For the Love of...Mythology

Paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia. (easier-to-pronounce) Both mean 'fear of Friday the 13th'. Frigga-Friday, comes from Norse mythology. Compare those words with
triskadeckaphobia which is just a fear of the number 13.

I am a Friday the 13th person. I like the day and it is usually lucky for me. I was born on the 13th of the month, adopted at 13 days old, so I have always felt a connection to the number 13 that most of the world doesn't. No one really knows why people have this superstition, but most authorities will tell you that the fear of Friday the 13th has it roots in either Norse mythology, Templar history, or is just a combination of two separate 'unlucky' things most from a Christian ideology: Friday is unlucky because it was the day of the crucifixion, and 13 is unlucky because it is one past twelve, the number of disciples or Israeli tribes, yada yada yada. All typical explanations aside, since there is at least one and maybe as many as three Friday the 13ths in a year (2009 is such a year), it seems very likely that over time, some disaster or calamity has occurred on this date and that further feeds the fear. It also seems that the idea of 13 dinner guests is unlucky, perhaps stemming from Loki's presence and Balder's death in mythology, or perhaps from Judas's presence and Jesus' death after the Last Supper. The 13th hour of the (13th) day would certainly be close to meal time, whether you started counting at midnight or sunrise.

Another of the superstitions has to do with sailing, leaving port on Friday, for example. For Christians, there is usually a penitence aspect to the day, penitence related to secularism and selfish endeavours. Some Christians, especially Catholics, faithfully eat fish on Friday. It seems that the number 13 represents death in many ancient cultures, but death is both an end and a beginning, a transformation of the survival of existence. Perhaps we have lost the survival and transformation aspect of that idea?

None of the above reasons, stories, or myths by themselves pique my imagination, but the following does:

I recall hearing a theory on talk radio about the origins of friggatriskaidekaphobia. I wish I could find some reference on the idea, but despite a fairly thorough web search, I cannot find anything
on it. I fear that I have forgotten key details, but I will relate what I can recall, because I love stuff like this, ideas from the edge of reason, so to speak. The radio guest linked Friday the 13th as the day that the mythical civilization of Atlantis was lost forever to the ocean. The survivors of that fateful day allegedly set sail and spread throughout the world and eventually attempted to memorialize their dead. Friday the 13th became somewhat of an anniversary of the tragedy that transformed the remaining civilizations of the world, Indus, Egyptian, Greek, etc. There are ancestor and hero worshipping cults and sects throughout the world. There are holidays that honor the dead in many countries and cultures. If I recall correctly the guest's main evidence for this theory came from the writings of the Greeks. Of course, he referred to Plato's description of Atlantis, but he also had a lot of information about certain Greek mystery cults. Some of these cults are well known for their hero worship or ancestor worship. Orphic and Dionysian cults gave importance to the life and death cycle.

When you think of the common lore of Atlantean culture, you can draw even more parallels. The Atlanteans were allegedly destroyed for their wicked ways, their corruption, secularism and selfishness. Perhaps the sign of disaster began during meal time, during dinner. As they set sail into the unknown, they watched their world disappear. Was the demise of Atlantis the impetus for the rise of the Indus, Sumerian, Green, Persian, and Egyptian and MesoAmerican civilizations? If Atlantis existed, and it was destroyed by some natural disaster, the Mother of All Disasters, then of all days, it probably happened on a Friday the 13th, a happenstance that was unlucky for the Atlanteans, but lucky for the rest of the world. It was the end, the death of a great civilization, and yet, it was a transformation as it became the 'semen, the seed of all seeds' (literally, Dionysus) for many civilizations.
Mythology is so cool. It is always right out there on the edge of science. Oh, and in case you were unaware, the statue pictured is in Copenhagen, of the Greek God of the Sea, Poseidon, (Roman Neptune) whose dominion includes Atlantis as well as Naval submariners. My SubmarinerSon is also a friggatriskaidekaphile.