no 13

[vossyvic]

why is the number 13 considered to be unlucky or luky for some ??

[jno]

the most usual explanation is that there were 13 people at the last supper (until Judas left)

[goldenboy]

also, that the knights templar where all dissolved on friday the 13th.

[Clanad]

Ironically, among pagan and nature based religions, the number 13 is considered lucky.  However, other cultures consider the number to have a bad, therefore unlucky conotation.  In Norse mythology, if you sat 13 people down at a table, that was very unlucky. At a banquet of 12 people in Valhalla, an intruder �number 13 � caused the death of Balder�s son Odin. And Romans thought 13 was a sign of death and destruction.  As you probably already know, The fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia...

[vossyvic]

great thanks for all that ...am now afraid to enter my own home !!!

[vossyvic]

p.s any suggestions on a name for house no 13 ??

[goldenboy]

clanad, wasnt baldur the son of odin. i thought he was killed by loki who fashioned a dart from mistletoe as it was the only thing that has not sworn an oath to harm him?

[pinkTT]

Baker's Dozen is a lovely name for a house numbered 13.

[Clanad]

Of course, goldenboy is correct.  My typo should have read "... Balder, son of Odin".  The deed that you reference took place during a banquet for 12 gods invited by Odin and Loki tricked Hod, the blind brother of Balder, into launching the deadly mistletoe, ending Balder's life...

[Piper-AK]

I remeber reading somewhere it was to do with the old duo-decimal system and pagan religion/numerology.  Twelve is the last number, so thirteen is the number of death as it is the first number of the next stage.  The good luck version of 13 states that it is the number of new beginnings, not death.

[ursula62]

I was told at school it's an Old Testament/ Jewish thing.   Seven years was a jubilee in the time of the OT. Two times seven years (i.e.14 years) was a time for a special celebration. The 13th year was considered the time when bad things might happen to prevent that celebration, e.g a lousy harvest would mean not enough food for the feast year.

[Clanad]

Only for the sake of clarity and somewhat, I suppose, pedantically, the Year to which ursula62 refers is a Sabbatical Year... each 7 years.  A Jubilee Year follows a Sabbath Year.  The Sabbath Year occurred every 49 years and the following, or 50th Year, was the Jubilee Year. Nothing of note occurrs on a 13th year.  Both references are in Exodus and Leviticus under the Old Covenant...