Baker's Dozen
A look in the myths surrounding the number 13
by: Libby Baldwin
Debuting a new pin-up website is an exciting time, unless of course you
are a columnist trying to write an article about the significance of the
number 13. Then debuting a new column becomes a seemingly
insurmountable behemoth of information leading ultimately nowhere.
Triskaidekaphobia [tris-kEYE-deck-ah-FO-bee-ah] is plainly described by
Webster's Dictionary as “A fear of the number 13”, and it's everywhere.
Horror movies will delay distribution so that opening day will land on a
Friday the Thirteenth, Companies will change logos so that there is no
reference to the number thirteen in them. Why? There are a lot of people
with a lot of ideas on both sides of this fence, but for the most part all you
will ever hear is a long winded “It's just bad, okay?” or a superlative “It's
just cool okay?”. But, WHY? The short answer is that no one really
knows; but I'm none too interested in the short answer, are you?
About 2000 years ago [give or take] a guy named Jesus sat down with
thirteen of his best friends for what would be the last dinner of his life.
Rumor has it that one of these friends sold out the J-man, and he [Judas]
was the last one to sit at the table that night. This is usually where folks of
the Christian persuasion rest their cases. On the surface, this seems like
a pretty good account for the beginning of the superstition surrounding
the number 13; messiah betrayed by his Thirteenth apostle, thus
beginning superstition surrounding the number - except for one thing:
Documents predating the last supper, by, oh, 3000 years, mention
aversion to the number thirteen too. The Mesopotamian Code of
Hammurabi omits the number 13 in its numbered list. Unfortunately those
writings only mention or allude to the fear of thirteen, not why. It's also
important to note that in Judaism 13 is a sacred number, a way of
describing the unique God. It's important to note, because Jesus was
Jewish.
Religious material is littered with references to the number thirteen, good,
bad, and ambiguous. In Norse mythology, Loki crashes the banquet of the
12 Gods [his presence making 13] and kills one of the guests with a
poisoned arrow. In Egypt there are 13 steps between this life and the next.
According to the Talmud [an ancient record of discussions pertaining to
Jewish Law and history] Metatron, the voice of God, creates a cube from
his own soul comprised of 13 nodes. It's a lot of old obscured, and often
conflicting information. I had hoped to find some jewel of information that
could give light to origin of 13's significance. There is not one historic
document, scroll, or painting describing something so awful that was
associated with the number thirteen that vast groups of people should
fear it; or so good that people should revere it. Some religions, however,
see the number 13 as something else entirely, something not bad, but not
quite good either, which is where [I think] ultimately the significance of the
number comes from.
Pagan religions have it that 13 is a magical number for a multitude of
reasons. It's been purported as the perfect number for a witches coven,
13 is also the number given to the Great Goddess. It is also the number of
months in the Lunar year. The calendar contains an extra month due to
the fact that the lunar cycle is 28 days long as opposed to 30 or 31; this
gives us the phrases “A year and a day” and “Forever and a day”. The
importance of the moon in pagan mythos is everywhere, as is it's
reverence for women in the form of the Goddess. What else do we know
that lasts 28 days? A menstrual cycle. Meaning a healthy woman will have
13 periods in a year.
Which makes a lot of sense. Every culture, in every time and era has one
thing in common, women. Depending on how a culture views the women
therein a similar view upon the number 13 is developed. Sinister and evil,
life-giving and godlike, or as changing as the phases of the moon.
Granted, I'm no expert. I won't even claim to be correct, but I do think it's
food for thought. However, it's important to note that 13 isn't a big deal
everywhere.
