Friday, January 13, 2006

It's Friday 13th !!


Guess what?! Today is Friday 13th!! I haven't recognized it's 13 today until some time ago when my friend Blueman sent me an SMS saying that today is the the day of the bad luck, and it showed up for him in his electricity generator which refused to work today!

I just started to think and recollect the events of today. I don't know if it's an unlucky day for me or not! Nothing special happened today, but at the same time nothing bad happened. the day passed normally, I woke up late, did nothing but watching T.V. and calling some of my friends to wish them Happy Eid. It's the fourth day of Eid today. Maybe this is a reason nothing bad happened ;)

I'm currently thinking of a story that has some bad luck which happened to me to share with you on this "occasion"!... Here's one: One day in summer few years ago, my sister and I were getting ready to go to a swimming pool with Mom, aunt and cousin. But my Mother had some important work to do at her workplace and she promised that she wouldn't be late and that she would take us to the swimming pool. My sister and I dressed up and got ready and waited for Mom to come back home and take us. We kept calling her every half an hour and asked her when would she come back. But, as time passed she had more and more work to do and it started to be late to go out! The day ended and we didn't go! .... Silly, ha?!

Another story of bad luck: I applied for a visa to Dubai but I didn't get it!

Fear of Friday the 13th is rooted in ancient, separate bad-luck associations with the number 13 and the day Friday. The two unlucky entities combine to make one super unlucky day.

FRIDAY THE 13TH - how did Friday the thirteenth become such an unlucky day?

  • There is a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Balder died and the Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned.
  • There is a Biblical reference to the unlucky number 13. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest to the Last Supper.
  • A particularly bad Friday the 13th occurred in the middle ages. On a Friday the 13th in 1306, King Philip of France arrested the revered Knights Templar and began torturing them, marking the occasion as a day of evil.
  • In ancient Rome, witches reportedly gathered in groups of 12. The 13th was believed to be the devil.
  • Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose.
  • Numerologists consider 12 a "complete" number. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus. In exceeding 12 by 1, 13's association with bad luck has to do with just being a little beyond completeness.
FRIDAY THE 13TH - how is fear of the number thirteen demonstarted?
  • More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor.
  • Many airports skip the 13th gate.
  • Airplanes have no 13th aisle.
  • Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.
  • Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.
  • Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue.
  • If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck . Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names. ( I suggest that you count the letters in your full name!) ;)


Do you have a story of bad luck to share?? Please tell me one!


Morbido!

8 comments:

Bill said...

well...i woke up this morning soooo....its another lucky day for me....now...i have worry about Sat. the 14th

Lynnette In Minnesota said...

Oh, thank God, I missed it by 1! I have 14 letters in my full name.:)

Anonymous said...

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Thanks

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Mad Canuck said...

I'm sorry to hear about you being denied a visa for Dubai. Most of us who travel with Canadian or US passports don't realize how difficult getting visas can be for people from some countries. Some countries can be so stingy!

We've often had trouble getting visas for members of my wife's family to visit us in the US or Canada. My brother-in-law was denied a visa to visit Canada three times! On the third attempt, I flew down there and went with him to the consulate and they wouldn't even let me in the door! Last summer, we tried to bring a 10 year old girl to visit us in New York: she got a letter from her school, bank statements, property deeds, and they turned her down flat, with no explanation.

Once you come to the US on your scholarship, you'll probably find it easier to get visas for other countries, since then you'll have a travel history.

attawie said...

The visa denial was not only your bad luck, it was mine too..

Do you really want to hear bad luck stories??

Nice post.. keep it going.
Take care

Anonymous said...

13 yeah wow
this has haunted me all my life
all my 2nd and 3rd year degree work contained 13 pages either main body (dissertations) or the complete work in case of essays and reports.
my dad died on my 13 th birhtday 13 months after he was diagnosed with 6 weeks to live the 13 has brought me good ( a succesful degree was one thing) and sad things - please note some airplanes do have a 13th aisle (or at least a 13th seat row - i know the last plane i used (my 13th flight) i was given seat 13e my wife too 13d) and two other people occupied two other row 13 seats - uncannily the flight our usual one is also 1300 miles - anyway peace and love to you

Anonymous said...

The King in the Suit of playing cards is counted as 13.

As it goes, no monarchry has a King has the 13th heir. A devil's number.

The Baker's dozen is 13 - only to scare any Italian who might steal your food.

Anonymous said...

So good topic really i like any post talking about Ancient Egypt but i want to say thing to u Ancient Egypt not that only ... you can see in Ancient Egypt Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddess and more , you shall search in Google and Wikipedia about that .... thanks a gain ,,,