I learned recently that Friday the 13th was once known as The Day of the Goddess – before patriarchal times, before a woman’s menstrual cycle and bleeding became culturally shameful. Before the day was ‘unlucky’, it was a day to worship the Divine Feminine in all of us – men and women alike.
Friday is Venus Day – Venus being the epitome of feminine energy. The number 13 is considered to be the number of death, rebirth, creation, fertility and blood. Before patriarchal times, women were considered to embody divine powers and regarded for their wisdom and intuition. Only since this time has society taught us to ignore this amazing ability to create and be a home to new life.
All of this probably would not be significant to me if not for a magical night, four and a half years ago, when I realized I was in labor. Friday the 13th was the day she was born, and the day I became a mother. Her femininity, her sensitivity and her fierceness astound and astonish me sometimes and, as someone who spent years casting aside my femininity, often challenges me in surprising ways. She is absolutely nothing short of a goddess and her coming into this world three weeks early on a day I once considered unlucky is no small coincidence to me.
I’m only realizing its significance now – for it was on this day that I finally reconnected with my own femininity… something I knew I had lost along the way, giving in to a culture which persuades us to do so in order to ‘succeed’. My hope going forward is that, as a society, we begin to embrace the feminine in all of us and begin to honor and hold worthy those things that our Divine Feminine can offer this world.
Happy Day of the Goddess everyone.