Mysterious Number Thirteen
Today is Friday the 13th, a woefully unlucky day. Or is it? Among world faiths the number 13 plays an important, albeit understated role that is worth considering. In the Christian faith there were 13 participants at the Last Supper. Tradition holds that Judas Iscariot, the betrayer was the last and thus 13th person to sit at the table. It is here the number 13 begins to take on its ominous aura. In a short period of time this event and the associated number would become an integral part of Christian tradition, at one time (though no longer accepted as valid) being given to the epiphany to celebrate the 13th day of the savior’s life when Magi gave their now famous gifts. But in actuality the meaning of the number, both lucky and unlucky and always mystical goes back much further.
In Judaism, which both predates Christianity and is the foundation upon which Christianity is built the number thirteen has a long history. It is the age at which a boy enters manhood when he is Bar Mitzvahd a word that recalls ancient transition rites and that means “He who belongs to the covenant”. Only after this time can the child enter fully into the covenant with God and engage is all matter’s legal, moral and spiritual as a fully realized adult. Since the covenant is the central feature of Judaism and represents the very promise made by god to his chosen people then the number (age) thirteen at which time the covenant takes effect must be understood as having central importance.
Maimonides, the great Jewish mystic and historian said there are 13 principals of the Jewish faith by which to live. This mirror’s the Torah which holds that God possess 13 attributes of Mercy. Further, in Cabbalistic teaching there are said to be 13 nodes comprising the Metatrons cube. The Metatron is a mysterious figure said to be an angel or an alternate god figure. The name itself is of uncertain etymology but is widely understood to mean the Keeper of the Watch. He is ascribed the function of a scribe recording the actions of the Hebrew people in what amounts to a second book of life (I would argue that mythically speaking, the Jews being the chosen people are automatically granted entry into heaven and are thus superfluous to the book of life which records all things that live). The number 13 can be carried further with the relationship between the 12 tribes of Israel and YWHE who makes the 13th individual member of the covenant.
Among other faiths the number 13 plays no less important a role. Hindus feast the dead on the 13th day of death to propitiate the departed while the Sikhs view the number as very lucky. In fact prior to the introduction of the last supper story the number 13 had a far less sinister reputation.
As important as the number 13 is to world religions it is of equal importance to folklore and superstition of our every day lives. Traditionally there were 13 steps leading to the hangman’s noose, though it is a myth that there were 13 twists to the noose (the number being generally 8). There were also 13 plotters in the failed gunpowder plot that lead to Guy Fawkes immortal fame, and annual immolation. On April 11th at 13:13 hours, universal time the 13th Apollo mission was struck with disaster. It was the only of the Apollo missions to end in failure. 3 astronauts died when an electrical fault ignited the rarified oxygen within. The number 13 had truck again. But is there anything to the superstition?
In the Middle Ages King Philip V of France waged a private war against the massed wealth and alleged sinister nature of the Knights Templar. King Philip V had arrested the grand master of the Knights Templar, one Jacques D’Molay who was later burned at the stake along with all other knights that could be found. Many were tortured into confessing all manner of moral and legal crimes from theft and murder to lude sexual worship at mysterious deity called Baphomet. This marked the end of the Knights Templar. It was on a Friday, October 13th on the year 1307. Did King Philip chose this date for its symbolic power or did the date rise up of its own accord to strike? Historically, this is the first time a verifiable event occurred on this date. We have no way of knowing how much this event may have cause the number thirteen to continue with an increased negative connotation, one that shifted away from religious thought and into the secular and thus folkloric mind of the people.
In the 18th century, The British Navy, the largest and most well trained in the world came face to face with the superstition. The Ship HMS Friday was launched on Friday the 13th in an attempt by the British crown to dispel sailor’s fears about sailing on Friday. The ship slid away from her berth and sailed into the open ocean, where she was never seen again. The ships captain, a man named Jim Friday!
