The truth about Friday the 13th!

                       

Are you superstitious? Do you avoid black cats and cracks in the sidewalk? Are you terrified of having seven years of bad luck if you break a mirror? Me neither. However, the origins of some of our superstitions are largely unknown in today’s world. This is unfortunate because superstitions are a part of our heritage. We may not believe in them, but it’s always interesting to know their genesis just for the heck of it. So many of these legends have passed into the modern vernacular, yet we don’t understand why we’re saying or doing things that keep us from stepping on cracks and breaking our mothers’ backs and throwing salt over our shoulders.

Such is the case with the superstition that Friday the 13th is an "unlucky" day when all kinds of bad things can happen to us. Then there are all those movies about killer maniacs that bust loose on this date. Spooky as they may be, they have no real tie-in to the superstition at all. The following is the truth about the origin of Friday the 13th.

During the first and second Crusades, in about 1118 A.D., the Knights Templar were created by order of the Vatican to protect Christian pilgrims as they journeyed to the Holy Lands. Since Jerusalem and the surrounding land was sacred according to Christians, Jews and Muslims, European Christians who ventured to the area were likely to be set upon by Muslim warriors, tortured, and killed as infidels. Nine monks, called the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, were dispatched by the Pope to protect these pilgrims. Later referred to as the Knights Templar, the monks took up residence in the ruins of the Temple of Solomon. While remaining bound by their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, the Knights quickly became the fiercest warriors of their time, easily defeating Muslim assassins.

The Knights Templar grew great in numbers, wealth and political power despite their holy vows. Their fighting skills were legendary and their mission of protecting Christian pilgrims never failed. For reasons unknown at the time, the Knights began excavation under the Temple’s ruins. It was later rumored that they had found gold and treasure including the Arc of the Covenant and the Holy Grail beneath the structure, hidden for a thousand years.

Meanwhile, back in Europe, the monarchs and the Vatican weren’t amused. King Philip IV of France was deeply in debt. Through his personal influence, Pope Clement V was elected in 1305. Philip needed money, and fast. He turned to the Knights Templar to get it. The monk-Knights didn’t pay up. Undeterred, King Philip convinced Clement V to excommunicate the entire order of the Knights Templar. The Pope and the French King went even further to obtain the Knights’ great wealth. Through a long-planned scheme, on Friday, October 13th, 1307, they decreed that every Knight Templar in France be arrested. All over Europe, the same fate awaited other Templars as well.

The Knights were put on trial for heresy on a number of bogus charges; many were tortured and burned to death. Clement V’s order spread throughout Europe, and everywhere the Knights were hunted and killed. Any Catholic monarch who didn’t comply with this order was threatened with immediate excommunication.

King Robert the Bruce of Scotland wasn’t particularly impressed. Since he had already been excommunicated, and his countrymen with him, word spread that the Knights Templar could find refuge in that land. The Knights’ leader, Jacques DeMolay, was burned at the stake for heresy; it was thought that with his death, the Templars would fade and disband. Pope Clement V died only a month after the murder of Jacques DeMolay.

The Knights Templar went into hiding, but they did not disband. Instead, they developed secret signs and passwords to identify each other. The Templars still considered themselves as strict Catholics whom the Church had wrongly declared to be heretics. They spread their wealth into secret locations in Ireland, Scotland and Portugal. Some believe that they even spread their treasure into the New World, especially on a remote island in what would become Nova Scotia ("New Scotland").

In 2001, researcher Dr. Barbara Frale discovered a strange document in the archives of the Vatican. Called the Chinton Parchment after the name of the castle where Jacques DeMolay was held captive, the document states that Pope Clement V secretly pardoned the Knights Templar of any wrongdoing in 1314, shortly before his death.

And there you have it; the truth about the origins of our superstition about Friday the 13th. Certainly an unlucky day for the Knights Templar, the legend of their mass slaughter persists to this day. If you’re not about to be executed, I wouldn’t worry about it.

This information was recieved from this site! :o)

 

Tags: Superstitions, Fun. :o)