The Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center:
An Entertaining Way to Cure Yourself of Superstitious Behaviors
OFFERING:
- Party Planning
- School Presentations
- Joke/Gift Visits
- Educational Literature
- Television and Radio Interviews
2013 PA State Atheist/Humanist conference
September 13-15, 2013
We are pleased to announce that we are producing the 2013 PA State Atheist/Humanist conference. This will be our second annual conference – We’re working very hard to top last year’s fantastic event!
TICKET SALES ARE NOW LIVE! Go here to purchase tickets for this event!
It will be located at the Embassy Suites Airport Hotel in Philadelphia, and take place the weekend of September 13-15, 2013. We have arranged a special price of $130 per night, and you can use code “113″ to reserve your hotel room at that rate. You can call the hotel at: (215) 365-4500. Your hotel reservation includes breakfast, internet, parking and Happy Hour.
The Freethought Society, Lancaster Freethought Society, PhillyCoR, and PA Nonbelievers are working together to plan this year’s conference.
Those Who Dread Number 13 Face a Troubling Year
Michael Matza, Inquirer Staff Writer
POSTED: Tuesday, January 1, 2013, 8:00 AM
For sufferers of the nation's most popular superstition, the arrival of 2013 opens the door to an annum of angst.
Triskaidekaphobia - the fear of 13 - is a dread so common that some buildings don't label their 13th floors, some workers fall "sick" every Friday the 13th, and some passengers reschedule a flight if their only choice is a seat in the 13th row.
For Margaret Downey of Pocopson, Chester County, a self-styled "treatment nurse" with the campily named Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center, 2013 is an opportunity to "poke a little fun" while "easing anxiety through education."
"I went to Fresh Market in Concordville the other day, and my bill came to $13.13," Downey said Monday in an interview about 13 hours before the start of the New Year. "The cashier said, 'Oh, my goodness, $13.13! Do you want to buy something else?'
"I just handed her my business card and said, 'Come to one of our parties. You are way too superstitious.' "
In addition to referring serious sufferers to authentic doctors for mental-health follow-up, the organization that Downey founded in 1993 hosts spoofy anti-superstition parties designed to gently poke fun and help people with their fears.