Triskaidekaphobia - is the fear of the number 13

POEM - It's Friday the 13th Tomorrow

It's Friday the 13th tomorrow.

A black cat just leapt in my path.

I'm not superstitious, but this might

explain why I'm failing in math.

By chance I walked under a ladder

a teacher had placed by the wall.

In class my umbrella popped open,

and that's why I tripped in the hall.

The salt spilled this morning at breakfast.

While walking I stepped on a crack.

I took off my shoes on the table.

It looks like my future is black.

This evening I busted a mirror

which means that the next seven years

are due to be filled with misfortune,

catastrophes, mishaps and tears.

With all the bad luck I'm confronting,

it seems that I'm probably cursed.

It may be the 13th tomorrow.

But Thursday the 12th is the worst.

--Kenn Nesbitt (student)

When I was a child, the adults in my family would quote all of the common superstitions. I decided that I would not pass the superstitions along to my children as I did not believe them. This week I was driving and a black cat ran across the street in front of me, my immediate reaction was "Oh no, bad luck." Why, if I don't believe it can that thought still be in my subconscious ?

Common superstitions can be described as beliefs that have no rational basis. Some superstitions may be just for fun while others may affect you deeply enough to affect your choices in life. None of them are based in fact, but many have roots deep in tradition and history. Most of us probably don't even know why we give a little shudder when we see a Friday the 13th looming on the calendar.

Many of our common superstitions come with a colorful history or story that may date back centuries. If you would like to know why you shouldn't walk under a ladder or whether a black cat is really a creature to avoid, read on for the best list of common superstitions that are still a part of our culture and where they came from.

1. Friday the 13th – Bad Luck
A fear of the number 13 is one of the most common superstitions around, and is so that many apartments and hotels omit the 13th floor and some airlines fly without a 13th row. The most popular thought on the origin of this superstition is that Judas was the 13th guest at the Last Supper and that Christ was crucified on a Friday.

2. Itchy Palm – Good Luck
There seems to be a lot of variations on this superstition, but the idea of having an itchy palm generally refers to someone who is greedy or has an insatiable desire for money.

3. Walking under a Ladder – Bad Luck
It's common sense to avoid walking under an open ladder for fear of something falling on you, but there are superstitious reasons for doing so as well. Consider the shape of an open ladder; a triangle that signifies life to some. When you walk though the triangle, you are tempting the fates.

4. Breaking a Mirror – Bad Luck
Most will tell you that the agreed upon time span for bad luck is 7 years. 7 years is also how long it takes to fully rejuvenate the entire physical body.
Since a mirror was thought to be a reflection of the soul, breaking a mirror was harmful to the soul. To counter the ill effects, you can take the mirror outside and bury it in the moonlight.

5. Finding a Horseshoe – Good Luck
Some people believe that this is the luckiest of all symbols, especially if it is found with the open end pointing toward you.

6. Opening an Umbrella Inside – Bad Luck
Umbrellas that shade us from the deified sun are considered magical. When the umbrella is opened inside and out of the way of sun's rays it offends the sun god. It may even signify impending death or ill fortune for both the person who opened it and the people who live within the home.

7. Knock Twice on Wood – Reverses Bad Luck
The origin of this common superstition dates back to a time when some cultures believed that gods lived in trees. When one would ask for a favor from these gods, he would lightly touch the bark of the tree. To say thank you after the favor had been granted, he would knock lightly one more time.

8. Tossing Spilled Salt over your left Shoulder – Good Luck
Salt has always been considered a valuable substance capable of purifying and warding off evil spirits. By tossing spilled salt over your left shoulder, you are driving away the evil spirits lurking with the intent to cause misfortune.

9. Black Cats – Bad Luck
This is a tough one for cat lovers to swallow, but in the Middle Ages it was thought that witches kept black cats as companions. Some people even believed that these kitties could turn into witches or demons after 7 years.

10. Saying "God Bless You" – Good Luck
Blessing someone after he sneezes is actually a common superstition. In the 6th century, people were congratulated for sneezing because it was thought they were expelling evil spirits. Early Romans believed that a good sneeze could release your soul into the world, and a "bless you" would keep it safe.

How Superstitious Are You?
Do you take great care with mirror glass? Would you never even dream of walking under a ladder? Well, aside from seeming eccentric in your avoidance of some pretty harmless things, you're also probably very superstitious. Though some people take certain age old beliefs as seriously as they do the law, there are varying degrees of superstition.

