over our shoulders.

Such is the case with the superstition that Friday the 13th is an “unlucky” day when all kinds of bad things can happen to us. Then there are all those movies about killer maniacs that bust loose on this date. Spooky as they may be, they have no real tie-in to the superstition at all. The following is the truth about the origin of Friday the 13th.

During the first and second Crusades, in about 1118 A.D., the Knights Templar were created by order of the Vatican to protect Christian pilgrims as they journeyed to the Holy Lands. Since Jerusalem and the surrounding land was sacred according to Christians, Jews and Muslims, European Christians who ventured to the area were likely to be set upon by Muslim warriors, tortured, and killed as infidels. Nine monks, called the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, were dispatched by the Pope to protect these pilgrims. Later referred to as the Knights Templar, the monks took up residence in the ruins of the Temple of Solomon. While remaining bound by their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, the Knights quickly became the fiercest warriors of their time, easily defeating Muslim assassins.

The Knights Templar grew great in numbers, wealth and political power despite their holy vows. Their fighting skills were legendary and their mission of protecting Christian pilgrims never failed. For reasons unknown at the time, the Knights began excavation under the Temple’s
 ruins. It was later rumored that they had found gold and treasure including the Arc of the Covenant and the Holy Grail beneath the structure, hidden for a thousand years.

Meanwhile, back in Europe, the monarchs and the Vatican weren’t amused. King Philip IV of France was deeply in debt. Through his personal influence, Pope Clement V was elected in 1305. Philip needed money, and fast. He turned to the Knights Templar to get it. The monk-Knights didn’t pay up. Undeterred, King Philip convinced Clement V to excommunicate the entire order of the Knights Templar. The Pope and the French King went even further to obtain the Knights’ great wealth. Through a long-planned scheme, on Friday, October 13th, 1307, they decreed that every Knight Templar in France be arrested. All over Europe, the same fate awaited other Templars as well.

The Knights were put on trial for heresy on a number of bogus charges; many were tortured and burned to death. Clement V’s order spread throughout Europe, and everywhere the Knights were hunted and killed. Any Catholic monarch who didn’t comply with this order was threatened with immediate excommunication.

King Robert the Bruce of Scotland wasn’t particularly impressed. Since he had already been excommunicated, and his countrymen with him, word spread that the Knights Templar could find refuge in that land. The Knights’ leader, Jacques DeMolay, was burned at the stake for heresy; it was thought that with his death, the Templars would fade and disband. Pope Clement V died only a month after the murder of Jacques DeMolay.

The Knights Templar went into hiding, but they did not disband. Instead, they developed secret signs and passwords to identify each other. The Templars still considered themselves as strict Catholics whom the Church had wrongly declared to be heretics. They spread their wealth into secret locations in Ireland, Scotland and Portugal. Some believe that they even spread their treasure into the New World, especially on a remote island in what would become Nova Scotia (“New Scotland”).

In 2001, researcher Dr. Barbara Frale discovered a strange document in the archives of the Vatican. Called the Chinton Parchment after the name of the castle where Jacques DeMolay was held captive, the document states that Pope Clement V secretly pardoned the Knights Templar of any
 wrongdoing in 1314, shortly before his death.

And there you have it; the truth about the origins of our superstition about Friday the 13th. Certainly an unlucky day for the Knights Templar, the legend of their mass slaughter persists to this day. If you’re not about to be executed, I wouldn’t worry about it.

[SunMoonStars101]

My daughter was born on Friday the 13th and since then I have always thought of it as a lucky and special day.