How's Your Frigga-Triskai-Deka-Phobia???

Today's one of very few Fridays you can ask your friends and colleagues "How's your Frigga-Triskai-Deka-Phobia?"  Yes, you guessed it, believe it or not, no Ripley's pun intended, some people have a real fear of Friday 13th.

So how long has this illogical phobia about 'Black Friday' been going on? Here are a few tales of possible origin for all you Frigga-Triskai-Deka-Phobes out there (it gets easier to pronounce after the 13th attempt).

Norse Myth?  According to National Geographic News, Dossey, a folklore historian and author, "...traces the fear of 13 to a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Balder died and the whole Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned. It was a bad, unlucky day." Being shot by a blind guy with mistletoe is a far cry from kissing under the mistletoe.

Knights Templar? On October 13, 1307, it is well documented that the French King Philip IV ordered mass arrests at dawn of thousands of Knights Templar, including their associates, priests and servants, on various trumped up charges. Although none of these charges was reportedly ever proven, hundreds of Templars were tortured, some to death, in an attempt to extract 'confession'. Many others were reportedly burnt at the stake. This one infers a word of caution for those who hate to get up early in the morning. Staying in bed could be damaging to your health.

Canterbury Tales?  It appears that Chaucer makes reference in his 14th century 'Canterbury Tales' to it generally being considered unlucky to undertake journeys or begin new projects on a Friday. I must admit to not completing nailing this reference since my 'Middle English' is pretty rusty and I have no real aim to read my way through 24 tales written on dusty parchment. The takeaway thought for this one is: If you want to go for a really long walk, take along at least 24 pilgrims with you for entertainment.

Roman Witches? Rumour has it that in ancient Roman days, witches used to gather in groups of twelve for their nefarious pursuits, with the 13th attendee (or at least invitee) being 'Old Nick' himself. The takeaway tip from this has got to be: if you really want to stir things up at your next ouija board meeting, make sure the table is big enough to seat twelve+.  Table for twelve, waiter - and dull the lights!

Pyramids and Camels? Ancient Egyptians believed that there were 12 spiritual stages to life, with the 13th being the ascension to eternal afterlife. Hence 13 became the symbol of death. If you're still not sure about this one - Ask your mummy!

1066 and All That? King Harold II's reign came to a sharp end when he took an arrow to the eye on Friday 13 October, 1066 at the Battle of Hastings. After all, The Normans did promise to keep an eye out for him! 🏹

Let's Not Forget Religion? The Temple of Solomon came tumbling down on a Friday. Adam and Eve reportedly died on a then non-existent Friday. Jesus was crucified on a Friday, although it's now called Good Friday? Judas Iscariot was the lucky thirteenth to come to dine at the Last Supper (Judas lacked prudence?). The Hindus believed it unlucky for 13 people to gather together. Goddess worshippers (and there's plenty of them on Instagram) also revered the number 13 (being the annual number of lunar and menstrual cycles), then along came the 12 month solar calendar and 13 became a 'bad' number. I must admit that I thought long and hard before bringing religion into his post. After all, I didn't want to get 'nailed' for it. 🔨

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And finally, I'm sure you'll all remember (NOT!) that the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics demonstrated, back in 2008, that it is actually safer to drive on Black Friday. Over the period of monitoring, it appears that only 7500 accidents occurred on Fridays that were also the 13th of the month, whereas 7800 accidents were recorded on 'normal' Fridays. This lower number represents an obviously huge reduction of 3.8%! Presumably we've got to thank the Frigga-Triskai-Deka-Phobes for this additional care and attention on the roads? Or is it perhaps due to Black Friday bringing out all the Hole-in-the-Dyke-Phobes, concerned more about launching their boats in the water than driving?

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When not researching absolute nonsense, I chase my creative side, the results of which can be seen as selected photographs of my travels on my website at:

http://ken-boddie.squarespace.com 

The author of the above, Ken Boddie, besides being a consulting engineer, is an enthusiastic photographer, rarely leisure-travelling without his Canon, and loves to interact with other like-minded photographers and people with an artistic background.

Ken's three day work week (part time commitment) as a consulting engineer allows him to follow his photography interests, and to plan trips to an ever increasing list of countries and places of scenic beauty and cultural diversity.