THE MOST HAUNTED DAYS OF THE YEAR HauntedAmericaTours.com

IS TODAY ONE OF THE MOST HAUNTED DAYS OF THE YEAR

Story by Greg Harland

How much do you know about what day is the creepiest most haunted days of the year? And most likely the day when your most apt to meet a real lively ghost eye to eye. Besides knowing what phase the moon is at Ghost Hunters are starting to research the actual tradtional haunted days of the year with some ghost finding startling paranormal results.

A Friday occurring on the 13th day of any month is considered to be a day of bad luck in English, German and Portuguese-speaking cultures around the globe. Similar superstitions exist in some other traditions. In Greece and Spain, for example, Tuesday the 13th takes the same role. The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia. It's been estimated that [U.S] $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day because people will not fly or do business they would normally do," Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they are simply unable to get out of bed when Friday the 13th rolls around. The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute estimates that more than 17 million people are affected by a fear of this day.

Paraskevidekatriaphobia As the word itself suggests, superstitions concerning Friday the 13th combine two distinct bad-luck assocaitions - fear of the number 13 (Triskaidekaphobia), and the day Friday. The combination of these two elements creates the hybrid monster of extreme unluckiness that is 'Friday the 13th'. Yes this day haunts people not with ghost but with real fears of what will befall them.

According to Norse mythology, it was the Vikings who decided a hangman's noose should have 13 loops.

But Friday the Thirteenth does not stand alone, The Day of the dead, Mardi Gras, Easter, Walpurgus night, Halloween, All Saint's day, Christmas, Thanksgiving day even New Years Day, January 1: Haiti (Independence day) Devil's Night is a name associated with October 30, have also been call the most haunted scariest days of the year.

Monday's ghost is fair of face.
Tuesday's ghost is full of grace.
Wednesday's ghost is full of woe.
Thursday's ghost has far to go.
Friday's ghost is loving and giving.
Saturday's ghost works hard for a living,
But the ghost who is haunting on the Sabbath Day Is bonny and blithe and good all day.

Monday's Child is one of many fortune-telling songs, popular as nursery rhymes for children. It is supposed to tell a child's character or future based on the day they were born. As with all nursery rhymes, there are many versions.

Do you believe in the existence of ghosts? Do you think their is a particular day of any given year when interation with the dead is more then possible? Or is it all superstition?

The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have foreboding reputations said to date from ancient times, and their inevitable conjunction from one to three times a year portends more misfortune than some credulous minds can bear. Some researchers say it may be the most widespread believed superstition in the United States.

Some people won't go to work on Friday the 13th; some won't eat in restaurants; many wouldn't think of setting a wedding on the date. Others believe this is when the world of ghosts coincides with ours and the not so dearly departed try to find ways to make us join them or try to communicate with us.

Sometimes many believe the traditional dream world of the dead is closer to us on a particular chosen day of the year. It is considered a respected day when the veil between the two worlds are at it's thinnest and the dead can communicate and touch us from the other side. Often it is considered the anniversary of the day a close loved one died or on their birthday, burial anniversary or a special chosen day that was most sacred or respected to them whilst alive. Often the day a great tragedy occurred and many souls were taken at once at a specific location. See: The Most Haunted Scariest Places On Earth, Haunted Ground Zero as some professional ghost hunters refer to these places.

Friday The 13th means many different things to different people. Lucky or un-lucky it makes a strong trend turn and run to it's weakest point. Julius Caeser was warned about the Ides of March that was his unlucky day. In the Roman calendar, the Ides of March was a term used to denote 15 March. In general, the Ides fell on the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, or October, or the 13th day of any other month.

Vincenzo Camuccini, Mort de César, 1798.

Seance's in the late 1800's were often held on Friday or Saturday nights this they said was because it was a time when evil and spirits could roam the earth freely. Ancestor Veneration in Poland November 1 (All Saints Day) is the day when families go to the cemeteries and light candles for their dead relatives.

Ancestor worshiping (or ancestoral worship) is a religious practice based on the belief that deceased family members have a continued existence, take an interest in the affairs of the world, and possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living. All cultures attach ritual significance to the passing of loved ones, but this is not equivalent to ancestor worship. The goal of ancestor worship is to ensure the ancestors' continued well-being and positive disposition towards the living and sometimes to ask for special favors or assistance. The social or nonreligious function of ancestor worship is to cultivate kinship values like filial piety, family loyalty, and continuity of the family lineage. While far from universal, ancestor worship or ancestor veneration occurs in societies with every degree of social, political, and technological complexity, and it remains an important component of various religious practices in modern times.

There are many people who experience strange and unusual encounters with things that can only be described as ghosts. And it happens everyday of the week. though some just keep it to themselves for fear of ridicule or personal beliefs.

