Phobias: who doesn’t have a few? I have my share, but triskaidekaphobia isn’t one of them. In fact, thirteen is my favourite number, partly because I think it has been unfairly demonized. so here are some things to respect about the lovely number thirteen, gleaned from around the internet:
- The Hebrew word ahava (love) has a numerical value of thirteen:1
https://www.betemunah.org/thirteen.html
- In Greek mythology, Zeus was the thirteenth and the most powerful god.
- There are approximately thirteen cycles of the moon each year.
- There are thirteen cards in each suit in a standard deck of playing cards.
- The four seasons each have thirteen weeks.
- The dollar bill has many icons with thirteen elements, including the pyramid, letters in “E Pluribus Unum,” thirteen arrows and thirteen stars.
- Thirteen is a prime number and a Fibonacci number.
https://www.beniciamagazine.com/the-not-so-unlucky-number-13/
Also,
- There are thirteen baked goods in a baker’s dozen. (One for the baker to test!)
- In Italy, thirteen is considered a very lucky number. The expression fare tredici (“to do thirteen”) means hit the jackpot.
- There were 13 original colonies of the United States. https://redtri.com/freaky-friday-13-cool-things-about-the-number-13/
So let us look at Number Thirteen with kindly eyes, and remember that numbers, like people, are complicated entities we should get to know thoroughly before presuming to judge.
Happy Friday, Everyone, and have a healthy weekend.
1.
| The gematria of ahavah – אהבה is thirteen: | א = 1
ה = 5 ב = 2 ה = 5 ———- |