Jun 13, 2014

Happy Friggatriskaidekaphobia Day!



For those that suffer from "triskaidekaphobia", the fear of the number 13, or friggatriskaidekaphobia, a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th, you'd best beware of all of the other ill omens and myths surrounding this day of great portent of impending doom. 


And besides being Friday the 13th, it is also a FULL MOON! June's full moon is known as the 'Strawberry Moon'. It was named, as most full moons are, by the Algonquin tribe of Indians of North America. This same full moon in June is often referred to, in Europe, as the Rose Moon. The North American version came about because of the comparatively short season for harvesting strawberries which arrives each year during the month of June. By the same token, of course, June is the month of the flowering of many beautiful roses and buzzing bees that create honey. So, many refer to it as the "honey moon" and not just because of the prevalence of June brides.

What makes this year's June full moon so rare is that it coincides with the perigee, which is the point at which the moon is closest to the Earth, making it appear larger in the sky. The moon reached fullness shortly after midnight Eastern, but will still be nearly full tonight. Moonrise tonight is 8:30 p.m. Eastern.   Full moons on Friday the 13th aren't particularly rare, occurring every couple of years, but the last time it happened with June's "honey moon" was in 1919.

And a Full Moon On Friday The 13th Won't Happen Again Until 2049!!!

Here's hoping you all have a good day with no ill omens of any kind, and an even better weekend eating strawberries and smelling the sweet honey aroma of roses.

I've been sewing, wildcrafting, raising my three little 'babies' and transitioning them from small bins to bigger ones and making sure the' older two girl's are never left out! The little girls are getting in their tail feathers which makes me laugh and remember my mom who passed last August after 8 very long years of our taking care of her with Alzheimer's Disease. My mom always talked about swishing her tail feathers when she was all dolled up with a nice outfit and some lipstick. Guess, my little girls are doing the same! Doing the chicken dance for sure!

And for me, it's "Frugal Friday!"

When I'm too busy or too tired or distracted for a long sewing day, I find a leftover "orphan" quilt block and make a little pillow. This little hand-sewn sunflower was just the right size for a tiny pillow and the perfect complement for my antique chair and a quilt. And best of all, I made it all in about 20 minutes using the pre-made block, adding it to a self folding back piece and creating a little inside pillow for the fluffing. Everything out of muslin, no fuss, no muss, and almost no cost as it was all made from leftover and scraps!

Also found, this fabulous bird nest. Once of the prettiest we've found (other than the really cool unusually shaped ones!) The birds used moss, ferns, flower stems with a flower still attached, and beautiful bits and pieces of grasses and stems.  I can never resist bringing nature inside once things are no longer in use by their builders! Thank you little bird friends. I love displaying your nest on my table!
 
My three little chickens, Edith, Dorothy, and Little Nell, are growing so quickly, they more than doubled in size in the three weeks that we've had them. I've gotten them used to hand feeding ..well, perhaps too used to it...now, they see me coming and started Hugh Jackson bouncing trying to reach the screening, aiming for my hand with hope of it bringing gifts of food!  Oh, my. I'm spoiling them already.

Yes, that's right, my two big girls, Penelope and Matilda,  come up onto the deck and get handouts, too!  Our chickens are our free range friends who go into the safety of a coop at night. But love to follow us around and get handouts during the day. The big girls have come up to the little girls bin when I put it outside on the deck for sunning themselves but so far, have not shown much interest in their soon to be coop sisters.

I do love my chickens..and I don't mean for dinner!



Triskaidekaphobia

Friday is Frigga's Day.... Frigg, or Frigga.... was an ancient Scandinavian fertility and love goddess, equivalent to the Roman Venus, who had been worshiped on the sixth day of the week. Early Christians believed that Frigga was a witch and any Friday was the witches' Sabbath. For them, Friday the 13th was neither silly, nor a joke. For them, it was a day that caused anxiety... if not outright terror.

For those that suffer from "triskaidekaphobia", it is the irrational fear of the number 13. But if you suffer from the fear of the date itself, Friday the 13th, then you suffer from " friggatriskaidekaphobia", a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th.
 
The origin of the association of this day as being a day of 'bad luck , like most mythological symbology, has altered with time. But common Biblical beliefs link it to a variety of symbols. Biblical referencing most commonly link it to Friday, the day of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, the beginning of the Great Flood, Eves' offering of the apple to Adam, the day that Noah faced the Great Flood, or the Last Supper, at which Judas Iscariot was said to have been the 13th guest to sit down at the table. Judas later betrayed Jesus, leading to Jesus' crucifixion.


This led to the fear of having 13 guests at a dinner table foretold that one of them would die within the year. This also led to the superstition that the first person to rise from the table, or the last one to be seated, was an ill omen and created the concept of all waiting to be seated at the same time, standing up at the same time, or breaking groups into smaller tables to avoid the seating of 13.


Eventually, by the late 19th century, people went out of their way to avoid anything associated with the number 13...whether it was hotel rooms, desks, cars, floors of a building, rungs of a ladder, or steps on the stairs. These 'ill omens' led to the avoidance of even using these numbers in many places, and led to the renumbering (without the number 12) of hotel rooms, floors and so forth.
Other fear of Friday beliefs include:

  • Needleworking: "I knew an old lady who, if she had nearly completed a piece of needlework on a Thursday, would put it aside unfinished, and set a few stitches in her next undertaking, that she might not be obliged either to begin the new task on Friday or to remain idle for a day." (1883)
  • Giving Birth: "A child born on Friday is doomed to misfortune." (1846)
  • Getting Married: "As to Friday, a couple married on that day are doomed to a cat-and-dog life." (1879)
  • Recovering from Illness: "If you have been ill, don't get up for the first time on Friday." (1923)
  • Moving: "Don't move on a Friday, or you won't stay there very long." (1982)
  • Starting a New Job: "Servants who go into their situations on Friday, never go to stay."(1923) ....and my favorite.....
  • Hearing News: "If you hear anything on a Friday, it gives you another wrinkle on your face, and adds a year to your age." (1883)



Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares a quilting journey through her life in Salem, Oregon and Douglas, Alaska. Sewing, quilting, and wildcrafting, with small format art quilts, prayer flags, and comfort quilts for a variety of charitable programs. And best of all, sharing thousands of links to Free Quilt and Quilt Block Patterns and encouraging others to join her and make and donate quilts to charitable causes.   Help us change the world, one little quilt, art quilt, and prayer flag at a time!

2 comments:

Joyce Carter said...

Oh WOW, Michele, what a name! The name alone is enough to scare you to death.LOL I admit that I am a little leary of the number 13, especially if it is on a Friday. I have been known to tip-toe around on this day for fear of what can happen, but I know my own fear is what makes me anxious so that something actually does happen.
I really enjoyed your post. I learned a lot of things that I didn't know. Very interesting! Have a wonderful weekend.

Jackie said...

My Nana was very superstitious and she always said "Do not start anything new on a Friday". And to this day, I have a hard time starting something new on a Friday..