Friday the 13th was the other day. This is a phenomenon that used to scare the beejezus out of me because I was incredibly superstitious. Like if something bad happened when I wore a particular shirt or even outfit, I would maybe test things out by wearing that top or ensemble one more time to see if it truly was jinxed. And if something bad happened - if I was having a bad hair day, if someone so much as spoke to me in a way that I perceived as judgmental or critical, I would decide the clothing was cursed and I would not wear it again.
My superstitious attitude started early on and included a fear of Friday the 13th. I was always so fearful on this day that something really tragic would happen, until that is, I learned the true origin of this day. It turns out Friday the 13th wasn’t a bad day or unlucky. In fact, it’s actually an incredibly lucky, and potent day for manifestation magic. It’s a day celebrating divine feminine energy because 13 represents the 13 lunar cycles we have every calendar year, which is also the number of menstrual cycles a healthy, fertile woman has every year, which is why a period is also referred to or known as a moon cycle or monthly womb cycle.
As Christianity gained momentum in the Middle Ages, however, paganism stood at odds with the new patriarchal faith. Not only did its leaders take objection to the worship of multiple gods and goddesses, but the celebration of Friday, the number 13, and the goddesses who invoked love, sex, fertility, magic and pleasure were deemed unholy.
Not just unholy, but the Christian authorities branded both the deities and the women who worshiped them witches.
Early witches were people who practiced witchcraft, using magic spells and calling upon spirits for help or to bring about change. They were essentially natural healers, lightworkers, holistic energy healers, whose choice of profession was misunderstood.
Witch hysteria really took hold in Europe during the mid-1400s, when many accused witches confessed, often under torture, to a variety of wicked behaviors. Within a century, witch hunts were common and most of the accused were executed by burning at the stake or hanging. Single women, widows and other women on the margins of society were especially targeted.
Between the years 1500 and 1660, up to 80,000 suspected witches were put to death in Europe. Around 80 percent of them were women thought to be in cahoots with the Devil and filled with lust. Germany had the highest witchcraft execution rate, while Ireland had the lowest.
And during this past Friday the 13th - Goddess energy celebration day - I couldn’t help but wonder - and I’m still chewing on this thought - about how much of my life, what I believe to be true, what I want, what I do, is based on false narratives like this idea that Friday the 13th is unlucky and that bad things are apt to happen if you see a black cat?
As I was thinking about this, I started thinking about how I once believed that the U.S. government would never use propaganda against its own people the way that our foreign adversaries do; but then there it was - a whole unit dedicated to Disney’s role during World War Two in creating propaganda to get people to act, think, and behave a certain way, that it dawned on me - it happens here too. There’s other examples as well - such as with UFOs.
And as my mind jumped from government propaganda, the NRA, the Interview movie with James Franco and Seth Rogen all about North Korea propaganda, I started thinking about growing up in a narcissistic family of origin and just how much propaganda I got growing up. I started thinking about all I’ve had to relearn already about myself and the world, and what is considered normal healthy behavior, and what isn’t, and it dawned on me just how truly important it is to learn how to trust your gut above anyone else.
