FRANKLYN'S SOCIETY OF THIRTEEN

When I agreed to take on the somewhat daunting task of becoming BEJO's Webmaster at the age of 76 my wife was not impressed. "A foolish idea, Jay!" she said after a moment of thought. "You are too old for computers. It's a young person's game!" Indeed, she was half right!

But my friend Franklyn had already made the decision when he convinced Chuck Hall and me that the Personal Computer would help us solve some problems that we had not yet solved through ordinary, academic channels. By such small events, this Journal dedicated to a belief that the United States of America was no longer well served by fearless journalists but rather had descended into the barbarism of propaganda-mongering as foul as that created by Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Information. Yes, we were hooked!

About the time that Franklyn was engrossed in his Ham Radio Hobby and working on Slow Scan TV (SSTV), he convinced two other very senior guys to join him in establishing a Time Capsule that he originally called THE THUNDER MOUNTAIN PRESS. By the time he had completed the artwork -- he was an accomplished commercial artist among his many talents -- he discovered that Thunder Mountain Press was already an existing entity. The idea of Thunder Mountain had come from his prospectus for a Disney movie called THE VAN KLOON SAGA.

I have digressed enough and I will now pick up the first thread of Chuck Franklyn's interest in The Society of Thirteen:

If there was anything that made Franklyn an interesting thinker, it was his negative attitude toward accepted or established knowledge. He would often challenge us with statements like: "Birds don't FLY, they SWIM!" "Airplanes and Submarines are identical devices!"

Perhaps his most provocative statement related to his belief that Mass alone is Nothing without Potential Energy!" He insisted that if Man could consume all the heavier elements in the Universe or on one Planet, the Universe would reshuffle itself due to a change in gravitational attraction between the Planets. Yeah! I know its way out there! He was the most skilled Provocateur I have ever known! His theories challenging the belief that Crude Oil is a fossil fuel is the one I wish he would have pursued, as I believe he was right!

It was from that kind of mischievous thinking that he one day brought up the subject on Superstitions and the strange attitude toward the number THIRTEEN (i.e., 13).

Within his Christian, Gentile, Caucasian culture, he found superstition to be intolerable. Of all the superstitions he noted was the fear of the Number 13! It had been maligned by people in earlier times who did so for an ulterior reason! His concern was that "13" is a number that possesses some very significant qualities and meanings that were not Bad or Evil. He made reference to a variety of events and facts that dwell on the number "13" to which he assigned considerable meaning. A few of these items follow:

1. The Nation known as the United States was formed from THIRTEEN COLONIES!

2. In human biology, to conceive a human embryo 13 chromosomes of the male sperm must be combined with 13 chromosomes of the female ovum. 2 x 13= 26, a number that shares similar significance  and meaning, perhaps even a code. Were you born on the 13th or 26th day of the month?

3. A more precise measure of a calendar year was the Mayan Calendar which has THIRTEEN MONTHS!

4. Our alphabet has 26 letters -- again the second multiple of 13 arises!

5. World War II began in 1939 -- 39 is the third multiple of 13!

6. Look at a piano keyboard and you will find an octave is made of 8 White and 5 Black keys! I have never known anyone to consider Music an Evil thing -- except perhaps, certain kinds of music like Rap, Hard Rock etc.

Now, I refer you to a splendid presentation of this same subject at this LINK! Read it carefully, then, please, return to this article.  

The evolution of C. S. Franklyn's thinking on the subject of THIRTEEN began about the same time he wrote the CONCEPT OF UNIVERSALISM, a kind of manifesto in which he described how the evolution of Mankind will see the Human Race become One Kind of People which he described as The GREY RACE! The time of that article was during the third major disappointment in his Life when he was denied the political sponsorship to both Annapolis and West Point! The reason for the denial was never given by the millionaire Congressman who refused to recognise that in that year fewer than four percent of those young men taking the exams qualified while still attending high school. Chuck was part of that 4%! That small distinction had little meaning to most people then -- especially in the Gentile society -- and it wouldn't buy you a cup of Starbucks witch's brew even today!

I hope I have engaged your curiosity enough to have you think about THE SOCIETY OF THIRTEEN because Franklyn's theories on Learning through Understanding (NOT ROTE!) are entwined with these same cerebral gyrations! As a physical scientist and logician, he was convinced that if the entire human race -- all races, all tribes -- could escape their infatuation with RELIGION, then Humankind could begin to create the Society that an Almighty Power intended that we all should become a part of -- eventually! A fundamental belief, he held, was that Religion is merely an early form of Politics since both serve the same objective: the control of people and governments by Elitists who believe they have superior Intellects! He did acknowledge that societies must have good, compassionate leaders who understood the principles of "Tough Love"! 

How can you join The Society of Thirteen? You cannot, I am sorry to say!

If you were born on the 13th or 26th day of the month you are automatically enrolled in The Society. If you are the Thirteenth child or can show a significant connection through birth to the Number Thirteen, you could be eligible. Should you desire more information about this subject, I can only tell you that its headquarters is at No. 13, 13th Street, in the 13th precinct of the the 13th city of the 13th country! If you want more information, the UNO may be able to help! Serious inquiries only, please!   

If you want to add more input to the List of Thirteen, please do and we will do a follow-up and publish your name as the Contributor if you don't mind being mentioned! Contact is best started by using  the following address: csfranklyn@hotmail.com

Oh, Yes! There are thirteen letters in my name!

Jayson Quigham  Ph. D.

July 13, 2007