Greetings on this Friday the 13th - Lucky or mucky? And what is at the root of “triskadekaphobia” (the fear of the number 13) anyway? Well it could be because all numbers have their own cosmic vibration, & “13” is considered an unstable number. From the time when humans first used numbers to measure things, the number 12 has represented a common cosmic standard. There are 12 months of the year, 12 hours on the clock, 12 signs of the Zodiac, 12 Tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles, 12 Knights of the Round Table & so on. The number 13 represents disruption or a profound metamorphosis to the established order.
The modern basis for the aura that surrounds Friday the 13th stems from Friday October the 13th, 1307. On this date, the Pope of the church in Rome, in Conjunction with the King of France, carried out a secret death warrant against “the Knights Templar”. The Templars were terminated as heretics, never again to hold the power & riches that they had stewarded for so long. Their Grand Master, Jacques DeMolay, was arrested & tortured on that Friday the 13th.
But in pre-Christian societies, reliance on a lunar calendar meant that Friday the 13th would coincide with the Full or New Moon. And Friday is the day to honor the goddesses & planet Venus. Friday the 13th symbolized a day for everyone to let go, celebrate & sacrifice routine. Such breaks in the usual order allowed for the restoration of balance & harmony.
The Scandinavian belief that the number 13 signified bad luck sprang from their mythological 12 demigods, who were joined by a 13th demigod, Loki, a cruel trickster who brought upon humans great misfortune.
We can see the 12 apostles as represenatives of the 12 signs of the zodiac, with The Christ as the 13th – the Cosmic Being of love radiating out to them as the Sun. And that gets shifted at the Last Supper, when Judas becomes the traitor.
In Imitatio Christi, we see this circle of 13 again in the initiation of Christian Rosenkreutz.
Whether or not a person considers Friday the 13th as unlucky, the psychology of human nature tells us that belief in superstitions can seem to offer a sense of control in stressful situations.
Let’s remember dear friends – Today’s beliefs may very well be tomorrows superstitions. How can think for ourselves? If we look we can always find the Good.
Take a cue from our forebears. They saw the number 13 as a lucky omen, a time to make a fresh beginning, seeking new roads to success & satisfaction, as we open our heart & mind to new opportunities, luck & love! But just for fun, don’t step on a crack! 😉 ~hag
Rudolf Steiner’s Lectures on this day (RSarchives) ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner’s orginal Calendar of the Soul, Wikipedia Commons)
Feast Day of Tobias – accompanied by the Archangel Raphael
1231 – Feast day of St. Anthony of Padua, patron saint of lost and stolen articles – a powerful Franciscan preacher & teacher.
1864 – Birthday of Rudolf Kjellen -Swedish historian, professor at Upsala. Coined the phrase: “geopolitics”, the doctrine of the interaction of geographical and political factors in the constitution and development of States. Spoken of by Rudolf Steiner in BUILDING STONES FOR AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE MYSTERY OF GOLGOTHA, GA 175, Lecture IX, Berlin, 1st May, 1917 “In the course of our studies I have spoken of the events in the early development of Western civilization. My aim was to ascertain from these enquiries into the past what is of importance for the present, and with this object in view I propose to pursue the matter in further detail. Our present epoch, as we can see from a cursory glance, is an epoch when only thoughts derived from the Mystery teachings concerning human evolution can exercise effective influence. Now in order to grasp the full implication of this claim we must not only have a clear understanding of many things, but we must also look closely into the needs and shortcomings of contemporary thinking, feeling and willing. We shall then begin to feel that our present epoch has need of new impulses, new thoughts and ideas, and especially of those impulses and thoughts which spring from the depths of the spiritual life and which must become the subject of spiritual-scientific study. At the present time there is much that fills us with sadness. We must not allow ourselves to be depressed by this mood of sadness, rather should it be something that can prepare us and teach us to work and strive in our present circumstances. I recently came across a publication which I felt would give me the greatest pleasure. The author is one of the few who are receptive to the ideas of Spiritual Science and the more is the pity that he was unable to introduce into his writings the fruits of anthroposophical endeavour. The book to which I am referring is The State as Organism, by Rudolf Kjellén the Swedish political economist. After reading the book, I must confess that I was left with a feeling of disappointment because I realized that here was a person who, as I said, was receptive to the ideas of Spiritual Science, but whose thoughts were still far removed from the thoughts we stand in need of today, thoughts which must be clearly formulated and become concrete reality, especially today, so that they may enter into the evolution of our time. Before I say a few words on these matters I should like to call your attention once again to those ancient Mysteries which are known to history today only in a mangled version. It is all the more necessary therefore for our present age that Spiritual Science should bring an understanding of these Mysteries. I mentioned in my last lecture the unprecedented fury with which Christianity in the first centuries destroyed the ancient works of art and how much that was of priceless value was swept away. One cannot take an impartial view of Christianity unless one is prepared to see this destructive side with complete