Why is Friday 13th unlucky? Plant Lore and Garden Myths

It is probably the juxtaposition of ‘unlucky Friday’ and ‘unlucky 13’ that has made much of Western civilisation so nervous on that particular day. We get at least one Friday 13th every year, and often two.

Three of them in one year happen less often; most recently in 2015 and 2012. Just to make you feel really nervous about these things, 2012 had three ‘Friday 13th’s each 13 weeks apart…

….and it was a leap year which is supposedly really bad as it affects the crops so we should have all starved…

Bet you didn’t know that wheat had its own Google calendar did you? Well, obviously it doesn’t; which is the point.

Many of these superstitions are based in legend and have been added to and tweaked as society has changed. The number 13 was considered lucky in Ancient Egypt as it symbolised the glorious afterlife. Whereas Christianity perceives 13 as unlucky because there were thirteen diners at the last supper.

Now, I haven’t yet been asked to create a garden design full of unlucky plants. Or even one full of lucky plants – although if you fancy tempting me to create such a garden design for you do ask! But I am fascinated by the history and lore surrounding common garden plants and wild flowers.

So why is Friday 13th unlucky? And are there any unlucky plants?

Friday 13th Unlucky Plants – Mistletoe

If we look at number 13 in the garden and the orchard we find that one of the favourite Christmas plants, mistletoe, has a starring role in an unlucky Friday 13th legend.

There is a Norse myth which tells of twelve gods were having a dinner party in Valhalla. One of these guests was Balder, god of joy and the sun, who was the favourite and much loved by the others. Loki, god of mischief, had not been invited and he was jealous of Balder, so he gate-crashed the party. Then Loki went on to trick the blind god of winter, Hoder, into shooting Balder with a mistletoe-tipped arrow.

Why mistletoe? Well, Baldur’s mother, the earth or mother goddess, Frigga, had made all the plants on earth swear an oath not to harm Baldur. The mistletoe had been considered too young to swear an oath, and Loki had discovered this, which is why he thought it a good choice.

Conveniently for Loki, European mistletoe (Viscum album) has toxic berries. They contain a poisonous alkaloid which causes acute gastroenteritis, blood vessel collapse and very possibly death. My issue with this tale is that one would have to eat the mistletoe berries or leaves or drink a tea made from them in order to ingest the toxin. Unless Hoder was able to send the poison-tipped arrow directly into a blood vessel, I’m not convinced that Baldur would have died. (Not an experiment for you to try at home!)

Baldur was brought back to life, by the way, so thirteen was less of an unlucky number for him than for Loki, who was outcast as a result of this trick.

Friday 13th Unlucky Plants – Hawthorn

What other plants could be considered ‘unlucky’? Hawthorn or May blossom (Crataegus monogyna) is one.

Superstition has it that to bring May blossom into the house invites illness and death into the house too. So maybe a Friday 13 in May is seriously bad fortune? Hawthorn has so much folklore surrounding it that I could fill a book. The flowers are said to smell sweetly – or of death and decay.

Hawthorn is also a medicinal plant, good for improving heart conditions and reducing depression. It has sharp thorns and edible berries and has been a favourite hedging plant in Britain for hundreds of years because of it great usefulness at all times of the year, so it does seem strange that it’s also classed as ‘unlucky’.

Perhaps that stems from someone years ago taking a spray of May blossom into the house on Friday 13th and then a family member took ill and died.