Friday 13th - The Happiest of Days
Ok, hear me out, I know many of you are wondering what makes Friday the 13th the happiest of days but have you ever asked yourself why you think otherwise? I have very routinely gone under ladders simply because everyone else was avoiding it, thus making it the fastest way to go. I also tell my neighbor’s black cat he’s gonna have bad luck if I cross in front of him. And you know what’s happened to me? Not a thing. Still not convinced? Ok, let me take you back a bit to figure out why we are spooked by the number 13 and Friday.
There are two myths that may shed some light on the evil of the number 13. The first is a Norse myth of a dinner for twelve gods. Loki, the trickster, was not invited but showed up anyway. Not satisfied at simply gate crashing he also shot Balder, the god of happiness. The other tale is from Christian mythology where we again have a dinner for 13 people, and while no one was shot, Judas would later betray Jesus making Judas, in retrospect, the unwanted 13th guest.
Friday’s evilness has been established in many Western traditions. If we go back to Jesus it has been said that he was crucified on a Friday. And in 1907 a book put the day and the number together, its title was simply Friday the 13th (long before Jason Vorhees and his hockey mask). The book was written by Thomas William Lawson and it dealt with Wall Street and a shady broker. But it doesn’t matter where our fear of this particular date came from. It is still the case that many find that date creepy and unlucky and seeing as how we don’t need any more bad luck in 2020 let’s see what we can do to neutralize this day.
Here are some tried and true ways to bring luck to you. Let’s start with a talisman since it is something you can carry with you and touch or look at throughout the day. An effective luck talisman comes from Ethiopia:
This image is one from the collection of Anna Riva who is well known for creating and compiling sigils and talismans which have been used in many different traditions. The great thing about an image is that you can keep it on a piece of paper in your pocket without it taking up much room. If you wish to you can even draw it on yourself and no one needs to know.
For some who feel they are more tactile, then stones are a great way to go. Black amber has been used in Spain for many years and it made its way to many Latin American traditions as well. Babies are often given this stone (azabache in Spanish) as a way to protect them and give them good luck. The stone is usually small in size and pinned to the baby’s undershirt. Other times a larger piece is used and made into a necklace for a pregnant woman to help protect her and the child. Other crystals that attract luck include: agate, alexandrite, amazonite, bloodstone, jade, lodestone, and sunstone. If you have Runes, consider carrying Feoh on this day. Tarot readers may wish to carry the Wheel of Fortune card.
For green witches, plants like Bamboo, Basil, and Hyacinth are great for attracting luck, as are herbs such as allspice, ginseng, High John, Vanilla and Catnip.
Perhaps you don’t have time or feel inclined to dig around for items, all you need to do is go into your closet to work a bit of color magick. Consider colors such as dark blue, green, orange, and purple which are great to bring luck towards you.
My grandmother felt that the number 13 was a lucky one for her so she owned many pieces of jewelry with that number and would make it a point of wearing it on Friday the 13th. As for me, I plan to chase the neighbor’s cat a bit, open an umbrella inside my home, and gather my Friday the 13th DVDs to enjoy. Whatever you choose to do, may it be a lucky day for you.
This post has been authored by Nori Negrón, WDA Head Witch and teacher. She's got two courses in our platform readily available for you! You can listen to her podcast WitchSpace on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean and more!
Brought to you by Maria Alviz Hernando, WDA Tarot Teacher, and Blog Coordinator. Nori Negrón will be speaking at our Big Bang Conference on December 5th and 6th! Don't miss her and 40 other speakers and get your ticket's now!
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