My photo
Hi. I like to write, I expect you like to read. What say we strike up an acquaintance?

The Number 13…

Numbers rule our lives.

Our lives are divided into sub-units of minutes, seconds and other quantities, prompting us to wake up at a certain time, get to work by a certain time, spend a certain amount of money, work a certain amount of hours and ingest and burn a certain amount of calories. Whether we choose to admit it or not, they govern our very existence, so much so that categorizing them as fragments of divinity may not be too far from the truth. As certain people do. Different numbers are famous for, and mean different things to different people, but the number 13 is in my opinion, probably the most popular and significant.

13 represents ill-luck to many people, a belief largely fueled by the perception of Friday the 13th yadayadayada…Point is, everyone knows that seeing the number 13 means something pretty bad is going to happen, and pretty soon. However, what people do not know is why exactly they believe this (see the break in logic, lol). So, I’ve been doing some reading around and I’ve found out a little bit about why most people have more than just a touch of triskaidekaphobia.

If after reading these facts, you do not feel more than a little apprehensive about the existence of the number 13…you’re weird:)


1.King Philip secretly ordered the mass arrest of all the Knights Templar in France on Friday, October 13, 1307.

2. In numerology, the number 12 is one of completeness (12 hours of the clock, 12 months of the year etc); 13 transgress this wholeness, representing discord and destruction.

3. In the traditional tarot deck, the 13th card is the death card.

4. There were 12 Knights of the Round Table and King Arthur-An alliance of 13: Arthur died, tragically.

5. Did you consider that there were 13 participants at the Last Supper? The last supper before Christ was crucified?

6. Did you know that Jesus received the Magi on the 13th day of His life on earth?...The beginning of His end…?

7. In Norse mythology, the number of gods that resulted in the activation of Ragnarok (the beginning of the end) is 13.

8. In 8. In Campania, the expression 'tredici' (i.e. 13) is said when one considers their luck to have taken a downturn.

9. 13 colonies formed the USA, the most powerful country in the world…with a city dubbed The Sin City (besides this, USA relies heavily on 13 in symbolism in other instances….is the USA bound for damnation or is it intrinsically full of iniquity…) *evil laugh*

10. There are traditionally 13 steps leading up to a gallows; a walk of 13 steps to your death…morbid much.

11. Apollo 13 was the only unsuccessful mission by the United States of America intended to land humans on the moon….The oxygen tank exploded on 13th April 1970. The sum of the digits in 1970 is 17, April is the 4th month of the 12 month year, 17-4=….13.

12. There are 13 ancient Crystal Skulls; pretty, but faaaaar away from anything good.

13. There are 13 ‘gates’ of the body of the human woman: 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 nostrils, 1 mouth, 2 breasts, 1 navel, 1 anus, 1 urethra and 1 vagina…Daddy always said women were dangerous :)


There, 13 facts about the number 13….So does the fact that the human body has 13 major joints mean that we’re destined for destruction…? Well, we DO die…so does this confirm the ominousness of the number 13, is it a mark of evil and negativity?

A commentator writing about the Aztec calendar once said that, "Thirteen is a basic structural unit in nature. It means the attracting center around which elements focus and collect." In the Torah, God has 13 Attributes of Mercy, and many other good things relate to the number 13 in other instances, hence its goodness/badness is debatable. One may even call the above facts interesting coincidences, but regardless of your stance, 13 still has the uncanny ability to appear in the weirdest places and when you least expect to see it.

Sources:
http://www.thevesselofgod.com/thirteen.html
http://www.virtuescience.com/13.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_(number)
My very own head :)

NB: If you do your own research you may actually find that 13 may be your favorite number…

4 expressions:

Dalyni Dynamite said...

Nice research!!

Nana said...

Karina!:) Thanks!

hMensa said...

chale that was an intense one....a bit spooky i agree....but hey..lets see if we can find similar scary info for some random number to see if 13 is that special.....

Nana said...

@ P, Hahaha! I know right, I spooked myself out saf! Yea, I've been looking around and I think I'll do another post on some random number...but I can assure you that you'll find some more very weird info on 13 tracing back to ancient civilizations.

Post a Comment