It wasn’t until 1880 that another attempt was made to combat the legacy of the number thirteen when the thirteen club was formed in New York. There had been a long held belief that if thirteen people gathered to dine at a table together on of them would die within the year. The origin of this belief was likely a mixture of two feast events, the first being the last supper, the other being Norse feat where 12 gods dined together until Loki (making the 13th crashed the party and through trickery led to the death of Baldur the beautiful, which in turn lead to ragnarock. In Paris, this fear is so ingrained that parties of thirteen can buy the services of a professional quatrozieme, of 14th guest.
Friday is the name day of the goddess Freya who was once held to be a powerful and feared witch. There is a legend that says once there were 12 witches conducting their sabbat when Freya flew down from the mountain making thirteen witches, which is the traditional number required for a sabbat.
Cobham Brewers dictionary of phrase and fable introduced many Americans to the unlucky 13 and the Friday superstitions. It was published during a time when Spiritualism was at its height. Americans clamored for anything mysterious and supernatural. But I have shown the idea existed long before. By 1911 the superstition had become so powerful that a medical phobia was introduced, Triskaidekaphobia or the fear of the number 13. Medical authorities consider at least the mental power behind this number and history as I have shown is filled with numerous instances of the number 13 playing a hand at all manner of sinister deeds so clearly we have cause to worry on this particular day. Or do we?
I have given many accounts culled from many easily accessed sources yet I have not given the whole story to all of them. Yes, the Knights Templar were brought to an end but the actual time of this covers many months, and years. Jacques D’Molay was arrested, though some accounts say it was in March and the actual day is not verified, while the overall events transpired over the period of many months and in some instances stretched years. So perhaps Friday the 13th was at work, or perhaps it was simply a convenient date. And what of the HMS Friday? Surely this could be no coincidence. The answer is simple. It is no coincidence. It is a myth. There has never been an HMS Friday, nor a captain Friday and the British navy has never made a habit of disproving superstitions. The origin of the myth is unclear but the event never happened. As to the Thirteen Club’s dinner? Well, at the end of the year not a single member had met an unusual end. On the other hand, the number 13 to some people today has a very different connotation. It was the 13th amendment that abolished slavery. Is there anything to the number 13? That is a question I leave to you dear reader. As for me, I have no plans to hide from bogeymen and I assure you, if ever I am in a building with 13 floors I will not hesitate to push that thirteenth button.
In Judaism, which both predates Christianity and is the foundation upon which Christianity is built the number thirteen has a long history. It is the age at which a boy enters manhood when he is Bar Mitzvahd a word that recalls ancient transition rites and that means “He who belongs to the covenant”. Only after this time can the child enter fully into the covenant with God and engage is all matter’s legal, moral and spiritual as a fully realized adult. Since the covenant is the central feature of Judaism and represents the very promise made by god to his chosen people then the number (age) thirteen at which time the covenant takes effect must be understood as having central importance.
Maimonides, the great Jewish mystic and historian said there are 13 principals of the Jewish faith by which to live. This mirror’s the Torah which holds that God possess 13 attributes of Mercy. Further, in Cabbalistic teaching there are said to be 13 nodes comprising the Metatrons cube. The Metatron is a mysterious figure said to be an angel or an alternate god figure. The name itself is of uncertain etymology but is widely understood to mean the Keeper of the Watch. He is ascribed the function of a scribe recording the actions of the Hebrew people in what amounts to a second book of life (I would argue that mythically speaking, the Jews being the chosen people are automatically granted entry into heaven and are thus superfluous to the book of life which records all things that live). The number 13 can be carried further with the relationship between the 12 tribes of Israel and YWHE who makes the 13th individual member of the covenant.
Among other faiths the number 13 plays no less important a role. Hindus feast the dead on the 13th day of death to propitiate the departed while the Sikhs view the number as very lucky. In fact prior to the introduction of the last supper story the number 13 had a far less sinister reputation.
