Superstition of the Week - Black Friday

Here is a good luck ritual to prevent one from being trampled in the Black Friday Shopping Crowds:

• Get out of the bed on the left side
  
• Turn around 3 times
• Pat your stomach twice
• Hop on your right foot 5 times
• Hop on your left foot 6 times
• Count backwards from 20 to 1
• Twitch your nose 7 times
• Take 3 deep breaths
• Get back into bed and sleep until Saturday morning

Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens On It

RAVEN GRAFFITI

From the Art of the State blog, "We're going on a Roa hunt"

Superstition of the Week - Kissing Kitties

Kissing Kitties

In the early 16th century, a visitor to an English home would always kiss the family cat to bring good luck.

For more fun kitty and puppy daily trivia, visit freekibble.com and help feed hungry animal shelter dogs and cats.

Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens on It

SWEET AND ZESTY TORTURED RAVENS











Tortured Orchard, A Spirited Rebellion of Flavors, Seasoning Sauces.

P.S. Perhaps something to make those left-over turkey sandwiches from Thanksgiving not seem so torturous?

Superstition of the Week - Friday the 13th

TGIF!!! Oh no wait a minute, it is Friday the 13th. Well darn, now I am torn. Should I be elated the weekend is almost here, or paralyzed in infinite fear of the dark sinister forces lurking around every corner seeking out prey (perhaps me, okay, probably me) to wreck their devious havoc on? How does one of the most looked forward to days of the week turn to doomsday when if falls on that particular number?

It turns out that both Friday and the number 13 have gotten a bad wrap throughout history. Unfortunately for 13, it is partly due to the fact that we humans tend to tire after 12. In school they tend to stop at 12 in their multiplication tables, there are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus. Adding 1 to 12, please, scary stuff.

There is also a Norse myth attached to the superstition of the number 13. Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla, their heaven. The god of mischief, Loki, was excluded from the guest list, but came anyway, bringing the dinner party to a total of 13. Loki then proceeded to provoke Hoder, the blind god of winter, to shoot Balder, god of joy and gladness. Balder died instantly cloaking the earth in darkness. Don’t you hate it when that happens at your dinner parties? The Hindus also believed the gathering of 13 people in one place was unlucky and in ancient Rome it was said that witches gathered in groups of 12 with the devil. Then later in history the superstition associated itself with the Last Supper of Jesus and the 12 disciples.

Now interestingly, in ancient goddess-worshipping cultures 13 was considered a lucky number because it corresponded to the number of lunar cycles in a year. However, according to some historians, 13 got a bad rep among early Christian patriarchs because it represented femininity. Hmmm....

Friday also ended up on the wrong side of Christianity, mainly because it is believed that Jesus was crucified on that day. But some historians have dated the superstition back to yet again Norse mythology and the sacrifices made to the goddess Frigg, goddess of marriage and fertility, or Freya, goddess of sex and fertility. Their emblem was the fish, which was associated with worship of love that was offered by the Scandinavians to their goddess on the sixth day of the week, Friday. With Christianity this act was considered indecent and Freya was recast as a witch in folklore. During the Middle Ages, Friday was known as the Witches’ Sabbath.

Then it appeared that early Christians started attributing about everything bad to Friday such as Eve offering Adam the apple, Abel killing Cain, the stoning of St. Stephen and the Great Flood. Oh, another little interesting tidbit, it is said that in Britain Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and how many steps supposedly led up to the noose, yep, 13.

Thus when you put the two together, Friday the 13th, you can see why it is not exactly seen as your sunshiny day. The Knights of Templar found this out on Friday, October 13, 1307, when King Philip IV of France ordered their torture and execution.

But really, I am sure there is nothing to worry about today, it is just a superstition, right? Now did I just see something peaking around the corner...?

Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens On It

ANOTHER GRATEFULLY DEAD RAVEN

From dead.net, Back Album Art from Wake of the Flood

Superstition of the Week - Owls

OWLS

It is bad luck to see an owl in the sunlight.

We always new it was better to be a night owl.

**Illustration from The Curious Curse, one of the featured stories in the debut issue of the Edible Raven, coming soon

Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens On It

GRATEFULLY DEAD RAVEN

Grateful Dead 1973 Poster from dead.net