Sorry Mom, I got a new tattoo last week.

This particular piece makes for my 14th piece of ink.

Check it out…

In time, I’m going to write about the meaning inlaid into each piece I’ve acquired over the past 6 years.

For now, this one being fresh in my mind and body, today is as fitting a time as any to talk about it.

If you’ve been around my Kingdom for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed my affinity for the number 13.

Whenever I create listicle-style content, I write out 13 points.

Whether it’s in the cents, dollars, or both, my prices always include a 13.

When choosing numbers for passwords, bank PINs, or anything numerical, I weave number 13 into it.

The number 13 is my number—it’s always been so, and it became this way for two reasons.

1. Growing up, I was decidedly contrarian.

If everyone was doing something, I wanted no part of it.

This contrarian attitude first manifested in the hockey team I chose to support (as any good Canadian lad does, I grew up playing hockey and it dominated my life for—ironically—13 years). Living on the West Coast of Canada, everyone around me supported the Vancouver Canucks, whom I arbitrarily decided to hate. Thus making the logical option for “my team” to be the Toronto Maple Leafs.

2. Aside from being on the other side of the country, my core reason for choosing the Maple Leafs as my favourite team was largely due to their star forward, Matts Sundin, and their goalie, Curtis Joseph.

Get this: Matts Sundin’s number was 13, and CuJo’s was 31.

Much to my chagrin, I was never able to skate with the number 13 on my back. Thanks to foolish superstition, the number 13 is often looked upon as an unlucky, “bad,” number.

Now let’s dive into the mystical aspects of the number 13…

In esotericism, specifically in tarology, the 13th arcanum of the Tarot of Marseille corresponds to the Unnamed, also called Death. Unlike what its name brings to mind, this arcanum is not synonymous with bad omens. Quite the contrary, the 13th arcanum of the Tarot de Marseille symbolizes, in many cases, the end of a phase leading to the beginning of another.

Staying in tarology, the 13 card designates a metamorphosis. It brings with it the beginning of a new era and marks the start of a transition. It must be interpreted as an initiatory death leading to a rebirth. In this regard, the 13th arcanum is very often a positive tarot card that offers the possibility of enhancing your good luck or seizing a new opportunity.

In numerology, 13 is expressed as 1+3, and as the single digit of 4, which serves to imbue 13 with several unique properties:

– Exploration and self-sufficiency from 1

– Diplomacy and teamwork from 3

– Pragmatism and focus from 4

The result of this makes for a unique essence. An essence of which is highly capable, circumventing or dealing with obstructions as they present themselves.

That’s me.

Lastly, as Sorcerers Guild subscriber Michael Gostelow said recently, 13 is a unique number.

Its different, misunderstood, and doesn’t quite fit in (as evidenced by it being excluded from hockey jerseys, hotel rooms, floors of apartment buildings, and the list goes on).

I can’t speak for you, but I know with utter certainty I never felt like I fit in.

Sure, I was able to blend in and go along with the crowd when needed, but it never felt right, and I never enjoyed doing so.

When I was supposed to be in class or doing homework, all I wanted to do was read stories, walk in the woods, shoot pucks by myself, or play video games.

While I loved playing hockey and hanging out in the locker room with the boys after a hard fought game, I found myself easily bored, and more excited to go do what I wanted to do.

Half the reason I dropped out of college after half a semester was because it stopped from being able to do the things I wanted to do, when I wanted.

I haven’t had a proper job in what’s creeping up on three years, I travel completely on whims because I want to see more of this wonderful planet, I make decisions based on my gut more often than I do logic, and I spend the bulk of my time lifting, practicing yoga, reading stories, and writing.

If you walk by me on the street, you’ll see a short, reasonably jacked, usually cleanly-dressed, tattoo-covered man lost in his own thoughts.

Presently, I’m only just beginning to feel like I fit in, entirely because I’ve gone to the momentous effort of finding other “13’s” out in the world to surround myself with.

To that, it’s why I’m not the only one to have the number 13 imprinted in my skin.

Alicia, my Queen, has a 13.

My brothers (also Sorcerers Guild subscribers) Jorden Pagel and Michael Gostelow have the number 13 needled into their skin as well.

As I pull together more pieces of my Kingdom, of the world I’m building, the more I see it’s a world meant for all the 13s out there who never felt like they fit in.

And so it is, the Sorcerers Guild—my magnum opus, and my greatest creative outpouring—is for my fellow 13s in the world.

If that’s you, then The Sorcerers Guild is for you.

Here’s where to join:

http://sorcerersguildnewsletter.com/

Yours sorcerously,

Alexander Mullan