Stigmatized Haunted Days:

Walpurgis Night

The Bram Stoker short story "Dracula's Guest" takes place on Walpurgisnacht: "Walpurgis Night was when, according to the belief of millions of people, the devil was abroad -- when the graves were opened and the dead came forth and walked. When all evil things of earth and air and water held revel.". Walpurgis Night (or Walpurgisnacht in Germany) is a holiday celebrated on April 30 or May 1, in large parts of central and Northern Europe. Interesting note: Halloween (which falls six months to the day either before or after Walpurgis Night)

Russian legend tells of a witches' sabbath taking place on St. John's Night (June 23-24) on the Lysa Hora (Bald Mountain), near Kiev or Brocken in Germany. On Walpurgis Night, Walpurgisnacht (or Hexennacht, meaning witches´ night), the night from April 30 to May 1, is the night when allegedly the witches hold a large celebration on the Blocksberg and await the arrival of Spring.

Beltane or Bealtaine is an ancient Gaelic holiday celebrated around May 1. Historically, this festival was celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. There were similar festivals held at the same time in the other Celtic countries of Wales, Brittany and Cornwall. The festival survives in folkloric practices in the Celtic Nations and the diaspora, and has experienced a degree of revival in recent decades.

On St. Mark's Eve, 24 April, it was the custom in the villages of England, from the 17th century to the late 19th century, to sit in the church porch between the hours of 11.00 p.m. and 1.00 a.m. for three successive years. On the third such sitting, the ghosts of those to die during the year would be witnessed passing into the church. This practice took place throughout England, but was most prevalent in northern and western counties. Some accounts of the custom state that the watchers must be fasting, or must circle the church before taking up position. The ghosts of those who were to die soon would be the first observed, while those who would almost see out the year would not be witnessed until almost 1.00 a.m. Other variations of the superstition say that the watchers would see headless or rotting corpses, or coffins approaching.

DAYS OF THE DEAD

In Haiti, New Orleans and Miami voodoo traditions mix with Roman Catholic Day of the Dead observances, as, for example, loud drums and music are played at all-night celebrations at cemeteries to waken Baron Samedi, the god of the dead, and his mischievous family of offspring, the Gede, (Spirits or real Ghosts) do so possess the living and communicate through them.

Many Professional researchers and ghost hunters have now set their eye on investigating these haunted holidays first hand in 2007- 2008. The paranormal community has often overlooked Voodoo rituals in thir investigations of real ghosts in the past. Sci-Fi Investigates in 2006 went to New Orleans and opened the doors for others to see a world where spirits and ghosts commonly interact daily.

NEW ORLEANS DAY OF THE DEAD READ MORE ABOUT IT HERE!

The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos, Día de los Difuntos or Día de Muertos in Spanish) is a holiday celebrated in many parts of the world, typically on November 1 (All Saints' Day) and November 2 (All Souls' Day).

The Brazilian public holiday of "Finados" (Day of the Dead) is celebrated on November 2. Similar to other Day of the Dead celebrations, people go to cemeteries and churches, with flowers, candles, and prayer. The celebration is intended to be positive, to celebrate those who are deceased.

In many African cultures, visits to the graves of ancestors, the leaving of food and gifts, and the asking of protection, are important parts of traditional rituals, such as rituals just before the beginning of hunting season.

In Prague, Czech Republic, for example, local citizens celebrate the Day of the Dead with masks, candles and sugar skulls.

In the Philippines, it is called Araw ng mga Patay (Day of the Dead), Undas or Todos Los Santos (since this holiday is celebrated on November 1, All Saints Day, designated by the Roman Catholic Church), and has more of a "family reunion" atmosphere. It is said to be an "opportunity to be with" the departed and is done in a somewhat solemn way. Tombs are cleaned or repainted, candles are lit, and flowers are offered. Since it is supposed to be about spending time with dead relatives, families usually camp in cemeteries, and sometimes spend a night or two near their relatives' tombs. Card games, eating, drinking, singing and dancing are common activities in the cemetery, probably to alleviate boredom. It is considered a very important holiday by many Filipinos (after Christmas and Holy Week), and additional days are normally given as special nonworking holidays (but only November 1 is a regular holiday).

In Portugal and Spain, oferendas (offerings) are made on this day. In Spain, the play Don Juan Tenorio is traditionally performed. In Spain, Portugal, Italy and France, people bring flowers to the graves of dead relatives. In Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Croatia, Austria and Germany, the tradition is to light candles and visit the graves of deceased relatives.In Tyrol, cakes are left for them on the table and the room kept warm for their comfort. In Brittany, people flock to the cemeteries at nightfall to kneel, bareheaded, at the graves of their loved ones, and to anoint the hollow of the tombstone with holy water or to pour libations of milk on it. At bedtime, the supper is left on the table for the souls

The Qingming Festival is a traditional Chinese festival usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar. Along with Double Ninth Festival on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar, it is a time to tend to the graves of departed ones. In addition, in the Chinese tradition, the seventh month in the Chinese calendar is called the Ghost Month , in which ghosts and spirits come out from the underworld to visit earth.