Korean, Chinese, and Japanese cultures suffer from the fear of the
number 4, as it is the same word as “die” save for pronunciation. In Italy
the number 17 is the bad guy, which stems from a Roman numeral
arrangement that also can be taken to mean “My life is over.”. Both of
these cultures manifest their fears much the same way of those falling in
to the 13 category; changes to building numbering, number of steps on
stairways, and so on. Chinese cellular phone numbers are sold at a
discounted rate when they contain the number 4. An Italian airline has no
Seventeenth row, and had the name of a plane model R17, changed to
R177 prior to sale. It is very common for hotels and office buildings in the
U.S. To be devoid of a Thirteenth floor, but the best example of building
modification for a numerological phobia is a hotel in Beijing with no
Fourth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth[no 4s are okay], and no Seventeenth floor.
In fact the first American Hotel chain to have a 13th floor was the Hilton.
Now, I know, I know, I haven't even gotten to Friday the 13th yet. The
thing about Friday the 13th, is that it seems to have a following all it's
own. With a phobia all it's own. People who are otherwise unbothered by
the number 13 refuse to leave the house on Fridays that fall on the 13th,
some people refuse to work, convinced tragedy shall befall them. Friday,
in older times before the five day work week, has a history of being a
somewhat unlucky day, particularly in maritime culture. Friday being the
sixth day in a week that begins on Sunday [6+7=13], makes Friday the
Thirteenth doubly significant. Which is something I happen to have
experience with. I have no real superstitious tendencies, I don't really care
about ladders, or black cats, or broken mirrors. BUT, and it's a big but, I
did think it would be funny to get married on Friday October 13th.
However, the folks at two establishments that will remain nameless did not
share my glee over my proposed wedding date.
The first place was the worst, they let me get everything set up and
organized and then as I was about to pay these people they came to the
realization that October 13th fell on a Friday. The woman who owned the
place called me personally to question my intelligence first, and my sanity
second. Stating that her Bed and Breakfast Inn would in no way host a
wedding on “the Devil's day”. I thanked her for her time, and looked at
similar locations for my nuptials. The second place, another B&B, was at
least kind enough to say 'no' outright. Claiming that owner was
paraskavedekatriaphobic; that was the word he used. Seriously, have fun
looking that one up.
We had trouble again getting our marriage license when the county clerk
decided to give us a big speil about marriage not being a joke. She went
on to cite the arrest and murder of the Knights Templar [which occurred
Friday October 13th, 1307] as the reason the myth exists, and that
laughing in the faces of Saints wasn't funny. At least she understood we
were trying to be funny.
I looked up this bit of information later that day and learned that while the
death of the Knights Templar was certainly a well sited cause for the
myth, it was indeed not been the day they had died, but was the day they
were arrested. They were charged with heresy and tortured for days into
giving false confessions before they were executed. Moving on; what I did
learn that day was that the Friday the Thirteenth myth didn't appear in any
kind of written form until near the of the Nineteenth century. Until this
point in time the superstition was almost exclusive to the maritime culture.
It would seem that until the immigration and leisure travel booms [both by
and large by boat] occurring during the mid to late 1800s, did the
superstition affix itself to the populace at large.
Knowing this, I shifted gears from trying to find a Bed and Breakfast, to
trying to find a boat or ship that would host our ceremony. Lucky for us
Janet at Hornblower Cruises, who finally gave us a venue, thought the
whole thing was as funny as we did [she got married on April Fool's day].
After all the trouble to get a place and time, we found out that my
Grandmother was refusing to go, not just because she too has an
unfounded fear of Friday the 13th, but as she put it “sailing on Friday the
13th is a double whammy. It's like asking God to smite you.” Good thing
she didn't notice that ceremony was scheduled for the Thirteenth hour, on
day in which the digits in the month, day, and year all add up to 13
[something I actually learned while researching this article]. Which in it's
own weird way brings me to 13's prevailance in sub and counter cultures.
The idea of not doing what the norms do is kind of the point of most
subculture or one extent or another. Embracing what is seen as taboo is
the general calling card. Embracing the number 13 is an extension of that.
