Behind The Blog is a meme to help bloggers connect their life and interests to the content showcased on their blog. The co-hosts Faye Kathe and Melissa will provide a different topic, idea, or question every week that bloggers can relate to themselves and the books, films, or media they find interesting!
Friday the 13th is considered to be an unlucky day in many cultures, with several superstitions surrounding it. Do you believe that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day? What are some of the superstitions, (if any) you associate with Friday the 13th? In relation to books: What are some books you've read that deal with superstitions or Friday the 13th? Other media?
I don't really know if I think Friday the 13th is an unlucky day or not. I believe that a lot of the negative energy people put into believing that bad things will happen on Friday the 13th contributes to some of the things that do happen. There are reports that say that more accidents happen on Friday the 13th.
Plus there are so many superstitions out there, it's hard to keep track of them all. And, it seems like they're ingrained in us from a very young age. I remember always hearing the phrase "step on a crack, break your mother's back" as a kid. While that's not really a superstition, the basic idea behind it is the same. By giving the thought a concrete consequence it can instill fear in people and make them want to counteract a bad superstition with a good one, or an antidote to it.
For example, there's a saying/superstition that if you spill salt on Friday the 13th, you should throw some over your right shoulder or you'll have bad luck. Or, that any relationship that's started on Friday the 13th is doomed to end badly. (These were mentioned in an episode of Charmed, which I'll talk about later)
I don't think I really believe in these superstitions, but I do think about them sometimes. Honestly, most of the time unless I'm really thinking about the date, I don't much notice Fridays the 13. Although I have noticed that this year there are three of them. There was one in January, one in April, and the one this month. Oddly enough, they are all 13 weeks apart, so that's a little strange.
For some fun with the number 13 here's a screenshot I took just a while ago of my blog stats. Notice how they all have the number 13 in them? Weird huh? Now, if I had gotten this post done and posted when it was supposed to be published, the page views wouldn't have had 13 in it, so it's a strange coincidence that I didn't get the chance to get this published on time today.
Books that deal with Friday the 13th:
- I actually can't think of books that deal with Friday the 13th specifically right now, but I remember that in Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters series, 13 is actually a lucky/helpful number to the characters.
Media:
Finally, my favorite show, Charmed, is relevant for a BTB post!
Specifically, there's an entire episode that centers around Friday the 13, and superstitions. It's season 1 Episode 13, titled "From Fear to Eternity"
In it, one of the main characters, Piper, is hosting a charity ball on Friday the 13th and is very concerned about superstitions and bad luck surrounding Friday the 13th. Plus, there's the Demon of Fear after them trying to kill 13 unmarried witches before midnight.
This episode is where I learned about the superstitions regarding spilling salt and relationships started on Friday the 13th.*
*Okay end of shameless plug for Charmed. If you haven't seen the show you should check it out!
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3 comments:
I find Friday the 13th to usually be a good day for me. It is for you too! I nominated you for an award. Come see! http://wp.me/p27ipo-aC
Thanks very much Laura, I will get that posted ASAP
I didn't grow up with superstitions, so I kind of have an outsider perspective on them. It's all culturally relative too - for some people black cats are bad luck, for some its the white ones. But I do agree with you that our beliefs shape how we think about days like that, how we categorise the things that happen to us.
But it's interesting.
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