By Jim Miles

To many, 13 is an unlucky number. Some actually fear this number and that fear is called triskaidekaphobia. So pervasive is this fear that most skyscrapers eliminate floor 13 on their elevators and air carriers eliminate row 13 in their planes. Yet, unbeknownst to most of us, there exists an ancient mystical tradition that reveals a vastly different picture about the power of the number 13. Also largely unknown is the fact that our founding fathers were aware of the special power of the number 13 and purposefully incorporated it into the fabric of our nation’s formation.

According to the ancient wisdom traditions, 13 is a profoundly powerful number of manifestation and transformation. The number 1 represents the One, the Divine, the “I AM,” “The All,” “God.” The number 3 represents the process of manifestation through the interaction of the Holy Trinity; Father (masculine), Holy Spirit (feminine), and Son (creation). In the space-time construct of our three-dimensional world we create through interaction of polarity and duality.

Belief in the special power of the number 13 results in the number being employed in many ways. As examples, there are 13 months of 28 days in one lunar year. In the ancient Zodiac, there are actually 13 sun signs in the solar year. In many religions, 13 signifies the age of maturity. In the Catholic Church, the Sacrament of Confirmation is conferred on children at the age of 13. In the Jewish faith, the Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are observed at the age of 13. Within all savior cults, there was the savior and his 12 disciples. There was the Egyptian Horus and his twelve helpers, the Mythraic Azura Mazda and his 12 apostles, Jason and his 12 Argonauts. In Greece, there was Dionysus, the enthroned sun god and his 12 powers or the 12 signs of the zodiac.

Through the ages, the number 13 has always held a prominent place in the arcane traditions of the mystery schools and the secret societies. The esoteric wisdom of Freemasonry, a universal brotherhood, whose ancient roots precede Judeo-Christian traditions, is keenly aware of the sacred power of the number 13. A number of our founding fathers were Masons as was our first president, George Washington. Because of this awareness, it was not coincidence that the number of America’s original colonies that declared their independence from a king’s authority came to be 13.

The Great Seal of the United States, whose obverse and reverse are on the back of the one-dollar bill, is rife with affirmations of the number 13. The components of our Great Seal evolved over the years and its current expression was finalized by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, himself a 33rd degree Mason. The incomplete pyramid with the capstone missing has 13 tiers mounting up to the all-seeing mystical eye of the Egyptian Horus. The letters of the words about the pyramid, annuit coeptis (announcing the birth of) equals 13. On the obverse of the Great Seal is the American Eagle. In its left talon are 13 arrows and 13 feathers. And in its right talon is an olive branch with 13 leaves and 13 berries. On the banner running through the eagle’s beak appears the phrase, E pluribus unum (one out of many), which has 13 letters. Within the circle above the eagle are 13 stars. The shield of the Great Seal carries 13 paleways banded across the top. The vertical red and white stripes beneath the paleways are 13 in number. On one level, the frequency of number 13 on the Great Seal as well as our first flag represents the 13 original colonies. Yet on another level, there is a deeper and richer meaning that incorporates the power of the number 13 within the traditional teachings of ancient wisdom.

As sons of The Enlightenment in the Age of Reason, the religious philosophy of many of our founding fathers might be encapsulated in the words of Thomas Paine: “My own mind is my own church.” As a result of this philosophy, our founders believed that man possessed the innate ability of reason and was endowed with certain unalienable rights. Thus began the political revolution that insisted free men could govern themselves without the need to be ruled by proclaimers of divine authority or by people of royal blood. Thus, a new nation was born, and the number 13 was incorporated into the most significant symbols of our nation’s origin and purpose to serve as a reminder that we, as its citizens, are the privileged creators of this “great and noble experiment” that we call America.

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