Lady Luck may have left the building, but your chances of getting lucky are still pretty good.
Insert horror movie doom music—Friday the 13th is upon us, bringing with it a sense of general unrest and an unexpectedly pleasant astrological transit.
Before we get to the primal gender and shadow work, we want to address the ominous call.
Why this fear of Friday the 13th?
The unfortunate association of this day of days stretches back centuries to Norse folklore. According to legend, the twelve main gods of the Norse pantheon hosted a dinner in Valhalla (fun).
The trickster god Loki appeared uninvited as the thirteenth guest and staged the “murder by mistletoe” of Balder the Handsome, the god of light and joy. Balder’s death brought sorrow to the world and increased the bad vibrations of the number thirteen.
Festivals of fate can still be found in the Christian tradition.
Friday is no fun, everything is death in the Bible
At the Last Supper, 13 people were present. Judas, presumably a ram and the red-haired betrayer of Jesus Christ, was the last to arrive, reinforcing the connection between the large number present and impending death or doom.
And the hits keep coming, folks.
Friday plays a role in the Bible in several other ways: Jesus was crucified on the Friday after the Last Supper, and according to tradition, Friday is the day on which a) Cain killed Abel and b) Eve offered Adam the doomed apple of knowledge.
Oops.
Friday the 13th in history
In the Bible and beyond, Friday the 13th has been the scene of heinous events that have added to its reputation as an evil day. The most notable include the arrest and subsequent massacre of the Knights Templar in 1307, the bombing of Buckingham Palace in 1940, and the murders of New Yorker Kitty Genovese in 1964 and rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996.
The fear of this date is as deep-rooted as its history. There are even two terms to describe this phobia, both of which sound remarkably like Ikea furniture: paraskavedekatriaphobia and friggatriskaidekaphobia, respectively.
The Astrology of Friday the 13th
In astrology, Friday belongs to Venus, the planet of love, beauty, attraction, virtues, aesthetics and ambient light.
And so it just so happens that Venus will be in her home sign of Libra on Friday the 13th this year.
This transit amplifies the energies of love, attraction, beauty and receptivity, making it a peak time to make wishes and an excellent time to move into town or approach a stranger for role-playing, family constellation therapy, freelance work or a hotel rendezvous.
Venus in Libra = makes you want to do turndown service and is keen to do it in a room that someone else has to clean.
Black Moon Lilith and Friday the 13th
In a conjunction of the status quo and the subversive, Venus will also be in conjunction with or mixing energies with Black Moon Lilith (BML) on Friday the 13th. Libra represents conventional attraction and desire, while BML is the toe-sucking, shadow-walking, salty underbelly of taboo.
Speaking of the dark associations of Friday the 13th, BML represents our wild self, our primal urge to create and destroy, the shadow side of human sexuality, our assigned shame, our subconscious, our secret desires and reservoirs of power.
You know, sunny stuff.
During this conjunction, the lines between the forbidden and the accepted are blurred, and expression and experimentation are encouraged. Venus demands that we be fully present for the physical joy of life, while BML demands that we own and initiate that which makes us feel vital, powerful and free.
Letting out, turning on, getting out, and telling the truth are excellent ways to honor the spirit of this transit and welcome next week’s solar eclipse, which has release as its main theme.
Given the horror film hype surrounding Friday the 13th, may I suggest that you transfer the painfully pleasurable, expectant and darkly curious energy of these horror fests into your pursuit and enjoyment of all things?
Astrology 101: Your Guide to the Stars
Astrologer Reda Wigle irreverently researches and reports on planetary constellations and their impact on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture, and personal experiences. To book a reading, visit her website.
