Friday the 13th: The history — and astrology — behind the unluckiest day of the year

Insert horror movie doom music — Friday the 13th is nigh, bringing with it a sense of general unease and some trying astrological transits.

Come Friday, we’ll be fresh off of a tense opposition between our planets of love and war, a high stakes, instigator energy amplified by the final days of Mercury retrograde in Sagittarius and the moon on the brink of fullness in the chaos as cardio sign of Gemini.

Gentle, it ain’t. Read on to learn more.

Why is Friday the 13th bad luck?

First, let us address the ominous reputation.

The unlucky association of this day of days stretches back centuries to Nordic folklore. According to myth, the twelve primary deities of the Nordic pantheon threw a dinner party in Valhalla (fun).

The trickster god Loki showed up uninvited as the thirteenth guest and orchestrated the ‘murder by mistletoe’ death of Balder the Beautiful, god of light and gladness. Balder’s death brought grief to the world and solidified the bad vibes of the number thirteen.

Fateful feasts continue in the Christian tradition.

Biblical bad blood

Thirteen people were present at the Last Supper and Judas, a probable Aries and the redheaded betrayer of JC, was the last to arrive, furthering the association between the number and imminent death or ruin.

And the hits keep on coming, folks.

Friday comes into biblical play in several ways; Jesus was crucified on the Friday after the Last Supper and according to lore, Friday marks the day that a) Cain killed Abel and b) Eve offered Adam the downfall apple of knowledge.

Yikes.

Historical horrors of Friday the 13th

Through the bible and beyond, Friday the 13th has played host to evil events that have further stoked its reputation as a big baddy.

Notable among these are the arrest and subsequent massacre of the Knights Templar in 1307, the bombing of Buckingham Palace in 1940, the murder of New Yorker Kitty Genovese in 1964 and the death of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996.

Fear of this date is as deep as its history; there are even two terms to describe the phobia, each sounding remarkably like Ikea furniture — paraskavedekatriaphobia and friggatriskaidekaphobia, respectively.

Swifties rejoice

One person doing their damndest to rebrand Friday the 13th? HRH Taylor Swift, who will turn 35 years old on Friday the 13th. From the get-go, Tay Tay has launched a personal campaign to make 13 a lucky number. Swift has been known to scrawl 13 on the back of her hand before performing, a practice imitated by Swifties the world over.

She explained to Jay Leno in 2009, “I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first No. 1 song had a 13-second intro. Every time I’ve won an award, I’ve been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section, or row M, which is the 13th letter. Basically, whenever a 13 comes up in my life, it’s a good thing.”

Touche.

The astrology of Friday the 13th

In astrology, Friday belongs to Venus, the planet of love, beauty, attraction, assets, aesthetics and ambient light.

And it just so happens that this year, Venus will be in the free and freaky vapors of Aquarius on Friday the 13th.

Venus in Aquarius welcomes the weird and recognizes that love is an act of creation that insists we color beyond the lines and express and receive care in unexpected ways from surprising sources.

We love to hear it.

However, we’ll be feeling the aftershock of the Venus-Mars opposition on Thursday the 12th, an intense transit amplified by the energy of the soon-to-be full moon in Gemini and the last gasp of Mercury retrograde.

If Venus is our planet of bliss and beauty, ease and harmony, Mars is the red-hot luminary of tempers, discord and exerted effort. This opposition is a struggle between masculine and feminine forces, the desire to resolve versus the need to be right, comfort versus uncomfortable change. At its best and brightest, these opposing energies provide necessary tension, sexual, creative and otherwise.

The Latin root of tension is tensionem meaning “to stretch.”

Perhaps under the influence of this transit and with the sun shining in the terminally optimistic sign of Sagittarius, we can expand our definition of luck and stay open to the possibility that friction can indeed lead to fortune.

Astrology 101: Your guide to the star

Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. To book a reading, visit her website.