paraskevidekatriaphobia

[Jeff]

In North America and Europe, a significant portion of the population behaves very strangely on Friday the 13th. They won't fly in airplanes, host a party, apply for a job, get married or even start a new project. Some people won't even come into work. In the United States, roughly 8 percent of the population is afraid of Friday the 13th, a condition known as paraskevidekatriaphobia. "Friday the 13th" as we know it has its roots in many traditions and cultures.
The superstition surrounding Friday the 13th is actually a combination of two separate fears -- the fear of the number 13, called triskaidekaphobia, and the fear of Fridays. The most familiar source of both these phobias is Christian theology. Thirteen is significant to Christians because it is the number of people who were present at the Last Supper (Jesus and his 12 apostles). Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th member of the party to arrive.

Christians have traditionally been wary of Fridays because Jesus was crucified on a Friday. In addition to that, some theologians hold that Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit on a Friday, and that the Great Flood began on a Friday. In the past, many Christians would never begin any new project or trip on a Friday, for fear that the endeavor would be doomed from the start.

Sailors were particularly superstitious in this regard, often refusing to ship out to sea on a Friday. According to legend, in the 18th century, the British Navy commissioned a ship called the H.M.S. Friday in order to quell the superstition. The navy selected the crew on a Friday, launched the ship on a Friday and even selected a man named James Friday as the ship's captain. Then, one Friday morning, the ship set off on its maiden voyage -- and disappeared forever.

Some historians trace the Christian distrust of Fridays to the church's overall opposition to pagan religions. Friday is named after Frigg, the Norse goddess of love and sex. This strong female figure, these historians claim, posed a threat to male-dominated Christianity. To fight her influence, the Christian church characterized her as a witch, vilifying the day named after her. This characterization may also have played a part in the fear of the number 13. It was said that Frigg would often join a coven of witches, normally a group of 12, bringing the total to 13. A similar Christian tradition holds that 13 is unholy because it signifies the gathering of 12 witches and the devil.

Some trace the infamy of the number 13 back to ancient Norse culture. In Norse mythology, the beloved hero Balder was killed at a banquet by the malevolent god Loki, who crashed the party of twelve, bringing the group to 13. This story, as well as the story of the Last Supper, led to one of the most entrenched connotations of the number 13: You should never sit down to a meal in a group of 13.

Another significant part of the Friday-the-13th legend is a particularly bad Friday the 13th that occurred in the middle ages. On a Friday the 13th in 1306, King Philip of France burned the revered Knights Templar at the stake, marking the occasion as a day of evil.

Some people come to fear Friday the 13th because of misfortune they've experienced on that day in the past. If you get in a car wreck on one Friday the 13th, or lose your wallet, that day is bound to stay with you. But if you think about it, bad things (from spilling your coffee to, well, much more serious problems) happen all the time, so if you're looking for bad luck on Friday the 13th, you'll probably find it.

[Tillaway]

Try to say that three times real fast. :D

[Bibbyman]

THAT,THAT,THAT  :D  What's so hard about THAT ???

[DanG]

Well, we are hoping for the best, here, on this Friday the 13th.

We are scheduled to get slapped around by Tropical Storm "Hanna" this evening.

I live on Hanna  Millpond Road, just a few miles south of Hannatown, Ga.

I think I'll keep my head down, just in case. ;)

[Bibbyman]

My Dad is superstitious about Fridays - be they the 13'th or not.  He won't start any new projects or start or conclude any business deals on a Friday saying that it will always turn out bad.  

I don't know the basis of this superstition. ???

[DanG]

Yer Pappy sounds like a sensible sort, Bibbster.  I don't like to work on Fridays, either. :D :D

[Jeff]

DanG, you should go rent Hannah and her sisters before you hnuker down, and maybe go over to cartoon network and catch Hannah barbera cartoons like scooby doo, johnny quest, flinestones

[DanG]

Nawp!  I'm about "Hanna'd" out, fer now.  Think I'll set in the barn with my sawmill and a coolah of co'beers and see if that dead tree falls on my trailer.

[Tom]

I don't believe in Friday the 13th from a superstitious point of view.

This morning I got in the shower to find that my wife had sprayed a super slick cleaner on the floor to get rid of the scum.  When I finally got my wits about me, I  was on the back of my shoulders with my feet up the wall, wedged between the molded seat and the open sliding door.  My head hurt!  I thought, "this lends a new meaning to 'getting rid of the scum' ..

Then I got my leftover Pizza for lunch and went to work.  Stopped by a long train, I was 30 minutes late.  