Lucky 13 brand clothing has exploded in popularity among people of
various scenes; so much so that it's begun to host pin up models and
branch out past clothing. Several tattoo artists told me that 13 is
becoming a more popular tattoo than the butterfly. It seems that good or
bad the significance of the number is something more and more people
are wanting immortalized on their skin. What no one at Lucky 13 or either
tattoo artist I spoke to could tell me was why. I suspect it's like my
Grandma said “It's like asking God to smite you.” We live in a day and age
that promotes and fosters freethinking about everything. Iconoclasts have
always enjoyed fame and praise of people willing to think and take stock
of their surroundings, and have always suffered infamy from those who
maintain their secular roots. Few things have endured such dramatic
social and theological change as people's opinion of the number 13, which
leads me to believe it will always have significance in the cultures [sub or
otherwise] it which it prevails, for no rhyme or reason other than it is one
more than 12.
Fun 13 Trivia:
Arnold Schoenberg (Ironically born on the 13th) suffered from
triskaidekaphobia. He was convinced that he would die aged 76 (because
7+6 = 13). Not only did his premonition come true, he also died on Friday
13 July (another 13: Friday is the sixth day of the week -beginning on
Sunday> -, and July is the seventh month, making 6+7=13) at 11:47 PM -
13 minutes to midnight. Also, adding the numbers 1, 1, 4, and 7 brings up
a total of 13.
Infamous serial killers Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffery Dahmer,
and Theodore Bundy all have 13 letters in their names.
There are 13 zodiac constellations, but only 12 astrological signs in the
western zodiac.
In Sikhism, the number 13 is considered a special number since 13 is tera
in Punjabi , which also means "yours" (as in, "I am yours, O Lord").
The Great Seal of the United States contains numerous references to 13
including:
"13 letters in "E Pluribus Unum", which appears in the banner running
through the eagle's beak on the right side of the bill's reverse.
"13 letters in the phrase "Annuit Coeptis", which appears over the pyramid
on the left side of the bill's reverse.
"13 stars above the Eagle,
"13 leaves on the olive branch,
"13 olives on the olive branch,
"13 arrows held by the Eagle, and
"13 bars on the shield.
Copyright 2007, Libby Baldwin. All rights reserved
A look in the myths surrounding the number 13
by: Libby Baldwin
Debuting a new pin-up website is an exciting time, unless of course you
are a columnist trying to write an article about the significance of the
number 13. Then debuting a new column becomes a seemingly
insurmountable behemoth of information leading ultimately nowhere.
Triskaidekaphobia [tris-kEYE-deck-ah-FO-bee-ah] is plainly described by
Webster's Dictionary as “A fear of the number 13”, and it's everywhere.
Horror movies will delay distribution so that opening day will land on a
Friday the Thirteenth, Companies will change logos so that there is no
reference to the number thirteen in them. Why? There are a lot of people
with a lot of ideas on both sides of this fence, but for the most part all you
will ever hear is a long winded “It's just bad, okay?” or a superlative “It's
just cool okay?”. But, WHY? The short answer is that no one really
knows; but I'm none too interested in the short answer, are you?
About 2000 years ago [give or take] a guy named Jesus sat down with
thirteen of his best friends for what would be the last dinner of his life.
Rumor has it that one of these friends sold out the J-man, and he [Judas]
was the last one to sit at the table that night. This is usually where folks of
the Christian persuasion rest their cases. On the surface, this seems like
a pretty good account for the beginning of the superstition surrounding
the number 13; messiah betrayed by his Thirteenth apostle, thus
beginning superstition surrounding the number - except for one thing:
Documents predating the last supper, by, oh, 3000 years, mention
aversion to the number thirteen too. The Mesopotamian Code of
Hammurabi omits the number 13 in its numbered list. Unfortunately those
writings only mention or allude to the fear of thirteen, not why. It's also
important to note that in Judaism 13 is a sacred number, a way of
describing the unique God. It's important to note, because Jesus was
Jewish.
Religious material is littered with references to the number thirteen, good,
bad, and ambiguous. In Norse mythology, Loki crashes the banquet of the
12 Gods [his presence making 13] and kills one of the guests with a
poisoned arrow. In Egypt there are 13 steps between this life and the next.
