Why is Friday the 13th... bad luck?

Friday the 13th (October), 1307 – the day in history when King Phillip of France ordered and began the mass arrest and torture of The Knights Templar all across France (and eventually Europe). Thousands were captured and imprisoned this day, then systematically tortured by the Inquisition. Ironically, most went willingly, thinking they had done nothing wrong and that God would stand by them. Finally, those who managed to survive the torture were burned alive as heretics. Thus ending once and for all the 200-year autonomy of the wealthiest, most powerful medieval Order of warrior-priests the world had ever known. The Knights Templar's influence is everywhere even now: they were responsible for the building of the great Cathedrals of Notre Dame, which were strategically laid out across Europe in the form of the constellation Virgo, the Virgin (don't believe that one? Check NASA satellite imagery); they created the first international banking system that is still in use to this day; the infamous 'skull and crossbones' adopted by pirates was originally the battle flag of the Templar Navy. Though a Christian Order, answerable to no one but the Pope at Rome himself, their original founders included French noblemen of Jewish ancestry and during the course of their phenomenal rise to power, they secretly welcomed all beliefs, and harbored strong alliances with Saracens and Jews alike in the Holy Land. They practiced many unusual secret rituals, many of which are still used today by the various branches of Freemasonry, including an ancient Egyptian 'living resurrection' ceremony. Two years after the Templars' spectacular fall from grace, their last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, after suffering endless forms of unimaginable torture at the hands of the Holy Roman Papal Inquisition, was taken to a small island in the center of Paris and with his best friend and confidant, was slowly and literally roasted alive over a spit while entire public masses gathered to watch his long, agonizing death.

Thus, to this day, Friday the 13th is still considered a day of 'bad luck.'


If you're interested, read a great book:

The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple

by Malcolm Barber. The definitive history of the Templars from the foremost Templar historian.

Courage

The man gazed curiously at the boy; he was so small, so frightened; cut, bruised, covered in dirt.

“You have a lot of courage, you know...” said the man.

The boy's downcast eyes filled with tears.

“No, I don't.” he said quietly. “I thought I could be brave. But I'm not. I thought I could do this, but I'm scared to death.”

The man gently placed a finger under the boy's chin, lifted his face, and saw the shame in the boy's eyes.

“Courage,” the man smiled, “has nothing to do with being brave. It's about being scared to death... and doing it anyway.”

  ~ Andy Clemence