The holiday is also known by a number of other names in the English language:

All Souls Day (not to be confused with the Roman Catholic holiday, All Souls Day, of the same name)
Clear Brightness Festival
Festival for Tending Graves
Grave Sweeping Day
Memorial Day
Tomb Sweeping Day
Spring Remembrance
Tomb Sweeping Day and Clear Brightness Festival are the most common English translations of Qingming Festival. Tomb Sweeping Day is used in several English language newspapers published in the Republic of China.

For the Chinese, it is a day to remember and honor one's ancestors. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, (joss) paper accessories, and/or libation to the ancestors. The rites are very important to most Chinese and especially farmers. Some people carry willow branches with them on Qingming, or put willow branches on their gates and/or front doors. They think that willow branches help ward off the evil ghosts that wander on Qingming. Also on Qingming, people go on family outings, start the spring plowing, sing, dance, and Qingming is a time where young couples start courting. Another popular thing to do is fly kites (in shapes of animals, or characters from Chinese opera).

The April Fifth Movement and the Tiananmen Incident were major events on Qingming that took place in the history of the People's Republic of China. When Premier Zhou Enlai died in 1976, thousands visited him during the festival to pay respect. In the Republic of China, April 4th coincides with the passing of Chiang Kai-shek and the date is designated as a national holiday.

The Bon Festival is a Japanese Buddhist holiday to honor the departed spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist festival has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people from the big cities return to their home towns and visit and clean their ancestors' graves. Traditionally including a dance festival, it has existed in Japan for more than 500 years.

Double Ninth Festival, the other day to visit and clean up the cemeteries in Hong Kong observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar (October 30 in 2006), is a traditional Chinese holiday, mentioned in writing since before the East Han period. Double Ninth may have started out as a day to drive away danger, but like the Chinese New Year, over time it became a day of celebration. In contemporary times it is an occasion for hiking and chrysanthemum appreciation.

In Korea, Chuseok is a major traditional holiday, also called Hankawi. People go where the spirits of one's ancestors are enshrined, and perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning; they visit the tombs of immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors.

In Mexico, where the holiday has perhaps its highest prominence, the holiday has ancient Aztec and Mesoamerican roots, and is a national holiday. The Day of the Dead is also celebrated to a lesser extent in other Latin American countries; for example, it is a public holiday in Brazil, where many Brazilians celebrate it by visiting cemeteries and churches. The holiday is also observed in the Philippines. Observance of the holiday has spread to Mexican-American communities in the United States, where in some locations, the traditions are being extended. Similarly-themed celebrations also appear in some Asian and African cultures.

Though the subject matter may be considered morbid from the perspective of some other cultures, celebrants typically approach the Day of the Dead joyfully, and though it occurs at the same time as Halloween, All Saints' Day and All Souls Day, the traditional mood is much brighter with emphasis on celebrating and honoring the lives of the deceased, and celebrating the continuation of life; the belief is not that death is the end, but rather the beginning of a new stage in life.

The Qingming Festival, or Ching Ming Festival as called in Hong Kong, Clear and Bright Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice (or the 15th day from the Spring Equinox), usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar (see Chinese calendar). Every leap year, Qing Ming is on April 4. Astronomically, it is also a solar term (See Qingming). In solar terms, the Qingming festival is on the 1st day of the 5th solar term, which is also named Qingming. Its name denotes a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtimeTàqing, "treading on the greenery", and also to tend to the graves of departed ones. It is an official public holiday in the Republic of China, as well as in Hong Kong and Macau though not in mainland China.

St. John's Night

St. John's Night (June 23-24) on the Lysa Hora (Bald Mountain), near Kiev or Brocken in Germany is where witches and the dead and infernal spirits are said to gather... Midsummer refers to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice and the religious celebrations that accompany it. Midsummer-related holidays, traditions and celebrations, many of which are non-Christian in origin (apart from the designation "St John's Day"), are particularly important in Denmark, Finland and Sweden, but found also in other parts of Germanic Europe and elsewhere. St. John's Eve, is the eve of celebration before the Feast Day of St John the Baptist. The Gospel of Luke states that John was born about six months before Jesus, therefore the feast of John the Baptist falls on June 24, six months before Christmas. This feast day is one of the very few saint's days to mark the anniversary of the birth, rather than the death, of its namesake. Historically, this date has been venerated in the practice of Voodoo. The famous Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau was said to have held ceremonies involving Voodoo ritual on the Bayou St. John in New Orleans, commemorating St. John's Eve. Modern day practioners of Voodoo have kept the tradition alive.

The Feast of St John coincides with the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere, which can technically occur anywhere between June 20 - 26th. The Christian holy day is fixed at June 24th but, in the old way, festivities are celebrated the night before, on St. John's Eve.

Solstitial celebrations still center upon 24 June, which is no longer the longest day of the year. The difference between the Julian calendar year (365.2500 days) and the tropical year (365.2422 days) moved the day associated with the actual astronomical solstice forward approximately three days every four centuries until Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar bringing the solstice to around 21 June. In the Gregorian calendar, the solstice moves around a bit but in the long term it moves only about one day in 3000 years.

