OCTOBER FRIGHTS BLOG HOP - DAY 4

Welcome to the October Frights Blog Hop

Each year, the day I start another spin around the sun,
falls smack in the middle of the October Frights Blog Hop.
Not only was I born on October 13th, but Friday, October 13th!!
Could that be why I love October and all things spooky?
Who knows?
But the reasons the number 13 gets a bad rap has always intrigued me. 

​Thirteen wasn’t always a considered a naughty number. Those who study numerology will be the first to tell you it’s a prime number, divisible by only itself, which reflects integrity, purity and incorruptible nature.  For some unexplained reason, the number thirteen is lucky in Italy. Flash a number seventeen at an Italian and they will run for the hills.
​
Zeus was the thirteenth God and the most powerful. There are thirteen steps up the Egyptian ladder to eternity.  They believed that when the soul reached the thirteenth step, it had attained spiritual completion. There are thirteen major joints in our body. Our own American flag has thirteen stripes in honor of the thirteen colonies. So far, so good.

Then religious superstition, myths and legends got the better of poor number thirteen. Many believe it started with Freya (Frigg) Norse Goddess and wife of Odin. She threw a banquet and the thirteenth guest, Loki, the God of Mischief, crashed the party causing havoc and, well, mischief. 

Jesus had the same unfortunate number of guests at his last supper.

Other say it was because the monks who were in charge of calendars in ancient times had problems when a year had thirteen full moons instead of twelve. It upset the normal arrangement of church festivals. What could they do except declare thirteen a ghastly number?

Things soon deteriorated for my favorite number. The first time it was mentioned that there were thirteen witches in a coven was in 1662. Isobel Cowdie, a Scottish woman went to trial for witchcraft. Witnesses described her coven as having thirteen members. It stuck, but it’s not necessarily true. Some covens have thirteen, others less and others more. Many witches are solitary, but it’s a number that is still associated with witches. It’s thought anything less than thirteen knots in a hangman’s noose won’t break a person’s neck (the jury is still out on this) and, there are thirteen steps to the gallows.

All these negative connotations, and there are plenty others, were given to thirteen long before the unlucky day of Friday was even attached to it. That's another whole story and blog post for another time. 

Despite all the suspicion, I'm a fan of the number 13 and it's always been lucky for me. 

​What do you think about unlucky 13?

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Click HERE to check out the October Frights Book Fair

Click HERE to visit the October Frights Giveaway

Hop around to the other participating horror and paranormal authors: 

​Nickronomicon
GirlZombieAuthors
An Angell's Life
Always Another Chapter
Angela Yuriko Smith
carmillavoiez.com
Frighten Me
Hawk's Happenings
James P. McDonald
Blood Red Shadows
The Unicorn Herd
Creative Quill
Curiosities
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