Friday
The day of Venus and of Freya, of Lakshmi in India and of the congregational prayer in Islam, and a day long watched for luck.
Friday has the most contradictory reputation of the week. For astrologers it is the day of Venus, of love and beauty. For Muslims it is the day of the congregational prayer. For many Hindus it belongs to the goddess Lakshmi. In English and in sailors' lore it was long the unluckiest day to begin anything, and Friday the 13th keeps the fear alive.
Venus, Freya and Frigg
The Romans named Friday for Venus, and the Germanic peoples gave it to Frigg or Freya, goddesses of love, the household and, in Freya's case, of magic known as seidr. In the Western system Venus rules love, pleasure, beauty and the arts, with copper, green and pink as correspondences, and love charms and rites of attraction are traditionally set for Friday. Whether the English day is for Frigg or for Freya is uncertain, since the two figures are closely related and may once have been one.
Jumu'ah and a blessed hour
In Islam Friday is Jumu'ah, when Muslims gather at midday for the congregational prayer and sermon. Tradition recommends bathing, wearing clean or perfumed clothes and reciting the chapter of the Cave. Hadith speak of an hour on Friday in which a prayer is answered, and Muslims differ over which hour it is. The day is a day of gathering and not a day of rest in the Jewish sense, and many return to work after the prayer.
Shukravar, Lakshmi and Santoshi Mata
In Hindu astrology Friday, Shukravar, is ruled by Shukra, the planet Venus and the teacher of the demons, and in practice it is the day of the goddesses. Many women fast or keep a vrat to Lakshmi, for prosperity, and a Friday vow to Santoshi Mata, whose cult spread rapidly after a film of 1975, asks for the fulfilment of a wish, with a strict rule that no sour food is eaten or served. Lighting a lamp at the threshold and cleaning the house are common Friday acts.
The unlucky Friday
In English and much of northern Europe, Friday was held to be an unlucky day for beginning a voyage, a marriage or a job, a belief tied to the Crucifixion and sustained by sailors, who in some tales renamed a ship from a Friday launch. Friday the 13th, in which that fear joins the dread of the number thirteen, is a phenomenon of the last two centuries. The Akan name for a boy born on Friday is Kofi, and for a girl Afua; in Burma the day belongs to the guinea pig, and in Thailand the colour is light blue. In the English rhyme Friday's child is loving and giving.
Entries tied to it
Also part of it, and being written: Friday (The day and its names.), Jumu'ah (The Friday prayer.).
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Customs differ by community and family, and are described here as tradition, not instruction, and with no claim that they work. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Friday the 13th: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, source
- Seiðr: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Lakshmi: Raja Ravi Varma, Public domain, source
- Santoshi Mata: Nishu0246, CC BY-SA 4.0, source