A few other familiar examples:

-The number 13 is "unlucky" and the numbers 7 and 9 are "lucky."
-It will bring you bad luck if you step on the cracks in a sidewalk.
-Finding a four-leaved clover will be a boon to your fortune.
-Triskaidekaphobia [tris-kahy-dek-uh-foh-bee-uh] is the fear of the number 13.
-Paraskevidekatriaphobics — people afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th

*****

My children have never heard me repeat a superstition to them as I wanted to break the cycle of believing in them. As I write this I wonder if I was successful - I'm guessing that they heard them from other sources anyway. That's how superstitions work!

Poet - James Wright - 'A Blessing'

A Blessing - by James Wright

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,

Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.

And the eyes of those two Indian ponies

Darken with kindness.

They have come gladly out of the willows

To welcome my friend and me.

We step over the barbed wire into the pasture

Where they have been grazing all day, alone.

They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness

That we have come.

They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.

There is no loneliness like theirs.

At home once more,

They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.

I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,

For she has walked over to me

And nuzzled my left hand.

She is black and white,

Her mane falls wild on her forehead,

And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear

That is delicate as the skin over a girl's wrist.

Suddenly I realize

That if I stepped out of my body I would break

Into blossom.

James Wright

*****

James Arlington Wright was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, on December 13, 1927. His father worked for fifty years at a glass factory, and his mother left school at fourteen to work in a laundry; neither attended school beyond the eighth grade. When he graduated in 1946, a year late, he joined the army and was stationed in Japan during the American occupation.

He then attended Kenyon College on the G.I. Bill, and studied under John Crowe Ransom.

He graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1952, then married another Martins Ferry native, Liberty Kardules.

The two traveled to Austria where he continued his studies. He returned to the U.S. and earned master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Washington, studying with Theodore Roethke and Stanley Kunitz. He went on to teach at The University of Minnesota, Macalester College, and New York City's Hunter College.

The poverty and human suffering Wright witnessed as a child profoundly influenced his writing and he used his poetry as a mode to discuss his political and social concerns.

James Wright was elected a fellow of The Academy of American Poets in 1971, and the following year his Collected Poems received the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. He died in New York City in 1980.

Information for this article compiled from Academy of American Poets

Sunday Reflection -Today is Easter - Let us Rejoice

Reflection for Easter

Reading from the Gospel of Mark 16:1-4

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?" And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back - it was very large.

Take Up Your Life

Oh thou Easter God,

on the far side

of all the worst

we can do,

of all the worst

that can come to us:

waving from a high place

you seem to call,

"Come, then,

you also,

why not you also?

What keeps you

from the life of you?

Grief? Sadness?

Fear? Hopelessness?

Here I am

on the other side,

where Life is.

where your life is!

Take but a step forward

and you are on the way.

Rise up,

from your fear to your feet.

This is the day. This is the time.

You are the one; there is no other.

I will move the stone

and there will be light.

Only step toward me and I,

I will take a step toward you.

We will meet

in the light."

Oh thou ingenious God,

resurrection is thy breathing out -

breath, wind, spirit, life and light.

Resurrection

is thy clearest,

dearest

affirmation of creation

and us within it.

There is not death enough

to keep us down,

and is there a stone

that is not sand in the making?

"Live!"

is your plainest

and most ancient word ...

the one you spoke

before the very Beginning...

"Take up your life

and live!"

by Joseph H. Gilmore

(from Eternity's Dance With Time)

May our spirits be renewed

and our hearts be filled

with new hope for peace

within us, among us

and on the earth!

Happy Easter!

Photo by peacesojourner

Pink Moon - April

Silver

Slowly, silently, now the moon

Walks the night in her silver shoon;

This way, and that, she peers, and sees

Silver fruit upon silver trees;

One by one the casements catch

Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;

Couched in his kennel, like a log,

With paws of silver sleeps the dog;

From their shadowy coat the white breasts peep

Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;

A harvest mouse goes scampering by,

With silver claws, and silver eye;

And moveless fish in the water gleam,

By silver reeds in a silver stream.

- Walter de la Mare

Northern Native Americans call April's full moon the Pink Moon after a species of early blooming wildflower.

This full Moon heralds the appearance of the grass pink, or wild ground phlox—one of the first spring flowers. It is also known as the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and the Fish Moon

When you are walking outside today look for the Pink Phlox and, this evening, cast

your eyes upward to view the full moon - Mother Nature's gift to us.

