Sources of FRIDAY THE 13th Superstition | Knights of the Templar & The Goddess Frigga

Knights of the Templar being burned at the stake by the French.

It’s potentially safer to drive on Friday the 13th according to the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics who found that “fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays, because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home.”

What’s interesting is that almost no one know where the Friday the 13th lore comes from.

Where does the Friday the 13th superstition come from?  Here are my two favorite sources:

1 – Frigga, the Norse  Goddess/Witch of Love & Fertility.

I’ll allow Charles Panati, the author of  “Panati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things,” to explain this one:

The actual origin of the superstition, though, appears also to be a tale in Norse mythology. Friday is named for Frigga, the free-spirited goddess of love and fertility. When Norse and Germanic tribes converted to Christianity, Frigga was banished in shame to a mountaintop and labeled a witch. It was believed that every Friday, the spiteful goddess convened a meeting with eleven other witches, plus the devil — a gathering of thirteen — and plotted ill turns of fate for the coming week. For many centuries in Scandinavia, Friday was known as “Witches’ Sabbath.

Frigga, the Norse goddess of love and fertility.

2 – Knights of the Templar:

The Knights of the Templar were a military group founded in the year 1118 in Jerusalem that lasted for 2 centuries.  They were charged with protecting pilgrims along the road from Europe to Jerusalem. These knights created a revolutionary banking system that protected pilgrim’s finances.  This banking system was successful and eventually expanded throughout Europe.

King Philip IV of France ended up owing a huge sum to the Knights, got pissed off and jealous about his debt and the Templar’s success.  Thusly motivated, he devised a plan to exterminate all the Knights of the Templar in a single day. The day chosen was Friday, October 13, 1307.  Philip sent his plan to all the King’s men and Baliffs throughout France a month before hand with orders not to read the plans until dawn on Friday the 13th.

Philip, with the backing of Pope Clement V, accused the Knights of such horrible offenses that no one would come to their aid.  They were accused of religious heresy: essentially that they had spit and stepped on the cross, performed acts of homosexuality, and denied Christ.

The Knights of the Templar Cross.  Supposedly, this is what the Squaw Valley Ski Patrol cross is modeled after.

The plan was executed well and every Knight of the Templar was arrested, their properties were taken, medieval torture techniques were used to acquire their confessions, and finally, they were burned at the stake.

Desiring to further humiliate the Templars, Philip decided to have Jacques De Molay, the Grandmaster of the Templars, admit to heresy at a large public gathering.  Jacques, instead, used the public forum to apologize to the people and explain what had happened to the Templars.  The Grandmaster’s final words before being burned at the stake were used to curse King Philip IV & Pope Clement V and state that they would both be dead by the end of the year.  Both men did meet their demise before the year’s end which added even more clout to the powerful lore of  Friday the 13th.

Via this amazing story, Friday the 13th is now considered one of, if not the unluckiest day in history.

The Squaw Valley Ski Patrol cross.  This cross is only used at Squaw.  Other patrols use a standard + symbol.

I absolutely love this Knights of the Templar story.  I learned about this a long time ago and this story still resonates with me.  These guys were burly life-long warriors.  They had 72 strict behavioral clauses to follow including not being allowed to hang out with women at all, not even women in their own families.

There is a ton more really interesting info about Friday the 13th & the Knights of the Templar.  Have a look at www.wikipedia.org for more.