As important as the number 13 is to world religions it is of equal importance to folklore and superstition of our every day lives. Traditionally there were 13 steps leading to the hangman’s noose, though it is a myth that there were 13 twists to the noose (the number being generally 8). There were also 13 plotters in the failed gunpowder plot that lead to Guy Fawkes immortal fame, and annual immolation. On April 11th at 13:13 hours, universal time the 13th Apollo mission was struck with disaster. It was the only of the Apollo missions to end in failure. 3 astronauts died when an electrical fault ignited the rarified oxygen within. The number 13 had truck again. But is there anything to the superstition?
In the Middle Ages King Philip V of France waged a private war against the massed wealth and alleged sinister nature of the Knights Templar. King Philip V had arrested the grand master of the Knights Templar, one Jacques D’Molay who was later burned at the stake along with all other knights that could be found. Many were tortured into confessing all manner of moral and legal crimes from theft and murder to lude sexual worship at mysterious deity called Baphomet. This marked the end of the Knights Templar. It was on a Friday, October 13th on the year 1307. Did King Philip chose this date for its symbolic power or did the date rise up of its own accord to strike? Historically, this is the first time a verifiable event occurred on this date. We have no way of knowing how much this event may have cause the number thirteen to continue with an increased negative connotation, one that shifted away from religious thought and into the secular and thus folkloric mind of the people.
In the 18th century, The British Navy, the largest and most well trained in the world came face to face with the superstition. The Ship HMS Friday was launched on Friday the 13th in an attempt by the British crown to dispel sailor’s fears about sailing on Friday. The ship slid away from her berth and sailed into the open ocean, where she was never seen again. The ships captain, a man named Jim Friday!
It wasn’t until 1880 that another attempt was made to combat the legacy of the number thirteen when the thirteen club was formed in New York. There had been a long held belief that if thirteen people gathered to dine at a table together on of them would die within the year. The origin of this belief was likely a mixture of two feast events, the first being the last supper, the other being Norse feat where 12 gods dined together until Loki (making the 13th crashed the party and through trickery led to the death of Baldur the beautiful, which in turn lead to ragnarock. In Paris, this fear is so ingrained that parties of thirteen can buy the services of a professional quatrozieme, of 14th guest.
Friday is the name day of the goddess Freya who was once held to be a powerful and feared witch. There is a legend that says once there were 12 witches conducting their sabbat when Freya flew down from the mountain making thirteen witches, which is the traditional number required for a sabbat.
Cobham Brewers dictionary of phrase and fable introduced many Americans to the unlucky 13 and the Friday superstitions. It was published during a time when Spiritualism was at its height. Americans clamored for anything mysterious and supernatural. But I have shown the idea existed long before. By 1911 the superstition had become so powerful that a medical phobia was introduced, Triskaidekaphobia or the fear of the number 13. Medical authorities consider at least the mental power behind this number and history as I have shown is filled with numerous instances of the number 13 playing a hand at all manner of sinister deeds so clearly we have cause to worry on this particular day. Or do we?
I have given many accounts culled from many easily accessed sources yet I have not given the whole story to all of them. Yes, the Knights Templar were brought to an end but the actual time of this covers many months, and years. Jacques D’Molay was arrested, though some accounts say it was in March and the actual day is not verified, while the overall events transpired over the period of many months and in some instances stretched years. So perhaps Friday the 13th was at work, or perhaps it was simply a convenient date. And what of the HMS Friday? Surely this could be no coincidence. The answer is simple. It is no coincidence. It is a myth. There has never been an HMS Friday, nor a captain Friday and the British navy has never made a habit of disproving superstitions. The origin of the myth is unclear but the event never happened. As to the Thirteen Club’s dinner? Well, at the end of the year not a single member had met an unusual end. On the other hand, the number 13 to some people today has a very different connotation. It was the 13th amendment that abolished slavery. Is there anything to the number 13? That is a question I leave to you dear reader. As for me, I have no plans to hide from bogeymen and I assure you, if ever I am in a building with 13 floors I will not hesitate to push that thirteenth button.