Good Friday - The Passion of Christ

O Heart of Three-in-the Evening

O Heart of Three-in-the evening,

You nestled the thorn-crowned head;

He leaned on you in His sorrow,

And rested on you when dead.

Ah! Holy Three-in-the evening

He gave you His richest dower;

He met you afar on Calvary,

And made you "His own last hour".

O Brow of Three-in-the evening,

Thou wearest a crimson crown;

Thou art Priest of the hours forever,

And thy voice, as thou goest down

The cycles of time, still murmurs

The story of love each day:

"I held in death the Eternal,

In the long and the far-away."

O Heart of Three-in-the evening,

Mine beats with thine to-day;

Thou tellest the olden story,

I kneel -- and I weep and pray.

Copyright by Abram J. Ryan

*****

Dear Christ

Because, dear Christ, your tender, wounded arm

Bends back the brier that edges life's long way,

That no hurt comes to heart, to soul no harm,

I do not feel the thorns so much to-day.

Because I never knew your care to tire,

Your hand to weary guiding me aright,

Because you walk before and crush the brier,

It does not pierce my feet so much to-night.

Because so often you have harkened to

My selfish prayers, I ask but one thing now,

That these harsh hands of mine add not unto

The crown of thorns upon your bleeding brow.

Copyright by E. Pauline Johnson

*****

A Cold, Dark Day

A cold, dark day

Was Good Friday

Our Lord would die on cross

World to bemoan his loss!

The Blessed Virgin wept,with downcast eyes

-----

A cruel time

For vicious crime

As God's believers weep

Troubled souls seeking sleep

Next morning wake to mystical surprise!

-----

No need to mourn

Christ was reborn

Now devout people pray

Glorious Easter Day!

To heaven,our Lord has risen to stay!

Author Unknown

Photo taken by peacesojourner while walking alongside

the Niagara River.

Martin Luther King Jr. - Assassinated April 4, 1968

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 15, 1929 – April 4, l968

Place of birth: Atlanta, Georgia. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father also served, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor.

While in college in Boston he met and married Coretta Scott. Two sons and two daughters were born.

Movement: African-American Civil Rights Movement and Peace movement.

Major organizations: President of Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) 1957

Notable prizes: Nobel Peace Prize (1964)

Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977, posthumous)

Congressional Gold Medal (2004, posthumous)

Alma mater: Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary,Boston University

Religion: Baptist

Influences: Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Benjamin Mays, Hosea Williams, Rosa Parks, Bayard Rustin, Henry David Thoreau, Howard Thurman, Leo Tolstoy.

In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. 


At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.


Dr. King's April 4, 1967 speech "A Time to Break Silence: Declaration of Independence from the Vietnam War" was profound and a stark warning against endless war.
He said “I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'person-oriented' society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered. .... 
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." (MLK, April 4, 1967)

The speech was delivered in the Riverside Church in New York City, to the clergy and laymen concerned about Viet Nam.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room
in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated. He was killed exactly one year to the day after his greatest speech – against the War on Viet Nam. (in case one misses the symbolism)

The King family publicly stated that the federal government killed Dr. King and that James Earl Ray was just a patsy who was framed (Dexter King even met with Ray in his prison and they sought, without success, to get Ray the trial he never had).
In December 1999, after Ray's death in prison, the King family won a federal lawsuit against some of the perpetrators of the assassination. The jury found that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the victim of a murder conspiracy - not a lone gunman. This astounding jury verdict is rarely mentioned by the media. The facts are fairly straightforward, confirmed by a federal jury verdict and endorsed by the King family.

The best way to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy is to work for a world beyond militarism, for non-violence and economic justice.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 1967 Speech Against War and Injustice - Timely Today. You can find complete copies of the speech on line, also on youtube. Please take the time to view them. You will see that if you change the words Viet Nam to Iraq and Afghanistan, the speech could be relevant today.

Today marks the 44th anniversary of his assassination.

They slew the dreamer - long live the dream.

Poet - Robert Browning - 'O, To Be In England.".....

O to be in England, Now That April's There

O to be in England

Now that April's there

And whoever wakes in England

Sees, some morning, unaware,

That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf

Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf

While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bow

In England --- now!!

And after April, when May follows,

And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!

Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge

Leans to the field and scatters on the clover

Blossoms and dewdrops --- at the bent spray's edge ---

That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over

Lest you should think he could never recapture

The first fine careless rapture!

