Friday the 13th. The thought of the day may send shivers down your spine or cause you to feel nauseous in the pit of your stomach.
Some of you would never dream of doing important or life-altering tasks on this day, and some of you may be so superstitious that you do not even leave the safety of your own home.
But ask yourself, why? Do you have a legitimate reason to fear this day of the month? Or are you simply scared because society has told you to be scared?
Long ago, Friday the 13th was actually a day to celebrate the divine feminine within all of us – our beauty, our sexuality, our strength, and our power of reproduction. I think the shame brought upon females through societal expectation overshadows how amazing our bodies are. Typically, in one year a woman will have thirteen menstrual cycles, much like the moon, a feminine symbol considered to be a woman by Earth based religions. Pre-patriarchal times regarded a woman menstruating to be at one with her divine and magical powers. But as times changed, society would (and still do) make women ashamed of their periods; women’s bodies were/are being controlled by a patriarchal society. Menstruating is seen purely as a bodily function to aid in childbirth, therefore another reason for society to own our bodies. Even now, in India women who are on their periods are prohibited from visiting temples, cooking, and collecting water. Although not at all on the same scale, think of all the times where you have secretly hidden a tampon up your sleeve as if you’re carrying some illegal weapon to the toilet, and the shame you have felt when asked in class why you’re taking your bag to the bathroom.
A powerful woman is feared, something that the control of the patriarchy and the power religion has created.
Christianity, as the dominating religion of the West, plays a massive part in the instilled fear of Friday the 13th. Jesus died on Good Friday, and because of this many Christian families still do not eat meat as a tradition on Fridays. Moreover, there were thirteen people at the last supper. The thirteenth person to arrive was Jesus’ traitor, Judas. It is also reasonable to consider the fact that the 13th Tarot card is death. As a result, the superstition of betrayal and death occurs on Friday the 13th. This is also backed up by Eve supposedly betraying God’s trust and offering Adam the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, creating sin on Earth. And what is Eve? A woman, embodying a seductress to Adam. Women are villainised yet again…
Did you know that the only day of the week named after a female goddess is Friday? Germanic goddess Freya (Freyja) is the goddess of love, and corresponds to the Roman goddess of love, Venus. She embodies beauty and fertility, and was a seeker of pleasure and thrills. In Eddic poetry, she is said to have slept with all the Gods and Elves. Her sexuality and power only reinforce why Friday the 13th was traditionally a day to celebrate the divine feminine. We should celebrate her and be the goddess of our own sexuality and fate.
So, on Friday the 13th of August 2021, what are you going to do?
Wear your favourite pink heels? Go on that date? Buy the 13th house on the street? Bake? End patriarchal oppression? Love yourself?
Or all of the above?
Let us reclaim the day and make it our own again. Turn being a Woman into WOAH-MAN! rather than Woe-ful.
Words By: Anna Duffell
Edited By: Emily Williams