According to the Talmud [an ancient record of discussions pertaining to
Jewish Law and history] Metatron, the voice of God, creates a cube from
his own soul comprised of 13 nodes. It's a lot of old obscured, and often
conflicting information. I had hoped to find some jewel of information that
could give light to origin of 13's significance. There is not one historic
document, scroll, or painting describing something so awful that was
associated with the number thirteen that vast groups of people should
fear it; or so good that people should revere it. Some religions, however,
see the number 13 as something else entirely, something not bad, but not
quite good either, which is where [I think] ultimately the significance of the
number comes from.
Pagan religions have it that 13 is a magical number for a multitude of
reasons. It's been purported as the perfect number for a witches coven,
13 is also the number given to the Great Goddess. It is also the number of
months in the Lunar year. The calendar contains an extra month due to
the fact that the lunar cycle is 28 days long as opposed to 30 or 31; this
gives us the phrases “A year and a day” and “Forever and a day”. The
importance of the moon in pagan mythos is everywhere, as is it's
reverence for women in the form of the Goddess. What else do we know
that lasts 28 days? A menstrual cycle. Meaning a healthy woman will have
13 periods in a year.
Which makes a lot of sense. Every culture, in every time and era has one
thing in common, women. Depending on how a culture views the women
therein a similar view upon the number 13 is developed. Sinister and evil,
life-giving and godlike, or as changing as the phases of the moon.
Granted, I'm no expert. I won't even claim to be correct, but I do think it's
food for thought. However, it's important to note that 13 isn't a big deal
everywhere.
Korean, Chinese, and Japanese cultures suffer from the fear of the
number 4, as it is the same word as “die” save for pronunciation. In Italy
the number 17 is the bad guy, which stems from a Roman numeral
arrangement that also can be taken to mean “My life is over.”. Both of
these cultures manifest their fears much the same way of those falling in
to the 13 category; changes to building numbering, number of steps on
stairways, and so on. Chinese cellular phone numbers are sold at a
discounted rate when they contain the number 4. An Italian airline has no
Seventeenth row, and had the name of a plane model R17, changed to
R177 prior to sale. It is very common for hotels and office buildings in the
U.S. To be devoid of a Thirteenth floor, but the best example of building
modification for a numerological phobia is a hotel in Beijing with no
Fourth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth[no 4s are okay], and no Seventeenth floor.
In fact the first American Hotel chain to have a 13th floor was the Hilton.
Now, I know, I know, I haven't even gotten to Friday the 13th yet. The
thing about Friday the 13th, is that it seems to have a following all it's
own. With a phobia all it's own. People who are otherwise unbothered by
the number 13 refuse to leave the house on Fridays that fall on the 13th,
some people refuse to work, convinced tragedy shall befall them. Friday,
in older times before the five day work week, has a history of being a
somewhat unlucky day, particularly in maritime culture. Friday being the
sixth day in a week that begins on Sunday [6+7=13], makes Friday the
Thirteenth doubly significant. Which is something I happen to have
experience with. I have no real superstitious tendencies, I don't really care
about ladders, or black cats, or broken mirrors. BUT, and it's a big but, I
did think it would be funny to get married on Friday October 13th.
However, the folks at two establishments that will remain nameless did not
share my glee over my proposed wedding date.
The first place was the worst, they let me get everything set up and
organized and then as I was about to pay these people they came to the
realization that October 13th fell on a Friday. The woman who owned the
place called me personally to question my intelligence first, and my sanity
second. Stating that her Bed and Breakfast Inn would in no way host a
wedding on “the Devil's day”. I thanked her for her time, and looked at
similar locations for my nuptials. The second place, another B&B, was at
least kind enough to say 'no' outright. Claiming that owner was
paraskavedekatriaphobic; that was the word he used. Seriously, have fun
looking that one up.
