Friday 13th and the Lost Feminine Arts
Friday 13th… steeped in suspicion and regarded as unlucky. Some people go to great lengths to ‘protect’ themselves on this day. It is so ingrained in the subconscious there is even a diagnosed phobia for the day. It is called ‘paraskevidekatriaphobia’. Who would have thought! And there is no way I am going to even try to pronounce that… There are so many layers and intersecting points to the misunderstanding and unlucky associations about this day I thought I’d write some down.
Firstly Friday is actually associated with the planet Venus. In Latin the word for Friday derives from dies Veneris, which means ‘day of Venus’. There are also various Goddesses associated with Venus. The Roman goddess, Venus - whose functions encompass love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. In Roman mythology, she was the ancestor of the Roman people. To the Greeks this was Aphrodite, to the Egyptians the Goddess Isis and to the Phoenicians the Goddess Astarte. In old Norse Mythology the name ‘Friday’ was derived from the Norse goddess Freya (or Frigg) who was worshiped as a goddess of marriage, sex and fertility and corresponds to Venus, the goddess of love.
So Fridays were actually a day of veneration and worship of the Divine Feminine and Her qualities of Love, Beauty and Fertility. As this association was so strong in paganistic worship as the Church gained in momentum and control of the people in the Middle Ages, they went to great lengths to break these associations. As Friday was a Holy Day for heathens it must not be so for Christians. So, it became known as the ‘Witches Sabbath’. In Christianity, Jesus is believed to have been crucified on a Friday. There are other, less well-known, instances of Friday being seen as unlucky in Christian tradition: Eve is said to have given Adam the apple on a Friday, and Cain is said to have killed Abel on that day, too. The Great Flood is said to have begun on a Friday and the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday. You can see the seeds of how the natural association with Friday and the Feminine has been corrupted in our consciousness over time.
So, what about the number 13? To the ancient Egyptians the number 13 represented the joyous afterlife. They thought of life as a quest for spiritual ascension which unfolded in twelve stages with the thirteenth leading beyond death to new life. As the civilization collapsed, the symbolism of the number 13 became corrupted by subsequent cultures. Thirteen became associated with a fear of death rather than a reverence for the afterlife.
The number 13 has a unique association with the Divine Feminine. Thirteen is said to have been revered in prehistoric goddess-worshiping cultures because it corresponded to the number of menstrual cycles a woman had which were aligned with the Lunar Cycle over a year. Women kept ‘time’ through their menstrual cycles and the phases of the moon. Combined with honouring and living within the change of seasons these natural frequencies all aligned with the worship of the Great Mother. There is a 27,000-year-old carving that was found near the Lascaux caves in France called the ‘Earth Mother’. She is an icon of matriarchal spirituality. The Earth Mother holds a crescent-shaped horn bearing 13 notches.
However, as today’s solar calendar, with its 12 months, triumphed over the 13-month lunar calendar, so the number 13 became an imperfect and suspicious number. Western cultures now associate the number 12 with completeness. There are 12 months in a year, 12 Zodiac signs, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 disciples of Jesus. There are also two famous stories of an unlucky 13th guest: in the Bible the 13th person at the Last Supper was Judas, and he goes on to betray Jesus. In Norse Mythology Loki is the uninvited 13th guest at a feast for the gods, and he causes plenty of chaos. So, thirteen became unpredictable, chaotic, untrustworthy, and evil.
So as the worship of the Feminine and Her Divine attributes were being systemically squashed through the ages. The 12-month calendar consisting of 12 months based on the solar year with the addition of a leap year to synchronize with the seasons was created in 45 B.C by Julius Caesar. Up until that time there were only ten months in the calendar. Our Gregorian calendar is now used in most parts of the world and was introduced in October 1582 replacing Julian Calendar.
So let’s reclaim the power and Beauty of this day. Dedicate some time and space to the Goddess of Love and Beauty today. Honour the Divine Feminine within you by honouring the intuitive intelligence of your body. Rewrite the narrative passed down through eons of time that has created separation and distortion from the Feminine Intelligence as the Great Mother who sustains us all. Recognise the separation we as women face from our beautiful bodies in our modern-day worlds and fast paced modes of living. Embrace the need to align to the natural cycles so that you attune with Her as a living reality in your own body.
Today, embrace the qualities associated with Venus. Your knowing of beauty, love and your sensual essence that creates and promotes life on this beautiful Earth. Create an altar to Her. Light a candle with a prayer to Her in your heart. Invite Her into your life, into your body. Dance the Sacred with her in your Soul. Connect with nature by going for a gentle walk and listen to the sounds around you. Run a bath with sensual fragrances such as Rose. Moisturise your body with decadent creams. Rest on sumptuous soft pillows and throws that feel good on your skin.
