unlucky number 13 :)

A few reasons for 13 being unlucky in the West (and its association with Friday):

Generally 12 is considered a divine or perfect number (12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles, 12 months in Gregorian and Islamic calendar, 12 musical pitches to octave…) and so 13 is the first number to deviate from perfection.

The Norse myth of 12 gods having a feast and the 13th uninvitied guest, Loki, arranged for Hod (blind god of darkness) to shoot and kill Baldur (god of joy and gladness) with an arrow, thus plunging the Earth into darkness and mourning.

There were 13 people at the Last Supper and Jesus was crucified on Good Friday.

The grand master of the Knights Templar (knights during crusades who helped defend the new Kingdom of Jerusalem against Muslims) along with all the other members in France were arrested and tortured (only later to ‘confess’ and then be executed) by Philip the Fair on Friday the 13th because of his jealousy for their banking power.

Wow… very informative and interesting

In Norse magic the number 13 is very lucky, and represents the vertical force in the universe created by polarity. The Astral, heavenly yang force meeting the dark, earthly yin force. It is immediate movement in action, as a part of the whole or cyclic energy.

:beer: Finally, some good news on number 13.

13 cards in a suit…

(That’s all I can think of.)

yes, in fact the playing cards are actually our calendar. Here’s some fascinating links:
This was taken from here: src1
"

Playing Cards as a Calendar?
What do you make of this?

What do you make of this?

Robert Camp explains:

"Many people have never stopped to wonder about the many interesting
things associated with our common playing cards. Why for instance,
are there fifty-two cards in a deck? Why four Suits?

What do these suits represent, if anything?

Where did the playing cards come from?

I would like to share with you some interesting connections
that our cards have with our world
and reveal to you why they are actually a calender that is intimately
connected to our life here on Earth.

The Deck of Cards is Our Calendar

"Let’s examine some of the things our little deck and calendar
have in common.

First of all, as I just mentioned there are four suits of thirteen
cards each, totally fifty-two cards, plus a Joker.

Let’s begin with the number 52. What else is their fifty-two of that
is common knowledge?

Well, there are fifty-two weeks in a year.

Now, in numerology, we reduce numbers by adding their digits.
If we reduce the number 52, we get 5 +2=7–the number of days in a week,
and the number of visible planets.

Seven is a very magical number in many ways and is considered
the most spiritual number.

IT is also used extensively in many mystical traditions, including the Bible.

Fascinating, isn’t it?

We can imagine that sometime in our ancient past, man discovered
that a full year comprised something in the neighborhood of 365 days and nights.

Looking into the heavens, they also noticedthe sun, moon, and five other visible
‘objects’ that we now know are planets circling our sun.

Taking their combined number 7, and dividing the nubmer of days in a year by it, they cmae up with fifty[two cycles in a year that we now call weeks.

The wise ones realized that this number had much more
signficance and used these simple facts as a springboard for more advanced study.

Once again, taking the numerology of the cards, we assign numberic values
to each of the cards.

The Aces are 1, the Two, 3, and so forth until we get to the Jack.

The Jack is given the value of 11, the Queen 12, and the King 13.

Now, if we add up all the number values of every card in the deck, what do you guess will be the result?

This means four times thirteen for the four Kings plus
four times twelve for the four Queens, etc.

What would be the resulting total of every care in the deck?

Did you guess 365?

Well, that’s pretty close.

The total actually comes to 364.

We know that there are 365 and 1/4 days in a year,
so what happened and so what happens to the other
day and 1/4?

There is also another card in the deck that we haven’t
counted yet, and that is the Joker.

And guess what?

The Joker’s value is exactly that of one and one quarter,
which brings the total value of the deck of cards
to exactly equal the number of days in a year…"

From “The Book of Destiny”


Here is another site of interest about the Metasymbology of Playing cards. This site also expands on the connection to the Planets - and to me that is the connection to Astrology. But back to the Calendar, look at this page about the Pips.
[the following copied from that link]
"

Pips are the spots on the Cards - their numerical value. The numerical value of the deck reads like a calendar.