Mid-Summer has been Christianized as the feast of Saint John the Baptist: notably, unlike all other saints' days, this feast is celebrated on his birthday and not on the day of his martyrdom, which is separately observed as the "Decollation of John the Baptist" on 29 August. That more conventional day of Saint John the Baptist is not marked by Christian churches with the emphasis one might otherwise expect of such an important saint.

As for his solsticial birthday, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the Nativity of John the Baptist (June 24) as a Solemnity, which is the highest degree a liturgical feast can have. It is even one of the few saint's feasts that is celebrated even when it falls on a Sunday; typically the feast of a saint is superseded when it falls on a Sunday. There is hardly any way that the feast of St John the Baptist could be given more emphasis in the liturgical calendar.

The celebration of Midsummer's Eve was from ancient times linked to the summer solstice. People believed that mid-summer plants had miraculous and healing powers and they therefore picked them on this night. Bonfires were lit to protect against evil spirits which were believed to roam freely when the sun was turning southwards again. In later years, witches were also thought to be on their way to meetings with other evil powers.

In Sweden Mid-summer celebration originates from the time before Christianity; it was celebrated as a sacrifice time in the sign of the fertility.

The solstice itself has remained a special moment of the annual cycle of the year since Neolithic times. The concentration of the observance is not on the day as we reckon it, commencing at midnight or at dawn, but the pre-Christian beginning of the day, which falls on the previous eve. In Sweden and Finland, Midsummer's Eve is considered the greatest festival of the year, comparable only with Walpurgis Night, Christmas Eve, and New Year's Eve.

In New Orleans since the time of Marie Laveau a large ritual has taken place on the shores of Bayou St. John. In current times a large several tiered altar is set up against the railing on one side of the old foot bridge that has for years crossed the Bayou in front of Cabrini High School. The altar is decorated with candles, flowers, incense, food offerings and other items; a worn and obviously much-loved statue of Marie Laveau stands proudly on the highest tier. By the end of the ceremony, the statue will be almost entirely obscured by offerings too numerous to name, placed there by devotees of Voodoo and of the woman who made this island religion – and her hometown of New Orleans – famous for generations.

Today, these devotees keep the religion alive by following in the footsteps and instructions of another powerful and charismatic Manbo, Sallie Ann Glassman. Sallie Ann is the founder of La Source Ancienne Ounfo, a private Vodou society that has served the Lwa (the voodoo spirits) and the New Orleans community for over 25 years. Mambo Sallie Ann and the Ounfo practice a unique and vibrant form of Vodou based upon the traditional Haitian beliefs but filled with, as Sallie Ann has said, “ongoing inspiration and innovation.” Sallie Ann and her extended vodoun family are at the heart of the genuine practice of Real Voodoo so often sought but seldom found by visitors to New Orleans.

“The more people that participate the more of an experience we have…the more spiritual it gets, the more energy we have here with us.”

-- Manbo Sallie Ann Glassman

http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/voodoo/marielaveauritual/

Litha is one of the eight solar holidays or sabbats observed by Wiccans, though the New Forest traditions (those referred to as British Traditional Wicca) tend to use the traditional name Midsummer. It is celebrated on the Summer Solstice, or close to it. The holiday is considered the turning point at which summer reaches its height and the sun shines longest. Among the Wiccan sabbats, Midsummer is preceded by Beltane, and followed by Lughnasadh or Lammas.

Ghosts and Halloween

The Devil's night may also have ties to the German "Hexennacht," or Witches Night (also known as Freinacht). Hexennacht is celebrated on the night of April 30th into the morning of May 1.

Halloween or Hallowe'en is a tradition celebrated on the night of October 31, most notably by children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door collecting sweets, fruit, and other gifts. This is called trick-or-treating. Some other traditional activities include costume parties, watching horror films, going to "haunted" houses, and traditional autumn activities such as hayrides, some of these even "haunted".

Halloween originated under a different name ("Samhain") as a Pagan festival among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain with mainly Irish and Scots and other immigrants transporting versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Many other Western countries have embraced Halloween as a part of American pop culture in the late twentieth century.

Halloween is celebrated in most parts of the Western world, most commonly in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Peru, and with increasing popularity in Australia and New Zealand. In recent years, Halloween has also been celebrated in parts of Western Europe.

The term Halloween, and its older rendering Hallowe'en, is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening of/before "All Hallows' Day" Halloween did not become a holiday in America until the 19th century, where lingering Puritan tradition meant even Christmas was scarcely observed before the 1800s. North American almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th centuries make no mention of Halloween in their lists of holidays.

READ ABOUT HALLOWEEN SAFETY <VISIT HERE NOW!>

Each year on October 31st the world changes: Time, as we know it, ceases to exist and the veil that shrouds our world draws back for a brief span to open a doorway into the realm of shadows, mystery and ancient magick, of the dead and the dark Divine.