Arriving at the saw site, there was no help because a semi was being loaded and all the available help and room was being taken up.  I sat and drank water till dinner.  

Then I went to the truck to eat my pizza and found that ants had moved into the truck to get away from the wet ground at the house and had taken up house keeping.  My pizza was cover with millions of them. I got rid of the ants and put the box on the ground.  There's going to be a lot of 'lost" ants tonight.  It's a good thing I'm not to squeemish about what I eat.  The ants that remained on the pie were pretty good.

The Semi was loaded and left so I went to the mill to try to get a bi-i-i-g forked log onto the mill.  It was 42 inches wide and we were using the forklift to try to get it turned on the mill so I could cut it to a size to begin sawing. it.  The log wedged against the clamp on the mill and the welds that held the mechanism failed.   The thing just fell apart.  The weld was faulty but had held for three years.  There were only4 or 5 spots where there was any penetration at all so I guess I'm lucky it  hasn't fallen off before.

I went to the truck and got my new craftsman set of sockets and wrenches in the suitcase style carrying case, put it on the mill and opened it.  The inside containing mechanisms had come apart and most of my wrenchs and sockets fell to the ground (sawdust and bark under the mill).  I found most of them but there are some 1/4 drive sockets still missing, probably forever.

Well, it's my lucky day, the place where I'm sawing has a buzz box and I could fix my mill.  I took the clamp apart and found that two of the many bolts had been sheared.  Gotta replace them tomorrow.  We took the parts into building and hooked up the welder.  One touch and I new it was too hot  so the employee of the company turned it down for me.  The welder quit.

He began to take the welder apart with the intentions of repairing a faulty switch.  I watched.  

The owner of the company came in and said that there were 3 Merita bread guys out front.  I looked and one was my eldest son who had brought two of his friends from work to see the sawmill.  It was broken...............

I told them how it worked when it was working and they politely nodded their heads.  Then the employee said that he had fixed the welder.  Here I was with my diesel mechanic son who could weld and two of his gas mechanic friends, who could weld.  Luck was with me.  I turned the job over to my eldest who repaired the piece with the aid of his elder friend..  

It was too late to saw and the business was wanting to close so I went home.  

I arrived to a flooded driveway.  It looked like it had been storming all day.  I got to the house and was met by a super irate wife.  It seems that a load of Laurel Oak that I had offered my place as a dump site, had arrived.  No one was home so they dumped 18- 2ft diameter 12 foot long logs in the driveway beside the barn.  My wife informed me that her friend was arriving tomorrow to get her brothers boat out of storage from under our shed and the way was blocked.

It was raining but I climbed on the backhoe and hooked up some home made forks on the bucket.  When I tried to move the logs with the forks, I found that there was not enough room to get beside them.  I had to back up to the logs and use a skid hook on the back hoe bucket to move the logs to either side of the drive.  Then I had to move some trash limbs that were on the other side of the barn and made a mess.  I hope his truck is 4 wheel drive.

When I got in the house, I found that my supper was on the drainboard.  A lukewarm bowl of chicken and rice soup.

Now, I already told you that I don't believe in bad luck on the 13th but The Gods Must Be Crazy. :-/

[KiwiCharlie]

G'day Guys,

With a title like that, I just had to read the thread!! ;D
Tom, have you seen the movie of the same name??  Gods must be crazy?  :D
Cheers
Charlie.

[woodman]

How do you say it once never mind three times  :-[

[Tom]

Sure have KC.  It's one of the funniest movies I've ever seen and I own a copy.  Now and again you find a movie that you can watch over and over, I can this one. :D

[L. Wakefield]

paraskevidekatriophobia. I got a sister named Vida and a sister-in-law named Katrina. After I stuck the accents in where they MIGHT be supposed to go I just thought about the 2 of them and it's easy to say. They are right stuck in the middle of it.  :D  lw

[Jeff]

Thanks weezy I think I finely said it. :D

[Corley5]

I didn't even realize yesterday was Friday the thirteenth.  I was reminded when I read the post this morning and when Dee reminded me that Zach was four months old yesterday.  His fourth birthday will fall on the May 13th 2006 which happens to be on Friday. ;) ;D.  When Dee's mom left the hospital after he was born that was the first thing she looked up when she got home and the 1st thing she informed us of the  next day ;D

[Corley5]

Oh ya,  My Great grandmother wouldn't sit down to eat at a table of thirteen.  For a while at family gatherings there were thirteen of us.  She'd fix her plate and eat in the living room.

[LeeB]

I proposed to my bride of 25+ years on fri 13th. LeeB