We had trouble again getting our marriage license when the county clerk
decided to give us a big speil about marriage not being a joke. She went
on to cite the arrest and murder of the Knights Templar [which occurred
Friday October 13th, 1307] as the reason the myth exists, and that
laughing in the faces of Saints wasn't funny. At least she understood we
were trying to be funny.
I looked up this bit of information later that day and learned that while the
death of the Knights Templar was certainly a well sited cause for the
myth, it was indeed not been the day they had died, but was the day they
were arrested. They were charged with heresy and tortured for days into
giving false confessions before they were executed. Moving on; what I did
learn that day was that the Friday the Thirteenth myth didn't appear in any
kind of written form until near the of the Nineteenth century. Until this
point in time the superstition was almost exclusive to the maritime culture.
It would seem that until the immigration and leisure travel booms [both by
and large by boat] occurring during the mid to late 1800s, did the
superstition affix itself to the populace at large.
Knowing this, I shifted gears from trying to find a Bed and Breakfast, to
trying to find a boat or ship that would host our ceremony. Lucky for us
Janet at Hornblower Cruises, who finally gave us a venue, thought the
whole thing was as funny as we did [she got married on April Fool's day].
After all the trouble to get a place and time, we found out that my
Grandmother was refusing to go, not just because she too has an
unfounded fear of Friday the 13th, but as she put it “sailing on Friday the
13th is a double whammy. It's like asking God to smite you.” Good thing
she didn't notice that ceremony was scheduled for the Thirteenth hour, on
day in which the digits in the month, day, and year all add up to 13
[something I actually learned while researching this article]. Which in it's
own weird way brings me to 13's prevailance in sub and counter cultures.
The idea of not doing what the norms do is kind of the point of most
subculture or one extent or another. Embracing what is seen as taboo is
the general calling card. Embracing the number 13 is an extension of that.
Lucky 13 brand clothing has exploded in popularity among people of
various scenes; so much so that it's begun to host pin up models and
branch out past clothing. Several tattoo artists told me that 13 is
becoming a more popular tattoo than the butterfly. It seems that good or
bad the significance of the number is something more and more people
are wanting immortalized on their skin. What no one at Lucky 13 or either
tattoo artist I spoke to could tell me was why. I suspect it's like my
Grandma said “It's like asking God to smite you.” We live in a day and age
that promotes and fosters freethinking about everything. Iconoclasts have
always enjoyed fame and praise of people willing to think and take stock
of their surroundings, and have always suffered infamy from those who
maintain their secular roots. Few things have endured such dramatic
social and theological change as people's opinion of the number 13, which
leads me to believe it will always have significance in the cultures [sub or
otherwise] it which it prevails, for no rhyme or reason other than it is one
more than 12.
Fun 13 Trivia:
Arnold Schoenberg (Ironically born on the 13th) suffered from
triskaidekaphobia. He was convinced that he would die aged 76 (because
7+6 = 13). Not only did his premonition come true, he also died on Friday
13 July (another 13: Friday is the sixth day of the week -beginning on
Sunday> -, and July is the seventh month, making 6+7=13) at 11:47 PM -
13 minutes to midnight. Also, adding the numbers 1, 1, 4, and 7 brings up
a total of 13.
Infamous serial killers Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffery Dahmer,
and Theodore Bundy all have 13 letters in their names.
There are 13 zodiac constellations, but only 12 astrological signs in the
western zodiac.
In Sikhism, the number 13 is considered a special number since 13 is tera
in Punjabi , which also means "yours" (as in, "I am yours, O Lord").
The Great Seal of the United States contains numerous references to 13
including:
"13 letters in "E Pluribus Unum", which appears in the banner running
through the eagle's beak on the right side of the bill's reverse.
"13 letters in the phrase "Annuit Coeptis", which appears over the pyramid
on the left side of the bill's reverse.
"13 stars above the Eagle,
"13 leaves on the olive branch,
"13 olives on the olive branch,
"13 arrows held by the Eagle, and
"13 bars on the shield.
Copyright 2007, Libby Baldwin. All rights reserved