The Gaulish calendar may have divided the year into two halves, the 'dark' half, beginning with the month Samonios (the October/November lunation), and the 'light half', beginning with the month Giamonios (the April/May lunation). The entire year appears to have been considered as beginning with the 'dark' half, so that the beginning of Samonios may be considered the Celtic New Year's day. All months began at full moon, and the celebration of New Year took place during the 'three nights of Samonios' (Gaulish trinux[tion] samo[nii]), the full moon nearest the midpoint between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. The full moons marking the middle of each half-year may also have been specific festivals. The Coligny calendar marks the mid-summer moon (see Lughnasadh), but omits the mid-winter one (see Imbolc). Note that the seasons are not oriented at the solar year, viz. solstice and equinox, so that the mid-summer festival would be considerably later than summer solstice, around 1 August (Lughnasadh). It appears that the calendar was designed to align the lunations with the agricultural cycle of vegetation, and that the exact astronomical position of the Sun at that time was less important.

In medieval Ireland, Samhain remained the principal festival, celebrated with a great assembly at the royal court in Tara, lasting for three days, consistent with the Gaulish testimony.

Friday the 13th

In some cultures, Friday is considered unlucky, especially regarding Friday the 13th. This is particularly so in maritime circles; perhaps the most enduring sailing superstition is that it is unlucky to begin a voyage on a Friday. In one story a Royal Navy ship (HMS Friday) was laid down on a Friday, launched on a Friday, captained by a Captain Friday, and was never heard of again. As told by comedian Dave Allen on the BBC in the 1970s, however, this superstition is not universal, notably in Scottish Gaelic culture:

"Though Friday has always been held an unlucky day in many Christian countries, still in the Hebrides it is supposed that it is a lucky day for sowing the seed. Good Friday in particular is a favourite day for potato planting—even strict Roman Catholics make a point of planting a bucketful on that day. Probably the idea is that as the Resurrection followed the Crucifixion, and Burial so too in the case of the seed, and after death will come life." (Reference: Dwelly’s [Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary (1911): Di-haoine)
The use of the Gregorian calendar and its leap year system, results in a small statistical anomaly, that the 13th of any month is slightly more likely to fall on a Friday than any of the other seven days.

Chronomancy is divination of the best time to do something, determination of lucky and unlucky days, especially popular in ancient China.

Chronomancy stems from the word chronos (meaning time), and it is generally a fictional and sensational school of magic. Although the school is based on quantum physics and certain scientific theories, there is no concrete evidence of the perfected use of time manipulation. The most historically known human that has been believed to possess the powers of chronomancy is Saint Germaine, a philosopher, alchemist, and spiritualist. He has been believed to transcend time by reincarnation and eternal youth.

Just Silly Superstitions?

Before the 19th century, though the number 13 was considered unlucky, and Friday was considered unlucky, there was no link between them. The first documented mention of a "Friday the 13th" is generally listed as occurring in the early 1900s.

The name Friday comes from the Old English frigedæg, meaning the day of Frige the Anglo-Saxon form of Frigg, the Germanic goddess of beauty. In most Germanic languages it is named after Freyja—such as Freitag in Modern German, vrijdag in Dutch, fredag in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish—but Freyja and Frigg are frequently identified with each other. The word for Friday in most Romance languages is derived from the name of Venus such as vendredi in French, venerdì in Italian, viernes in Spanish, and vineri in Romanian. In Hindi, Friday is Shukravar, named for Shukra, the Sanskrit name of the planet Venus. Russian uses an ordinal number for this day of the week-- piatnítsa, meaning "fifth." Similarly, the Portuguese is sexta-feira.

In Japan, Friday is Kin-Youbi: "Gold Day" or "money day", and in many Asian cultures, as in The US, paydays are on Fridays.

After the United States acquired Alaska from Russia in 1867, Friday October 6 was immediately followed by Friday October 18, adjusting to the adoption of the 1582 Gregorian calendar changes by the British colonies in 1752, and the shifting of the International Date Line. Prior to that change, Alaska began Russia's day, with the date line following the partially-defined border between Russian Alaska and British North America, including the colony of British Columbia.

The Jewish Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday and lasts until sunset on Saturday.

In Christianity Good Friday is the Friday before Easter. It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus.

Some Catholics and Prayer Book Anglicans will refrain from eating the meat of warm blooded animals on Fridays, and will often choose fish instead.

Quakers traditionally refer to Friday as "Sixth Day" eschewing the pagan origins of the name. In Slavic countries, it is called "Fifth Day" (Polish piatek, Russian piatnitsa)

In Islam, Friday is the day of public worship in mosques (see Friday prayers). In some Islamic countries, the week begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday, just as the Jewish and Christian week. In most other Islamic countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq, the week begins on Saturday and ends on Friday.

In most countries with a five-day work week, Friday is the last workday before the weekend and is, therefore, viewed as a cause for celebration or relief. In some offices, employees are allowed to wear less formal attire on Fridays, known as Casual Friday or Dress-Down Friday.

