Funny how different cultures have wildly different superstitions around dates and numbers.
The fear of Friday 13th is arguably the most widely-held superstition in the western world. But in Tibet 13th is an auspicious day, and for me and Yeshi it’s a date that warms the cockles. Many moons ago, Yeshi and I first met on Friday 13th November. Eleven years later we opened our restaurant on a Friday on the same date.
Superstitions around the number thirteen likely date back to Judas Iscariot and Jesus’s Last Supper, but could stretch back further: in Roman culture, the number thirteen was viewed as an omen of death, destruction and ill-fortune.
As for fear of Fridays, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was said to have taken place on a Friday, and people claim that this was also the day that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and Cain murdered Abel.
In 1960, the New York Times reported that this coming Friday 13th November would be Domesday. Leading scientists, it claimed, predicted that on this date or thereabouts the human population would approach infinity and effectively annihilate itself.
Well, we’re still here – just about – and any Tibetan could have told you that the world couldn’t possibly end on a Friday 13th because in Tibet, at least, the number thirteen is considered sacred and lucky.
In Tibetan cosmology, history and religion, the number thirteen appears frequently. Tibet was once divided into thirteen districts. Its early kings began their reign at the age of thirteen or else reigned for thirteen years.
Today, thirteen remains an important number. Seeking merit or to wash away past mistakes, pilgrims at Mount Kailash, Tibet’s most sacred site, circumambulate the mountain thirteen times. Heaven, it is said, consists of thirteen levels.
As for days of the week, when Yeshi was growing up in Tibet, Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays – none of these words were used in everyday speech. “See you in five days,” people would say.
But days of the week do exist in the Tibetan language. Each one is named after a planet, with Friday translating literally as Venus day. Now Venus, as we all know, is the god of love, making Friday feel like a most auspicious day to start a romance.
All things going well, the world won’t end this Friday and we’d love you to come and celebrate six years of Taste Tibet. Let’s see if we can make it to a lucky thirteen.
The restaurant is open Wednesday to Saturday as usual this week. Here are our full opening hours:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm
Saturday: 12-3 / 5-9.30pm
This week’s menu is up on the website – check it. Come by for dine in/take away or to restock your freezer. We have family-sized boxes of several of our main curry dishes in the freezers at the moment. Let us know if you have specific orders – these are a brilliant idea if you have a party in mind. We also have good stocks of sepen chilli oil and cookbooks, so if you’re starting to think about Christmas…
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Looking forward to seeing you soon,
Julie and Yeshi
Opening hours this week:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm
Saturday: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9.30pm
☏ 01865 499318
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