Tag Archives: Friday the Thirteenth

Freyja and Thirteen

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Entertainment, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 13, 2026- Friday is named for Freyja, the Norse goddess of just about everything earthy. She is given the portfolios of love and war, among other matters, thus making her job pretty much impossible. It is said by some that she was a child born of siblings, which would seem to make just about any task impossible for her to perform, though what do I know about supernatural genetics? She had a husband who was always off doing his own thing, leaving her to raise two daughters alone. We thus honour her by naming many people’s favourite day of the week in her honour.

Friday is, for people in business, a day to wrap things up for the week and to set sights on the following Monday. For teachers and office workers, it’s an afternoon and evening of unwinding. For many in tight-knit neighbourhoods, it’s another day to gather at the corner bar. For me, it was a night to catch live music at the Raven or Rafter 11, when I lived in Prescott and for going to a coffee shop for the same, when Penny and I were in Flagstaff or Phoenix.

Nowadays, Friday is another day of being with my granddaughter and all the snuggling, playing a little game of “Stand-Up, Sit Down” (for which she loves being praised for standing up, straightening her legs, with my support and then sitting back down) and helping with her personal care and feeding. There are no special things that distinguish one day from another, save that her father is off work on Saturday and Sunday. This is new for me, and likely is only a temporary state of affairs. (The world will inject itself into our lives again, soon enough.)

Friday the 13th, depending on one’s point of view, is either a day to revel in the joys provided by feminine energy or a day to stay home and hide under the covers. I can’t stand to stay in bed after 6 or 7, and my time with Hana begins at 5, so the second option has about as much appeal as a root canal. I’ve always loved women and girls, so the first choice has been easy to go with. To date, I have not had any bad experiences on Friday the Thirteenth. If anything, it’s been a fairly good day, over the years.

Freyja, wherever she is, must be smiling on our little Hana.

Metro Manila, Day 3: No Place for Bad Luck

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Entertainment, Family, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 13, 2024, Manila- There are two schools of thought about Friday the 13th. One holds that both Friday and the number 13 augur badly. The other counters with the cultural artifact that the day is named for Freya, Norse goddess of love, war and fertility. It also is deemed unlucky, in Norse mythology, as Loki the Trickster was the thirteenth Norse god.

The Vikings may have given themselves reason to be conflicted about Friday the 13th, but I personally have never had any hard luck associated with the day. This day was no different. I was able to extend my time at Ola! Hostel, my dear friend arranged a nice group outing for tomorrow, as well as help me get a bus ticket for a visit to central Luzon, late next week. and I was able to join a study group from Arizona online.

Most of the day was quotidian, otherwise, but that has never been a bad thing. I helped with shopping, at an open air market and house sat, while the Baha;i Cnter’s caretaker went to tend to another matter.

Every day, loud or quiet, has its advantages.

Thirteeners

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

January 13, 2023- The usually rough and tumble boys were a lot more subdued and looking towards the mostly female staff for guidance today. The roughest of the bunch was a lot more sensitive. The sassiest of the girls were very quiet all day. This all made more sense to me, when contemplating the feminine energy of Friday, combined with the number thirteen. Friday is named for the German goddess Freya. Thirteen is said to have a feminine flow, according to numerologists, because of the thirteen phases of the Moon.

The day itself has been transmogrified into some sort of a culturally freakish day of misfortune. I, personally, have never had a bad day on Friday the 13th. Those few that I’ve heard of who have wished they had spent the day in bed are no more likely to suffer on this combination of weekday and day of the month, than on any other day.

Nor are people in their first full year of teenage necessarily more difficult to get along with than those who are at other stages of adolescence, or at any other time of change. For me, twelve was probably the hard adolescent year, with twenty-five and fifty-nine the other rough personal years of change. Thirteen, though I was going through the heart of puberty, was a year of emergence from awkwardness.