In the Spanish-speaking world, it is Tuesday the 13th (as well as Tuesdays in general) that brings bad luck; a proverb runs En martes, ni te cases ni te embarques, ni de tu familia te apartes. (on Tuesday, neither get married nor start a journey, or separate yourself from your family).

However, documentation aside, many popular stories exist about the origin of the concept:

The Last Supper, with stories that Judas was the thirteenth guest, and that the Crucifixion of Jesus occurred on Good Friday.

That the biblical Eve offered the fruit to Adam on a Friday, and that the slaying of Abel happened on a Friday (though the Bible does not identify the days of the week when these events occurred). Many believe that Satan and the horde ofdevil's or fallen angels fell from grace on Friday.

That it started on Friday, October 13, 1307, the date that many Knights Templar were simultaneously arrested in France, by agents of King Philip IV.

However, historically, there is no true date that the Friday the 13th superstition can be linked to.

In the case of Greece, Tuesday, April 13, 1204 was the date that Constantinople was sacked by the crusaders of the fourth crusade. The first ever fall of the richest then Christian city, and the looting that followed, allegedly gave Tuesday 13 its bad meaning. Ironically enough, Constantinople fell for the second time in its history on Tuesday, May 29, 1453, to the Ottoman Turks, a date that puts an end to the Byzantine empire, and to Greek sovereignty for several centuries, and therefore reinforcing Tuesday as an unlucky day in the Greek world.

Bad Luck There are many things to avoid on Friday The 13th

The number 13 (many buildings were built without a designated 13th floor when numbering their floors for this reason, skipping from the 12th floor to the 14th floor)
The number 4 (in China, the word's pronunciation in Mandarin and Cantonese is similar to "si", which means death. A similar belief is present in Japan and Korea.)
A black cat crossing one's path (the opposite belief prevails in Great Britain and parts of Ireland)
Stepping on a crack (doing so would cause your mother's back to break; rhymed as "step on a crack, break your mother's back")
Stepping on a line in pavement or floor cover (similar to above, rhymed as "step on a line, you'll break your spine")
Breaking a mirror (seven years of bad luck)
Spilling over salt (dates to when salt was more precious than gold, if one spilt some it was believed to mean that a demon was trying to steal one's salt, but by appeasing it with a little salt over the left shoulder, the demon would leave)
Putting a hat on a bed
Opening an umbrella indoors
Killing a ladybug/ladybird
Killing a spider in one's home
Walking underneath a ladder (when being hanged, the condemned man would often be made to pass underneath a ladder before climbing it and onto the gallows)
Replying "thank you" to someone wishing good luck
Picking up a penny face-down (can be avoided by giving the penny away)
Putting shoes on a table. In the UK, this is considered to bring extremely bad luck, traditionally the death of a person in the house. This is sometimes specified to only be unlucky when new shoes are put on a table
In the British Navy it was traditionally considered unlucky to have a woman on board ship, although this may be a more practical matter. Having a naked woman on a ship was considered good luck, however.
Among sailors it is considered unlucky to kill a porpoise or an albatross (see The Rime of the Ancient Mariner where the title character is cursed for killing this bird)
Among sailors it is considered bad luck to have anything blue aboard
It is also considered very bad luck to launch a ship on a Friday
When launching a ship by breaking a bottle on its hull, a failure of the bottle to break is considered bad luck.
Saying "good luck", especially to an actor going onstage (the preferred expression is: Break a leg)
In theaters, "Macbeth" must not be uttered by anyone unless it is necessary to the show. For example, if the company is performing Shakespeare's Macbeth, one says "the Scottish Play" and refers to the characters as "Mackers" and "Lady Makers"
Sinistrality (being left-handed)
Seeing one magpie
A bird flies into one's window (a person in the family will die today, or has died last night). In some variants, it is believed to only be bad luck if the bird dies.
Using a Ouija board; it is believed by some to attract bad spirits
In Japan and China putting chopsticks upright in rice is considered very bad luck (since it resembles the incense used in offerings to the dead)
In some areas it is believed to be bad luck to kill a mockingbird; this becomes a part (albeit not a large part) of the story To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as inspiring the title.
Cutting your nails at night
Turning a horse shoe upside down is said in Britain to drain the good luck from it and bring about bad luck: in Italy, horse shoes are turned upside down explicitly to contain the good luck they bring
Avoiding eye contact when toasting with another person
Shaking your leg while sitting
Saying 'rabbit' on the Isle of Portland
Saying "Bloody Mary" (you will supposedly see the queen, Bloody Mary, covered in blood
In Russia if you sit on a table top, one of your relatives will die

