The Magic and Power of Friday the 13th

So you probably know that way back when, before the patriarchy really clenched its stranglehold over women, things were really different.

Women were held in high regard, they were honored as the divine life-giving vessels that they are and much of the world worshiped a female divinity.

Proof of this goes back thousands of years and has been handed down to us through cave art and stone carvings – the original Venus figurines – dating back to 25,000 BCE. The proliferation of these amulets shows that there has been goddess worship for 30,000 years!

In more recent goddess-centric societies, specific goddesses from each culture were revered and celebrated for their sensual and life giving qualities. Fridays were treated as goddess days across cultures and it’s believed that the word “Friday” in English is derived from the goddess Freyja, while “vendredi” in French (and its associated forms in the Romance languages) comes from Venus.

The 13th was celebrated as an even more special day, as a day of feasts, because 13 is a number that is sacred to the feminine as there are 13 moon cycles throughout the year, which corresponds to 13 menstrual cycles.

When the patriarchy came into power, it was necessary for them to squash the energy of the goddess and one of the ways that they did that was to turn the power of the day into a sinister day.

(“Sinister” comes from the Latin “sinistra” meaning evil and is the root of the word for “left handed” in many languages. The perversion of this word was actually used as a tactic to oppress the left-hand path or the path of the divine feminine. So, this day was originally a left-hand path day that became one that was marked by bad omens.

As a result of this takedown of the divine feminine, Friday became known as the day that Eve enticed Adam into biting the apple, the day that Adam was expelled from Eden, the day he died, and the day that Jesus partook of the Last Supper before being crucified. There also needed to be some vilification of the 13th, so the patriarchy focused on the unluckiness of there being 13 present at that supper. A myth even formed from this that you would die within a year of eating at a table with 12 others.

It can be super powerful to reclaim Friday the 13th. Together, the energy of Friday and 13 combine to make it a most potent day for women and anyone who taps into the divine feminine magic that is available during this window.

To support you in this reclamation, we’ve created this 13 card tarot spread to guide you in healing patriarchal wounding. You can do this on your own or include it in a ceremony. (Highly recommended! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

For this card spread, choose as your point of inquiry something that you want to heal vs. something predictive. Friday the 13th is a reclamation of your power – what would you like to transform in order to experience more of that?

This spread is in the shape of the Cross of Camargue, Mary Magdalene’s cross, which combines the symbolism and energies of both the Cross and an anchor (with a heart in the center), which correspond to the virtues of hope, faith and charity

Remember, though: this is YOUR day, goddess.

Even just taking a little bit of time out of your day to honor and nourish yourself can be a powerful reclamation as well. Enjoy a nice bath, move slowly, sip your favorite tea –  whatever feels like a way to honor yourself.