???? Halloween: Friday the 13th in Disguise

byJDGresham

804 followers

2 months ago

I used ChatGPT to help with this blog.

This year, Halloween lands on a Friday.
But what if that date is just a mask?
What if the smiling pumpkins and porch lights are hiding something older—and darker?
What if Friday, October 31, is really Friday the 13th in disguise?

🕯 Where Halloween Really Comes From

Long before candy bowls and costume aisles, the ancient Celts celebrated Samhain (pronounced Sow-in).
It marked the end of harvest and the beginning of winter, a time when the boundary between worlds grew thin.
Fires blazed on hilltops, masks and animal skins were worn to hide from wandering spirits, and food was left out for ancestors returning home.

But Samhain wasn’t only about fear. It was also about remembrance.
Families set an extra place at the table for those who had died in the past year.
They kept hearth fires burning through the night as beacons, guiding loved ones across the dark.
To the Celts, death wasn’t an ending—it was part of the turning of seasons, the same rhythm that made crops grow and wither.
In a sense, Samhain was both farewell and homecoming—a night to honor those who once walked beside them.

The timing wasn’t random. October 31 sits halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice—a natural hinge in the agricultural year.
When Christianity spread through the British Isles, the Church didn’t erase Samhain; it repurposed it:

• All Saints’ Day was set on November 1, celebrating the holy departed.
• All Souls’ Day followed on November 2, devoted to remembering all the faithful departed.
  The night before All Saints’ became All Hallows’ Eve. Say it fast for a few centuries and you get Halloween.

So yes—pagans celebrated what became All Hallows’ Eve long before trick-or-treaters ever rang a doorbell.

⚔️ The Day the Knights Fell

On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the mass arrest of the Knights Templar—warrior-monks whose wealth and independence made them targets.
Hundreds were seized; many were tortured and executed.
That single event branded Friday the 13th with infamy.

Layer in older superstitions—Norse legend’s thirteenth guest Loki bringing chaos, and thirteen at the Last Supper preceding a Friday crucifixion—and you get a symbol of inversion and broken order.

🧩 Two Sides of the Same Fear

Samhain’s Halloween and Friday the 13th orbit the same idea: thresholds.
Moments when rules fail, light dims, and something unpredictable crosses over.
Halloween externalizes it—spirits walking the earth.
Friday the 13th internalizes it—fate turning against us.
Different calendars, same heartbeat.

So when Halloween lands on a Friday, maybe the mask slips a little.
Maybe, beneath the jack-o’-lantern grin, you glimpse the unlucky number staring back.

💡 What It Means for Creators and Entrepreneurs

Every creative project has its own “Friday the 13th”—that hesitation before you publish, launch, or risk something new.
You tell yourself the timing’s wrong, the market’s slow, Mercury’s retrograde.
But superstition is just fear with good branding.

The Celts faced the dark by lighting fires.
The Templars faced betrayal by holding faith.
You face uncertainty by hitting Publish.

Courage doesn’t wait for lucky numbers; it creates them.

🚛 Community on the Road

That same spirit shows up every day inside WA.
Take Shawn Thomas’s new post, Happy Thanksgiving Message From the Road.
His selfie beside his semi says everything about persistence: the miles keep rolling, the work keeps moving, and gratitude rides shotgun.
That’s what real creators do—they keep the engine running, even when the road looks haunted.

🕯️ Closing Thought

The calendar only counts days.
We decide what they mean.
So when Friday, October 31 comes around, remember: the fear behind the mask isn’t a curse—it’s a reminder.
History’s darkest days and brightest festivals share the same lesson:

Face the threshold. Light the fire. Keep moving.

JD 🎃🎃🎃