Friday the 13th in 2020 seems pretty ominous considering the feeling that the whole year has been a dumpster fire.

The fear of Friday the 13th has been around for a long time, but historians haven’t been able to pinpoint exactly when it became a thing.

This isn’t triskaidekaphobia, which is a real psychological issue that may require medical treatment. This is the superstition that bad things will happen on this day, simply because it is the 13th day of the month that happens to land on a Friday.

Some people believe it goes back to when Christ was crucified and the final supper. There were 13 people in attendance at the final supper and one of them turned on Christ. Because of the betrayal, Christ was crucified the next day—a Friday.

Others believe that it had to do with Philip IV of France who arrested hundreds of Knights Templar on Friday the 13th of 1307. Still others believe it is due to the idea that witch covens had 13 members, which hasn’t been substantiated outside of some modern witchcraft circles.

If there is no real basis for it, then why do we continue to assume that something bad will happen on that day? I propose turning the tables and making it a day that we cherish and look forward to.

In numerology, the number 13 usually involves pragmatism, independence, creativity, and the ability to set firm foundations for future activity. That is a great place to start something new.

In the world of Tarot, the 13th card of the major arcana is the death card. Now don’t let that freak you out. Think about what it represents in the world. Death typically means change and transformation—similar to the plants “dying” in the fall season.

The Freemasons believed that number 13 represents good fortune and transformation. Some believe that’s why there were 13 stars on the original American flag and on the seal on the one-dollar bill.

The 13th kua in the I Ching is usually translated as “Fellowship With Men” or “Sameness With People” and refers to our ability to work with and organize others in productive activity. This can also be seen as we are all connected.

Fridays were originally attributed to a specific goddess: Freya in the Norse pantheon and Venus in the Roman. Freya was the goddess of love, fertility, and beauty. Venus was pretty much the Roman version of this goddess. Not too many people would argue that those attributes are bad.

These are all fortuitous reasons to believe that the number 13 and Friday can be lucky.  

This Friday the 13th also happens to be World Kindness Day. If starting a new project seems like too much because COVID-19 and the year 2020 has taken a lot out of us, maybe we could work on being kind to the people around us.

Just think of how much better the world would be if we stopped fearing a specific date and assuming the worst, and we started working to make the world a better place to live in.

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