And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,

All will be gay when noontide wakes anew

The buttercups, the little children's dower---

Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

Robert Browning 1812 – 1889

*****

When the calendar turns the page to April, I always get a pang of nostalgia and immediately think of this poem and of England. There is truly no finer place in the world to be during the springtime. The photos above are a great example of what I mean.

Photos by permission of Maggie

April is National Poetry Month

The month of April has been designated 'National Poetry Month'

During this month I will be posting the works of some of my favorite poets. Some of the verses have seen me through the hard times, others have been joyful. Then there are those that are just beautiful to read and have left me wishing that I could put words together in that manner.

I hope that you will enjoy the selections.

Peacesojourner

Reflection for Palm Sunday

Reflection for Palm Sunday

Miniature bronze figures by German sculptor Ulrich Henn, on the doors of

St. James Cathedral, in Seattle, Washington

*****

Lift up, O gates, your lintels;

reach up, you ancient portals,

that the king of glory may come in.

- Psalm 24:9

*****

SAY THOU

by Joseph H. Gilmore

O thou

whose name we do not,

have never known:

on that day,

did he enter the spirit

of the parade?

Did he laugh

at their gesture,

unlikely prophet

on an unlikely animal

shuffling toward

an unknown destiny?

Say thou.

Or did he look neither right nor left,

flint-faced, eyes fixed

on some undetermined distance,

deaf to the merriment

of the bystanders?

Say thou.

Did his heart race,

sensing danger,

but not knowing from where?

Did he wish

he had never prayed

for the coming of God in his life

with power,

and to his people

with power, love and justice?

Say thou.

When the people yelled,

"Save now!" did they mean:

"Now is the time for the people to be saved,

for we are God's

and we will live free and whole

or die

knowing that God is among us,

within us?"

Or did they mean:

"You there, hero!

Don't let them do you in.

We are counting on you.

We will pray for you.

And we will

tell the brave story of you to our children.

Good luck."

Say thou.

Did he still own the words

He borrowed from Isaiah

for his first sermon...

"the Spirit of God is upon me,"

or, as he rode,

was he rehearsing

his last prayer,

"My God, my God, why?"

You say, we beseech thee.

He was a danger

and a delight

thou knowest,

and following in his way is,

ever,

more than we bargained for.

He went up in flames,

and there has been light

ever since.

Hosannah in the highest!

Blessed are those, who

like him,

ride in to town

regardless.

(from Eternity's Dance With Time)

*****

One who has surrendered to it knows

that the way ends on the Cross-

even when it is leading through the jubilation of Gennesaret

or the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

-Dag Hammarskjold

Received from the Kirkridge Retreat Center, Bangor, PA 18013

Women's History Month - Peace Pilgrim

Peace Pilgrim

(July 18, 1908 – July 7, 1981)

Mildred Lisette Norman, was a U.S. pacifist, vegetarian, and peace activist. In 1952, she became the first woman to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail in one season. Starting on January 1, 1953. In Pasadena, California, she adopted the name "Peace Pilgrim" and walked across the United States for 28 years.

A transcript of a 1964 conversation with Peace Pilgrim from a broadcast on KPFK radio in Los Angeles, California, was published as "Steps Toward Inner Peace". She stopped counting miles in that year, having walked more than 40,000 km (25,000 miles) for peace.

Mildred Norman was born on a poultry farm in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey, in 1908, the oldest of three children. Her mother, Josephine Marie Ranch, was a tailor, and her father, Ernest Norman, a carpenter. Although poor, the family were well-thought-of in a community of German immigrants, whose relatives originally settled the area after escaping Germany in 1855.

In 1933 she eloped with Stanley Ryder and moved to Philadelphia in 1939. They divorced in 1946.

Her pilgrimage spanned almost three decades beginning January 1, 1953, in Pasadena, California. The Korean War was in progress. She continued walking for 28 years, spanning the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and beyond. Peace Pilgrim was a frequent speaker at churches, universities, and local and national radio and television.

Expressing her ideas about peace, she referred to herself only as "Peace Pilgrim." Peace Pilgrim's only possessions were the clothes on her back and the few items she carried in the pockets of her blue tunic which read "Peace Pilgrim" on the front and "25,000 Miles on foot for peace" on the back.

She had no organizational backing, carried no money, and would not even ask for food or shelter. When she began her pilgrimage she had taken a vow to "remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food."

Peace Pilgrim was a strict vegetarian and did not use fur, feathers, leather or bone. Peace Pilgrim was an early advocate for tolerance for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. She did not believe in discrimination against any human being.