Mardi Gras Day

If you just happen to be in New Orleans on a this day you could find a special gate that lets you communicate with the dead directly. The Well Known Secret New Orleans' Voodoo Cemetery Gates Of Guinee, The Portal To The Afterworld. Many say it's strongest time to be found is on Mardi Gras Day. The gate they day comes open to this world two times a year. Mardi Gras and Halloween, The Crossed roads play an important part of Hoodoo at Mardi Gras. They are said that this is where the spirits gather to watch the living. Many locals place their own statues of Ellegua on street corners on Lundi Gras and of course Mardi Gras Day so they can see the people go by and gain great strength from the energy and excitement that is in the air. Remember New Orleans Mardi Gras Parades do cross many great historical haunted crossroads in the city where spirits are said to dwell. With over 30 Cemeteries nearby the party seems to be going on in both worlds.

http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/voodoo/mardigras/

Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) is the high point of Carnival followed by the quiet of Ash Wednesday. It is good to remember that Carnival literally means "Farewell to Flesh" (Carnis= LATIN: "flesh" and vale= LATIN: "farewell"). And isn't that what we do when we die?

Carnival is a celebration of great excess. It is a time when the flesh and all of the material pleasures that it apprehends are set ablaze in the passion of the moment. The fat, so to speak, is in the fire and one is left with the ashes on Wednesday. Because of this that is why many believe the dead draw so close so near. Reaching out from the grave for the reaping of life. And as they say, "Only in New Orleans".

New Orleans Mardi Gras Voodoo Hoodoo

Ghede' is a very wise man for his knowledge is an accumulation of the knowledge of all the deceased. He stands on the center of all the roads that lead to Guinee, the afterworld. To find these mysterious gates in the city of New Orleans might take a little detective work. Some Locals say if their open when you find them... beware! If you then enter you will never return to the real world.

The exact location of the haunted cemetery gates isn't really ever told to outsiders of the Secret Societies. New Orleans Tour Guides and Haunted Cemetery or ghost tours will skirt around the issue, or just look at you like they don't know what your talking about, so never mention it (seriously). They say just to talk about the accursed cemetery gates spells doom to those that ask or search for it or speak of it openly to anyone. Those who know feel it is inviting them , "The Ghede" to take you away. Only someone pure of heart with only one burning question to be answered by the dead is ever told the whole truth. A unnamed New Orleans Voodoo priestess says quite bluntly, search and you shall find them rusted shut, or worse they will certainly find you and be wide and opened.

To find these gates, they say is to find the way to communicate openly with the dead. And not just the spirits of those that have died in New Orleans. Local Voodoo followers of Marie Laveaus' Secret Society profess that anyone can come to these gates of Guinee if you can find them.

Speak the name of the deceased you wish to speak to aloud five times through the bars, and they will come and speak to you from the other side. One real warning though, if the rusted shut heavy gate opens do not enter. For you will be one of the living trapped in the world of the dead forever. If you arrive and the Guinee gates are open turn and walk away crossing yourself three times as fast as you can and don't look back. www.hauntedamericatours.com/HOLIDAYS/HALLOWEEN/dayofthedead/neworleans

Many Voodoo Holidays are associated with spirits and communication with them openly. See: VOODOO HOLIDAY HOODOO http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/voodoo/voodoohollidays/

Bewitched Days

The Wheel of the Year is a Wiccan metaphor and calendar for the cycle of the seasons. It consists of eight festivals, spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. These festivals are often referred to as Sabbats (Sabbaths).

See: WITCHCRAFT http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/occult/WITCHCRAFT/

In Wicca and Wiccan-influenced forms of Neopaganism, natural processes are seen as following a continuous cycle. The passing of time is also seen as cyclical, and is represented by a circle or wheel. The progression of birth, life, decline and death, as experienced in human lives, is echoed in the progression of the seasons. Wiccans also see this cycle as echoing the life, death and rebirth of the God and the fertility of the Goddess.

Witches Sabbats
The system of eight yearly festivals held on these dates is unknown in older pagan calendars, and originated in the modern Wiccan religion. Many Wiccan believe that this is when spirits of the departed are closest to them and able to bridge the gap to this world. Many witches are said to be intouch with the afterworld directly, just as psychics and mediums claim.

The eight festivals are distinct from "esbats", which are lunar-based festivals falling on a full or new moon.

Samhain, Last Harvest, Blood Harvest, Ancestor Night, Feast of the Dead 1 Nov (alt. 5-10 Nov) ˜ 15°Scorpio

Yule, Alban Arthan, Midwinter, Winter Rite 20-23 Dec (winter solstice) 0° Capricorn
Imbolc, Brigid's Day, Candlemas, Bride's Day, Brigantia 2 Feb (alt. 2-7 Feb) ˜ 15° Aquarius

Ostara, Alban Eilir, Lady Day, Festival of Trees 19-22 Mar (spring equinox) 0° Aries

Beltane, May Day 1 May (alt. 4-10 May) ˜ 15° Taurus

Midsummer, Alban Hefin, Aerra Litha, Mother Night 19-23 June (summer solstice) 0° Cancer

Lughnasadh , Lammas, 1st Harvest, Bread Harvest, Festival of First Fruits 1 Aug (alt. 3-10 Aug) ˜ 15° Leo

Mabon, Alban Elfed, Harvest Home, 2nd Harvest, Fruit Harvest, Wine Harvest 21-24 Sept (autumn equinox) 0° Libra

Daily Ghost Sightings From All Across The World

Real life ghost sightings and strange happenings are a daily occurrence to many. For those that chase or hunt ghosts it sometimes proves they are more myth then materialized. But we as those that believe know it's true and if others have to resort to special days places or haunted things to find a real ghost then thats jst the norm for the.