+4 seasons = 4 suits
12 months = 12 face cards
13 new moons per year = 13 cards per suit
52 weeks in the year = 52 cards
++5
++2
++7 X 52 = 364 days of year with the Joker, given a value of 1 and 1/4, taking up the remnant of days…
And our 7 major planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) are used in charting the cards for a reading."

— What is most interesting that I found in this site, was that it says the Playing Cards actually came BEFORE the Tarot deck (< - - click to read), whereas I had been led to believe the opposite. (and the following sites support that original assertion, but do not state any actual sources, so I am led to believe they are incorrect.)


and More things tying it all together on this site: Tarot Primer


Here’s a site to use playing card for Divination, and also provides more explanations of the meanings behind the cards.Divination link

p.s. Happy Friday the 13th!
I have always felt 13 was a LUCKY rather than Unlucky number - at least for me. But i also own a black cat, so i can’t be that superstitious. :tongue:

Well, my black cat ran away from home and came back six months later… On halloween. Then it disappeared again the next year but never came back :cry:

Anyway, I haven’t felt any less lucky today (Or should I say any MORE unlucky…).

To quote a guy I just made up to take the credit for what I am about to say:

If you believe that friday the 13:th is an unlucky day, then it is.

Hey Galaxy19. Thanks for sharing that article about the number 13, and the cards. I found it interesting about the Joker.

Nick

Sure thing! I have always had a fondness for playing cards, and now I have a better reason too!
Yes, the stuff about the joker is interesting. i like studying lots of different systems and see how they overlap and what they can tell me about life :smile:
CHeer,

if only there was a 13th month… we could have a 7/7/7 and a 13/13/13!

there are 13 months in the 13 moon calendar :wink:
the 13th month is cosmic moon :content:

i wanna know who was just like 13 is a bad number like the guy who invented langauge and the middle finger who gets to decide whats lucy and non lucky bad or good? o crap i just confused myself… o well yea 13 is important but it definatly wont be changed in the multiplacation tables ne time soon

“The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, a word that is derived from the concatenation of the Greek words Παρασκευή, δεκατρείς, and φοβία, meaning Friday, thirteen, and phobia respectively; alternative spellings include paskevodekatriaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia, and is a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a phobia (fear) of the number thirteen. Friday the 13th is also called ‘black Friday’ in many countries.”

Why 13? there’s nothing wrong with it. Nothing bad ever happens on the 13th.
( the 1st passage can be found on Wikipedia)
I agree that 13 is very important in dreamspell.

I’m not afraid of the number 13 at all. In fact, I am 13 years old, born on June 13th, and my next birthday is going to be on Friday the 13th. I’ve had my birthday on Friday the 13th once before when I was younger, and nothing bad ever happened. And the number 13 is important in dreamspells and wavespells and such, so I don’t see a reason to hate that number. :smile:

I think that the #13 is a stereotype

That doesn’t make any sense kT

Heres the origin of this “fear” :wink:
Into the Middle Ages, the stigma against Friday the 13th grew stronger. On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Phillip !V of France ordered the arrest of the Grand Master of the Knights Templar and his senior knights and other members.They were tortured to compel them to admit to “wrongdoings.”

And they were executed. Sympathizers of the Templars condemned Friday the 13th as an evil day.

There is a “”"“Christian”""" explination for that too…
There were Disciples + Christ makes 13 judas is supposed to be number 13 of the church builders and Jesus was ordered killed on a Friday …

How interesting - hadn’t heard that before. Thanks for sharing.

I was also born on a 13th of the month (August 13th) so I don’t percieve it to be unlucky, I actually percieve it to be lucky. I do not have triskaidekaphobia. Did you know the number 13 appears 9 times on the dollar bill (some claim has to do with Masons but probably there for the same reason as the 13 stripes on the flag (13 original colonies)?

  1. 13 steps on unfinished pyramid
  2. “Annuit Coeptis” on reverse of Great Seal (above pyramid) 13 letters long
  3. “E Pluribus Unum” is 13 letters long
  4. 13 arrows in right talon of eagle
  5. 13 leaves on olive branch in right talon of eagle
  6. 13 olives on olive branch
  7. 13 stripes on the shield thing in front of the eagle
  8. 13 bars (requires magnifying glass) on shield
  9. 13 stars above eagle’s head.