Did you know that Friday the 13th was originally considered the day of the Goddess in many ancient cultures? It was considered a day to worship the Divine Feminine that lives in us all and a time to honour the cycles of creation, death and rebirth.
The Norse and the Romans actually dedicated all Fridays to celebrating Goddess energy!
The Norse celebrated the goddess Frigg (also known as Freya), and the Romans honoured Venus. The word Friday actually originates from the Old English Frīġedæġ, meaning the “day of Frige”.
Friday the 13th is still considered by some of us to be a very powerful day to manifest, hold ritual, honour our creativity. A day to celebrate beauty, wisdom and nurturing of the soul. In the Hebridean isles, it is considered a blessed day for planting seed. There are still many echoes of the ancient reverence for Friday’s goddesses in today’s culture.
There are 13 moon cycles per year, our ancestors knew that number was important. The moon is all about feminine energy, our emotions and sensitivities. The moon and women have a 28 day cycle.
Before patriarchy, a menstruating woman was considered to embody divine and magical powers, revered for her wisdom and ability to offer intuitive and psychic messages. When she was ovulating, she was considered to be at the height of her power and was celebrated for her ability to receive, hold and create new life.
So, what changed?
It was only when society became patriarchal that women were made to feel shamed when they were bleeding and to ignore their divine potential to create and hold space for new life. To demonise long held sacred beliefs was an attempt to deliberately oppress and take power from the sacred aspects of femininity. In some cultures, women are still banished to separate dwellings from men until their moon time is over.
Add to this, an even more complex erosion took place…
Our ancient ways of marking time were never based on the 12 month calendar we have today.
From Babylonia and Egypt the ‘solar power’ concept of the circle of twelve spread to Greece, and thence to Rome. An uneven and illogical distribution of days, derived from a male priesthood tradition in Babylonian civilization. A tradition based on the Egyptian division of the circle, which is a division of space, not time. It was Priscius Tarquinus, early king of Rome, (616-579 BC) who is credited with development of the calendar today from which the Gregorian is ultimately derived. The names of the Gregorian months we have now are all Latin and come from this early Roman calendar.
By the time of the rise of the Christian Church, AD 500-1000, the Roman calendar of twelve months of uneven days, in total disregard of the lunar cycles was established.
It is precisely this feared power of thirteen, by now associated with fear of witchcraft and the devil, that the conquering Christian Europeans confronted head-on when they arrived in the ‘New World.’ For here was a tradition of time and knowledge more precise and fully developed than in Europe, still entirely based on the number thirteen. This was the calendrical and mathematical system of the Maya upon which all Mesoamerican (Mexico and Central America) civilization was based.
There was no dialogue where the Christian priests and their zealous soldiers were concerned. Convert or die, as usual. People of learning were put to death, libraries full of knowledge erased forever. The world was deprived of an understanding of time that was based not on the spatial divisions of the circle but on the lunar power of thirteen.
Biblical texts were removed or rewritten by various kings and popes through the ages to suit their personal agendas. We can see further fearmongering of the number 13 in the story of the Last Supper, where Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, is considered the 13th guest.
In the context of biblical narratives, Jesus was crucified on a Friday, which adds another layer to its ominous reputation. Combining this with fear of the number 13, Friday 13th evokes fears of sacrifice, loss, and Divine judgement.
The Knights Templar were also betrayed and doomed on a Friday 13th in the 14th century which then became another fearful association with the day. Very interesting article about that here. https://www.history.com/news/why-friday-the-13th-spelled-doom-for-the-knights-templar
Fast forward to today, it is no surprise Friday the 13th is still regarded with superstition in many colonised cultures around the globe.
Its reputation as a day of “bad luck” has permeated the collective psyche, but a deeper look reveals all the rich spiritual and historical meanings behind this number.
I personally have always had the number 13 bringing good experiences to me.
How we can continue to reclaim the power of Friday 13th…
- We all have feminine and masculine energies within us. It is a day for all of us to celebrate our own innate abilities to create and receive energy from the world around us.
- In our personal astrology chart, the Moon not only governs our emotions but also our potential and how we choose to express ourselves in life. Understanding your Moon sign can often help you to know yourself as much or even more than your Sun sign. Look up your moon sign today.
- Hand write a short ritual or ceremony to make the most of this beautiful energy. Include an invocation appreciating our ancestors who considered this an important day for all who honour and observe the cycles of nature.
- Create something that celebrates life, collect windfallen items out in nature, make a garland, paint, draw, make a vision board, doesn’t have to be a great work of art, just immerse yourself in the moment of doing.
- Sit quietly for a moment, getting in tune with your emotions and sensitivities, grounding and balancing, feeling gratitude for all you already have.
- Write a list setting out your intentions and manifesting desires. See what ideas appear!
- Make time for cleansing negative energies and fears. Simple things, like lighting candles, meditating, writing and just seeing what flows from the pen or keyboard.
Friday the 13th can be a potent reminder that fear can often mask opportunities for enlightenment and strength. Understanding its deeper symbolic meanings allows us to reclaim and reframe our experiences. With an open mind, it can transform from a fearful time of superstition into a day of potential and rebirth.
We owe it to ourselves to look beyond historic narratives foisted upon us.
More power to you!