objectivity…How different this picture would be if Archbishop Theophilus of Alexandria had not burnt in the year 391 seven hundred thousand scrolls which contained vitally important records of Roman, Egyptian, Indian and Greek literature and their cultural life… The forms of Christian worship were in many respects borrowed from the symbols and ceremonies of the ancient pagan Mystery cults, that the forms of these Mystery cults and symbols had been totally eradicated by Christianity in order to conceal their origin. Christianity had made a clean sweep of the pagan forms of worship so that people had no means of knowing what had existed prior to their time and would simply have to accept what the Church offered. Such is the fate of human evolution. We must be prepared to recognize without giving way to pessimism that the course of human evolution is not one of uninterrupted progress. It would be foolish to imagine that the course of history could have been other than it has been. But sometimes a thought such as the following may prove fruitful: what would have happened if, at the time when the message of Christianity first made its impact on human evolution, the pagan traditions had not been eradicated root and branch, but if historically a certain knowledge had been transmitted to posterity? But Christianity was opposed to such a possibility. People are unwilling to listen to the teachings of Spiritual Science; but in saying this I have no wish to imply reproach. Far be it from me to attach blame to anyone. At this juncture I can now revert to Kjellen’s book, The State as Organism. It is a curious book because the author strives with every fibre of his being to clarify the question: What is the State in reality?…Kjellen raises the question: What is the relation of the individual to the State? And in attempting to answer this question he immediately came up against a difficulty…Even if at a pinch we compare the State with an organism we must realize that we and the whole of political science are sorely mistaken if we overlook the fact that the individual is not a cell; only the productive element in man can sustain the State, whilst the organism is an aggregate of cells and it is they which determine its functioning. Therefore the present State in which the group-soul is no longer the same as in ancient times can only progress through the endeavour or initiative of the single individual… We shall then be able to satisfy ourselves that the whole being of man by virtue of his individuality is far superior to the State, he penetrates into the spiritual world where the State cannot enter… It is imperative that our present age should be permeated with the impulses of Spiritual Science. It is the tragedy of our time that it is powerless to develop ideas which could reconcile and control the organic life of the State. Hence everything is in a state of chaos. One must face these problems squarely; for the impulse, the desire to gain insight into these problems only arises when we face them squarely, when we know what are the driving forces in our present age Even without looking far beneath the surface we perceive today an urge towards a kind of “socialization”, I do not mean towards socialism, but towards “socialization” of the Earth organism. But socialization — because it must be conscious, and not proceed from the unconscious as in the last two thousand years — socialization, reorientation or reorganization, is only possible if we understand the nature of man, if we learn to know once again the being of man — for that was the object of the ancient Mysteries. Socialization applies to the physical plane. But it is impossible to establish a social order if one ignores the fact that on the physical plane are to be found not only physical men, but men endowed with soul and spirit. Nothing can be achieved if we think of man only in physical terms. You may socialize, you may order social life in accordance with contemporary ideas, and within twenty years everything will be in chaos again if you ignore the fact that man is not only the physical being known to natural science, but a being endowed with soul and spirit. For soul and spirit are active agents and exercise a powerful influence. We may ignore their existence in our ideas and representations, but we cannot abolish them. If the soul is to inhabit a physical body which participates in a social order appropriate to our time it must have freedom of thought and opinion. Socialization cannot be realized without freedom of thought. And socialization and freedom of thought cannot be realized unless the spirit is rooted in the spiritual world itself. Freedom of thought as an attitude of mind or way of thinking, pneumatology, spiritual maturity and spiritual science — as scientific foundation of all ordinances and directives — these are inseparably linked. We can only discover through spiritual science how these things are related to man and how they can he realized practically in the social order. Freedom of thought, that is, an attitude to one’s neighbour that fully recognizes his right to freedom of thought, cannot be realized unless we accept the principle of reincarnation, for otherwise we look upon man as an abstraction. We shall never see him in the right light unless we look upon him as the result of repeated lives on Earth. The whole question of reincarnation must be examined in connection with the question of freedom of thought and opinion. The life of man will be impossible in the future unless the inner life of the individual can be rooted in the life of the spirit… What would Christ most vigorously condemn if He were to appear in our midst today? Most probably what the majority of people call “Christian” today, and much else besides…” ~Rudolf Steiner
1865 – Birthday of William Butler Yeats
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Friday, 13 June 2025
?Lucky 13?
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