Some ghost don't look at a calander, nor or they aware of what day of the week it is said a researcher at a recent Paranormal conference. He further went on to say that he thought they did not even know what time of the day it was that they should or should not show themselves. Residual haunting or intelegent haunting he said made no difference. A spirit or Ghost he went on , is only aware of it's sourrondings as we are and it will randomly do what irt will do when it's ready .

The Ghosts of Christmas Presents

A Christmas Carol (full title: A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas) is Charles Dickens' "little Christmas Book" first published on December 19, 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. The story met with instant success, selling six thousand copies within a week. Originally written as a potboiler to enable Dickens to pay off a debt, the tale has become one of the most popular and enduring Christmas stories of all time.

While he unlocks his door Scrooge is startled to see the ghostly face of Marley instead of the familiar appearance of his door knocker. This is just the beginning of Scrooge's harrowing night. A spectral hearse charging up the broad staircase in the dark, the sliding of bolts and slamming of doors elsewhere in the house, and the inexplicable ringing of the ancient and neglected bell pull system precedes a visit from Marley as Scrooge eats his gruel by the fireplace. Marley has come to warn Scrooge that his miserliness and contempt for others will subject him to the same fate Marley himself suffers in death: condemned to walk the earth in penitence since he had not done it in life in concern for mankind. A prominent symbol of Marley's torture is a heavy chain wound around his form that has attached to it symbolic objects from Marley's life fashioned out of heavy metal: ledgers, money boxes, keys, and the like. Marley explains that Scrooge's fate might be worse than his because Scrooge's chain was as long and as heavy as Marley's seven Christmases ago when Marley died, and Scrooge has been adding to his with his selfish life. Marley tells Scrooge that he has a chance to escape this fate through the visitation of three more spirits that will appear one by one. Scrooge is shaken but not entirely convinced that the foregoing was no hallucination, and goes to bed thinking that a good night's sleep will make him feel better.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come takes the form of a grim spectre, completely robed in black, who does not speak and whose body is entirely hidden except for one pointing hand. This spirit frightens Scrooge more than the others, and harrows him with visions of the Cratchit family bereft of Tiny Tim, of Scrooge's own lonely death and final torment, and the cold, avaricious reactions of the people around him after his passing. Without explicitly being said, Scrooge learns that he can avoid the future he has been shown, and alter the fate of Tiny Tim—but only if he changes.

In the end, Scrooge changes his life and reverts to the generous, kind-hearted soul he was in his youth before the death of his sister.

Happy Haunted New Year

New Year's Day is the first day of the year, in the Gregorian calendar, falling exactly one week after Christmas Day of the previous year. In modern times, it is January 1. In most countries, it is a holiday. It is a holy day to many of those who still use the Julian calendar, which includes followers of some of the Eastern Orthodox churches, and is celebrated on January 14 of the Gregorian calendar due to differences between the two calendars.

January 1 marks the end of a period of remembrance of a particular passing year, and of the bad luck that has chased or haunted you all year.

This day is traditionally a religious feast, but since the 1900s, has become an occasion for celebration the night of December 31, called New Year's Eve. There are often fireworks at midnight. Depending on the country, individuals may be allowed to burn fireworks, even if it is forbidden the rest of the year. The custom was first used to dispel the bad luck or bad spirits or ghost that haunted you all year long.

Resaerchers of the occult, paranormal and unexplained often believe that this is a time when spirits gather to haunt the living..

Originally observed on March 1 in the old Roman Calendar, New Year's Day first came to be fixed at January 1 in 153 BC, when the two Roman consuls, after whom - in the Roman calendar - years were named and numbered, began to be chosen on that date. However in AD 525, Dionysius Exiguus set the start of the Julian calendar at March 25] to commemorate the Annunciation of Jesus; a variety of Christian feast dates were used throughout the Middle Ages to mark the New Year, while calendars often continued to display the months in columns running from January to December in the Roman fashion.

HauntedAmericaTours.com "Changing The Paranormal Landscape ~ One Page At A Time!"

SEARCH OUR SITE AND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MOST HAUNTED SCARIEST PLACES IN THE WORLD

Real Vampires, Night Stalkers and Creatures from the Darkside (Paperback) BY Brad Steiger (Author)

This great new book is soon to be released it has already become the #1 Bestseller -- (See Top 100 Occultism Bestsellers) at Tower Books And The Number 1 Bestseller here at Haunted America Tours

THIS SITE IS PROTECTED BY PAZUZU!