Inspiration

The 13. A collection of tales.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson

You start a question, and it’s like starting a stone. You sit quietly on the top of a hill; and away the stone goes, starting others... I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both… She had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy; but her manners were excellent… I incline to Cain’s heresy,” he used to say quaintly: “I let my brother go to the devil in his own way… It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it… With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to the truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two…

The 13. When you start a question it's like sarting a stone.

L'Etranger - Albert Camus

L'étranger, written by French novelist & philosopher Albert Camus in 1942 is perhaps the masterpiece of absurdist literature. Frequently translated as 'The Stranger' or 'The Outsider', I would dare to suggest a more appropriate title: 'The Misfit'. Meursault, the main character, pays lip service to socially accepted conventions & morals which, in an absurdly codified society such as ours, whether it be in the 1940s or today, can only bring about his (& its) downfall, which it does (& is on the verge of doing).

John 1 - Genesis

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Thirteen

Do you suffer from Triskaidekaphobia? In short, the fear or the avoidance of the number 13. Simple pagan superstition or some deep meaning? Your guess is as good as ours... Yet the number 13 bears an undeniably symbolic connotation, as do other numbers such as 2, 3 , 7, 10, 17, 666, .... Arithmomany or numerology have been part & parcel of religious belief & folklore throughout the ages. The 13 mini-series carries on this ancestral tradition, but to what end? Well, you'll just have to wait & see. Here follows 13 instances of the number 13 - symmetrically objectivizing...

1. The Artist & The Instigator

The artistic visual is brushed by Andrew Davolls. The creative writing is penned by Bryan Wagstaff.

2. Friday 13th

A night of fear...

3. The Last Supper

And he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.

The 13. The last supper.

4. The 13th Amendment

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

5. Apollo 13

Apollo 13 (April 11–17, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module failed two days into the mission. The crew instead looped around the Moon and returned safely to Earth on April 17.

6. Fibonacci sequence

The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers in which each number is the sum of the two that precede it. Starting at 0 and 1, the sequence looks like this: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and so on forever. The Fibonacci sequence can be described using a mathematical equation: Xn+2= Xn+1 + Xn.

7. Tarot card 13

Death (XIII) is the 13th trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in Tarot card games as well as in divination. The card typically depicts the Grim Reaper, and when used for divination is often interpreted as signifying major changes in a person's life.

The 13. The grim reaper. Tarot card 13.

8. Bar Mitsvah

The term bar mitzvah (Hebrew: בַּר מִצְוָה) refers to the coming-of-age ritual in Judaism. All Jewish boys become bar mitzvahs at age 13, children are also held responsible for knowing Jewish ritual law, tradition, and ethics, and are able to participate in all areas of Jewish community life to the same extent as adults.

9. The 13 Founding Fathers & Colonies

America's Founding Fathers — including George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe, Benjamin Franklin, John Dickinson, William Findle, John Jay, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Paine & James Wilson (cf 10. without the legend stuff) structured the democratic government of the United States and left a legacy that has shaped the world and created the thirteen founding colonies - Virginia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

10. King Arthur & the Knights of the Round Table

King Arthur & the 12 Knights of the Round Table : Sir Gallahad, Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain, Sir Percival, Sir Lionel, Sir Tristan, Sir Gareth, Sir Bedivere, Sir Bleoberis de Gannes, Sir Brunor the Black, Sir Lucan, Sir Palomedes. Without forgetting Lady Guinevere & Excalibur... (I have absolutely no idea whatsoever whether the 12 knights mentioned are the right ones. I just took them at random, as you do when you're content-hunting. Who in their right mind is gonna fact-check a fuckin' legend? I personally don't give a fiddler's fart who the chosen 12 were, or are supposed to be, just as 99.99% of you who've bothered to read thus far. I just added this section for the purpose of symmetry. Toutefois, which is French for however, I just have a gut feeling that there is some smarmy self-proclaimed 'official legend-fact-checker' out there who is dying to challenge my knight choice, just because they can. Fair dos. Just because you can't understand something, it doesn't mean that it's wrong...

11. Lightning strikes

On Friday, August 13, 2010 a 13-year-old boy in Suffolk, England, was struck by lightning. The lightning reportedly hit at 1:13, or 13:13 in military time. The boy survived unharmed. (cf 10. and adapt to story, svp)

12. The Baker's dozen

It's widely believed that the Baker’s Dozen, i.e. 13 loaves, originated from the practice of medieval English bakers giving an extra loaf when selling a dozen in order to avoid being penalized for selling short weight. England has a long history of regulation of trade; bakers were regulated by a trade guild called The Worshipful Company of Bakers, which dates back to at least the reign of Henry II (1154-89). In 1266, Henry III revived an ancient statute that regulated the price of bread according to the price of wheat. Bakers or brewers who gave short measure could be fined, pilloried or flogged, as in 1477 when the Chronicle of London reported that a baker called John Mundew was 'schryved upon the pyllory' for selling bread that was underweight. What the bakers were doing whenever they sold bread in any quantity was adding something extra to make sure the total weight wasn't short. The addition was called the 'in-bread' or 'vantage loaf'. When selling in quantity to middlemen or wholesalers they would add an extra loaf or two. When selling single loaves to individuals they would offer a small extra piece of bread. Personally, I don't want to be schryved, do you?

13. THE 13

Last but not least and most importantly, 'The 13 mini-series'. 13 episodes where you will get to rub shoulders with 13 characters: the Host, Ruben, Jade, the Priest, the Mother, the Doctor, the Farmer's Wife, the Village Idiot, Homer, Augustin, Sisyphus, the Trickster & George Washington. We do hope that you will enjoy the ride and that the words & images will inspire you to open your mind and transport you back to your treasure trove of memories or not and transport you forward or not. Follow the story, you have nothing to lose, quite the contrary...