The contrived bad luck associated with the thirteenth floor of a multistory building seems to be just that, contrived. I have not heard of any such particular association, in reality. Some people feel the whole bad luck association with the number-and the numerodiurnal combination, was a ploy to curb feminine power. I’m not sure it’s all that organized, but it makes as much sense as anything else.

In any case, any day when energy is nurturing and healing is a good day, in my book-and so it was.

Luck

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, impediments, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

May 13, 2022, Blythe- This morning, I joined a Baha’i study circle which is concerned with the thirteenth book, in a series published by Ruhi Insititute, a social-centric academy in Colombia. Since 1985, R.I. has published study books, in text and workbook form, focusing on topics from “The Life of the Spirit” to “Marriage and the Family”. This particular session, in which I am now involved, is studying the Baha’i approach to Social Action. As it happens, we began with Section 13 of this Book 13 ( Unit 1), on Friday the Thirteenth.

I will have more to say about the Baha’i approach to Social Action later. Suffice it to say, we take all points of view into account, distilling the most useful of ideas into programs that benefit everyone.

Cosmic advisor Elizabeth Peru notes that today is the only Friday the 13th of this calendar year. Some will breathe a sigh of relief, as a common superstition in medieval Europe, that 13 is an unlucky number, has carried over into contemporary life. There is still no 13th floor, in many public buildings. Friday the Thirteenth is often the stuff of anxiety, and even has its own horror movie series.

My day was quite one of good fortune. Besides the rich and informative study circle, a package I was expecting arrived right at Noon; packing for a brief trip to southern California took less time than expected; the smooth drive itself showed good gas mileage and I settled into a remodeled Relax Inn, my go-to stop in this desert town, on the Arizona border. My needs are fairly simple, and truth be known, Friday the 13th has never been unlucky, in my experience.

It’s a tough world, I know, and my work will continue, to ease as much pain as possible, for those who suffer. Removing superstitions from our lives is one way to help.

A Long Way From Unlucky

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Striving, Travel

November 13, 2020, Cottonwood-

Friday the Thirteenth has always had a bad rap, in my book. I can count on one hand the number of even slight misfortunes that have struck on this particular day-regardless of what month it happens.

Today was no exception-and I hope this was true for most everyone else. First thing this morning, I received notice of a generous gift from a loved one. At work, I arrived early, got plenty of help in preparing for the day and was able to accomplish all that was listed on the Substitute Plan. The children worked hard, and though they started to flake out, towards day’s end, I was pleased with the overall work day.

I came here, to the commercial hub of eastern Yavapai County, as part of a planned late evening at Synergy Cafe and a quick start to tomorrow’s jaunt to Homolovi Ruins State Park, north of Winslow. After two Zoom calls put me on the dinner hunt a bit late, I set off for Black Bear Diner, five minutes from the motel. Alas, there was no one at the host station-and not only was I being ignored by the staff, but two parties waiting to pay for their meals were also being treated as invisible. I left them with a “Good luck” vibe, and chalked it up to ONE minor irritation. Dinner came a bit late, but Cowboy Club, in Sedona, is fabulous.

Synergy was even more crowded than usual, so the late night did not transpire. I will go back there again, when I have a drum-and thus, something to offer the group. So, I am back at Verde Valley Inn and am quite comfortable for the rest of the night.

Friday the Thirteenth is also said to have feminine energy about it, which is just fine by me!

Spikes

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Posted by on in distraction issues, Poetry

April 13, 2018, Prescott-

Happy Friday the Thirteenth!

Truth be told,

I’ve not had

an unlucky day

when the workweek

ends on a day

named “thirteen”.

Today will be interesting, though.

There is a cold snap,

of sorts.

Several people mentioned

last night,

that they needed to bring

their plants inside.

The temps did dip

into the twenties.

Three days ago,

it was 85/47.

This coming Sunday,

it’s back into the 70’s.

Then, the bouncing begins,

for a few fun days,

back and forth.

Mother Nature  is

acting like the Stock Market.

(Dear friends across the north,

stay safe.  It may seem hard

to fathom, but there will be

a summer this year.)