 One of the most commonly held superstitions in
our so-called civilized, educated society is that Friday the 13th is
an unlucky day, and since, in this equation, each is held to be
unlucky, added together, their sum can only equal double trouble.
The modern basis for the aura that
surrounds Friday the 13th stems from Friday October the 13th, 1307.
On this date, the Pope of the church in
Rome in Conjunction with the King of France, carried out a secret
death warrant Against "the Knights
Templar". The Templars were terminated as heretics, never
again to hold the power that they had held for so long. There Grand
Master, Jacques DeMolay, was arrested and before he was killed, was
tortured and crucified.
Superstitions swirling around Friday as being lucky or unlucky
have existed since ancient times, beginning with the northern
nations. Ancient Romans dedicated the sixth day of the week to their
beautiful, but vain, goddess Venus, so, when the Norsemen adopted the Roman method of naming
days, they naturally adopted Venus as their name for the sixth day
of the week. Their closest translation for Venus, Frigg, or Freya,
eventually evolved into Friday, a day they considered to be the
luckiest day of the week.
From a religious standpoint, Muslims tout Friday as the day
Allah created Adam, legend has
it that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, the apple, on a
Friday, and later died on a Friday, and Christians consider Friday
as the day on which Christ was crucified by the Romans.
The Scandinavian belief that the number 13 signified bad luck
sprang from their mythological 12 demigods, who were joined by a 13th demigod,
Loki, an evil cruel one, who brought upon humans great misfortune.
The number 13, in the Christian faith, is the number of parties at
the Last Supper, with the 13th guest at the table being the traitor,
Judas. When Christians combine this day and number, the combination
can only hold special significance.
Whether or not a person considers Friday the 13th as unlucky, he
or she must understand that this superstition, as well as others,
merely stem from beliefs or practices man used, and continues to
use, to explain, and to protect himself, from events beyond his
control in his complicated world. He worked, and works only with the
bag of knowledge he has on hand.
Only when factual, scientific bases for these beliefs are
unearthed, and people do not dispel the beliefs, but instead cling
to them, the beliefs become superstitions. Today's beliefs may very
well be tomorrows superstitions.
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note:
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aura: 氣氛
Pope: 羅馬教皇
the Knights Templar: 圣殿騎士團(tuán)
crucify:
在十字架上釘死
Norsemen: 挪威人
tout: 吹捧
Allah: 真主阿拉
Adam: 亞當(dāng)
demigods: 小神
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