She was awarded the ‘Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award’ -1992

“In order for the world to become peaceful, people must become more peaceful. Among mature people war would not be a problem - it would be impossible. In their immaturity people want, at the same time, peace and the things which make war. However, people can mature just as children grow up. Yes, our institutions and our leaders reflect our immaturity, but as we mature we will elect better leaders and set up better institutions. It always comes back to the thing so many of us wish to avoid: working to improve ourselves.”-Peace Pilgrim

On July 7, 1981, while being driven to a speaking engagement near Knox, Indiana, Peace Pilgrim was killed in an automobile accident. At the time of her death, she was crossing the United States for the seventh time.

After her death, she was cremated, and her ashes were interred in a family plot near Egg Harbor City, New Jersey.

*****

Friends of Peace Pilgrim

Friends of Peace Pilgrim is an all-volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to making information about the life and message of Peace Pilgrim available freely to all who ask. Since 1983 they have published and distributed over 400,000 copies of the book, Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words, and over one and a half million copies of the booklet, Steps Toward Inner Peace. Books and booklets have been sent to over 100 countries. The book has been translated into twelve languages and the booklet into over 20 languages.

*****

I have been an admirer of this woman for many years. I keep a copy of her life and quotations on my coffee table for quick reference. Her only possessions were a comb, a toothbrush, a small notebook and a pencil, all of which she kept in the pockets of the tunic which she wore at all times. I often look around my home and imagine how liberating that would be to reduce my possessions to just basic needs. I have tried to down-size and I do lead a relatively simple lifestyle but I admire Peace Pilgrim for being so dedicated to the peace effort as to spend her every waking moment as an advocate for peace. I never met her but I have read accounts of people who were inspired just by being in her presence.

She led a quiet, gentle lifestyle, while having the courage to stand up for her convictions. My kind of person!

peacesojourner

'Bread and Roses' strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts

Bread and Roses

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,

A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,

Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,

For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"

As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,

For they are women's children, and we mother them again.

Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;

Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!

As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead

Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.

Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.

Yes, it is bread we fight for -- but we fight for roses, too!

As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.

The rising of the women means the rising of the race.

No more the drudge and idler -- ten that toil where one reposes,

But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses!

By James Oppenheim, published in American Magazine in December 1911

The poem above was written as a tribute to the women who conducted a strike in 1911, in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

In 1905 the American Woolen Company built the world's biggest textile plant in Lawrence, hiring Arab, Russian and East European immigrants. By 1911, people of 25 different nationalities lived within a one-mile radius of the mill.

They lived in crowded company-owned tenements. Eight to 10 people from different families shared one living space. Whole families--including children under 14 years old--worked in the mills. The mills were hot and humid. The work was fast paced, with high accident rates.

Rickets were common among children for lack of milk. Nearly half died before they were 6 years old. Over one-third of the mill workers died before age 25, mostly from tuberculosis and other respiratory illnesses.

Jan. 12 was the start of the 1911 'Bread and Roses' strike--one of the most significant struggles in the history of the U.S. working class--in Lawrence, Mass.

A new state law had reduced the work week from 56 to 54 hours. A small gain for workers? Sounds like it. But of course the bosses found a way to gain the advantage. They speeded up the looms and cut the average wage of $6 a week--a last straw for workers living on the edge of starvation.

Some 23,000 people left the mills and poured into the streets in protest.
The Lawrence strike broke new ground in two ways. Women led it. And there was a conscious effort to unite workers of all nationalities. Every union meeting was translated into 25 different languages.

There were four demands: a 15-percent wage increase, a 54- hour work week, double pay for overtime, and rehiring of all strikers without discrimination. The strike drew national and international publicity, and donations began to pour in.

Two months later on March 14, the strikers won a 25-percent raise for the lowest-paid workers and smaller increases for higher-paid workers, time-and-a-quarter pay for overtime, and no discrimination against strikers.

The strikers wanted not only decent pay, but a chance to enjoy the good things of life. They carried signs saying, "We want bread and roses too!"

The women who participated in this strike had the courage to stand up for their rights and their actions made a difference in the future of industrial workers.

They shaped the future of this country and this reinforces for me that notion that if one is aware of injustice then the right thing to do is to speak up against it and let those in power know that it is not acceptable. These women were among the forerunners of equal rights.

The photos above show women of the day working in the factory and also, those on strike being confronted by the National Guard.

During this month we have taken time to celebrate Women's History Month and we give honor to those brave women who have gone before us.

peacesojourner