The Witching Hour
Friday the Thirteenth
Happy Friday the Thirteenth! Do you consider today to be unlucky or maybe evil? The origin of Friday the 13th being unlucky is unclear. There are religious interpretations, political interpretations, and interpretations based on crimes or punishments. However, Friday the 13th doesn’t appear unlucky until the early 1900s.
Did you know: The fear of Friday the Thirteenth is called Paraskevidekatriaphobia or Friggatriskaidekaphobia.
Yesterday, my coworker told me she was very excited for Friday the 13th. And we started talking about dates, times, and unlucky numbers. She brought to my attention 3:00 – 4:00 am and the phrase the witching hour. I have heard the phrase before, but I didn’t know there was a specific time. So, I decided to learn a little more about it.
The Witching Hour
As you may have guess, witches are involved. In 1535, the Catholic Church prohibited activities between 3am and 4am because they were afraid of witchcraft, which was becoming more popular in Europe. The phrase ‘witching hour’ may have been coined by Rev. Matthew West in his poem, Night, an Ode (1775). He wrote, “Along whose banks at Midnight’s witching hour (So wayward Fancy dreams) aerial Beings pour!” This gives me the impression that there are ghosts coming out of the river at midnight.
Another source credits Shakespeare with the inventing the concept. In Hamlet (1603), he wrote, “Tis now the very witching time of night When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out.” Over time, the period between 3am and 4am was considered the peak hours for supernatural activity. The witching hour can refer to different time periods, all of which start on or are after midnight.
Some people believe that the witching hour is a time when witches and physics are the most powerful. You may also hear the witching hour be called the devil’s hour. There seems to be a loose connection to the crucifixion of Jesus. It is believed he died at 3pm. That would make 3pm the holiest hour. The ‘opposite’ time is 3am, so that is the least holy hour. I find this argument silly, but I did see it in a lot of places.
The 3am Challenge
For me, when I hear 3:00 am, I think about 3am challenges. It is a subgenre of YouTube horror entertainment videos. Recently I became aware of these videos, but they have been around since 2017 (possibly 2016). In a 3am video, the YouTuber does something specific at 3am then something ‘scary’ happens. I had to put scary in quotes because it really isn’t scary. The narrative (the story behind the videos) is that 3am is haunted or cursed because of the witching hour.
Are you superstitious? Do you believe in the witching hour? Or, do you have paraskevidekatriaphobia?
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Reference:
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/10/13/16465896/friday-the-13th-origin-history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witching_hour
https://www.tuftandneedle.com/resources/what-is-the-witching-hour/
https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-wit3.htm
https://www.bark.us/blog/late-night-fright-3am-challenge/
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-3am-challenge