Today is Friday the 13th, and for the past couple weeks reporters have been having a field day doing local interest stories and explorations of why this date is so infamous. In any sort of exploration of superstition, the references to pagan influences are sure to come, this year has been no different. This is despite the fact that most modern conceptions of why this day is unlucky are formed through Christian tragedy, not ancient pagan superstition.

This hasn’t stopped reporters from digging though:

“Other historians offer a rival explanation involving older religions being toppled by new ones. Friday was linked to Venus in the Roman calendar and to Freya in Norse mythology. Because these pagan female goddesses represented a threat to patriarchal Christianity, they were maligned. Similarly, the number 13 was often sacred in goddess-worshipping cultures.” – Jon Niccum, Lawrence Journal-World

One paper even found a group of Pagans who celebrate the day as a holiday!

“We love 13, we just jump at it. (In pagan tradition)13 represents the number of full moons in the year, and Friday is the day of freya, or the day of Venus, which is the day of love magic. The connection between the two is because religious orders were trying to demonize everything pagan. We witches love Friday the 13th … it’s a marvelous day for us, we’re actually having a party, We do a little party called a triskadecalia, which means ‘the day of 13′. We’ll get together and dress in comfy clothing, watch campy movies, listen to pagan music, and maybe brew up some black cat oil, it is used to ‘un-cross’ yourself, meaning to rid yourself of bad luck.” – S. Rune Emerson, Rising Tradition of American Witchcraft

Its remarkably easy to find patterns if your looking for them (see the fuss over the number 23 for a good example), and this is just one more instance. I believe that this is one case where Christian sources have the most sway here. Reporters (and Pagans) shouldn’t look to ancient paganism to explain every modern superstition. In the end it makes discussions of paganism (ancient and modern) a trivial matter, a mere curiosity dug up when people wonder why we knock on wood.

Tags: Paganism