Friday the Thirteenth, the day considered the most unlucky of all days. Friday the Thirteenth comes at least one a year and at most three times. This day is capable of causing mild anxiety for some, while others are simply too petrified to get out of bed in the morning or leave their own home. While the fear and known misfortune of the day are wide-spread, the same cannot be said for the origin of this unfaithful day.
Let’s start with the most common idea of the origin of why one date on the calendar could scare so many. The fear behind Friday the Thirteenth is believed to come from the biblical Last Supper. During his final days on the earth, Jesus Christ sat down for last dinner with his twelve disciples, or apostles as they are also called. After the dinner, one of the disciples, the thirteenth member, Judas, betrayed Jesus to his enemies, causing Jesus’ crucifixion, which occurred on Friday. Judas’ betrayal may have caused the fear of the number thirteen and Jesus’ death on Friday caused the fear of Friday. This is the most commonly accepted theory.
Biblical scholars also think that Adam and Eve may have eaten the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden on a Friday. According to the story, eating the forbidden fruit offered by Satan forced God to remove Adam and Eve from the Garden where all their needs were met to a harsher environment where they would struggle to survive.
Another story connecting itself to both Friday and the thirteenth is the arrest of Jacque de Molay, the Grand Master of the Templar Knights, which occurred on Friday, October 13th, 1307. While de Molay’s arrest did take place on Friday the Thirteenth, this is not commonly associated with the unlucky date as the fear of Friday the Thirteenth is considered to be a more modern fear.
Now, while the fear of Friday has only really been around since the 19th century, the history of the fear of the number thirteen is much longer, going back as far as 1700 BC. Let’s start with another religion for this topic, and this particular part of the belief focuses on the Norse gods. It is believed that the twelve Norse gods sat down for a dinner in Valhalla. During their meal, Loki, the trickster god, joined as an unwelcomed thirteenth guest. Loki got Hoder, blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe tipped arrow. When Baldur died, the entire earth went dark and all the humans mourned the loss, and since then the number thirteen has been an ominous number and foreboding.
Meanwhile in Rome it is said that witches gathered and formed twelve groups with the thirteenth group being the pure embodiment of evil.
Now with that little bit of history done, let’s move on to the modern day effect of the fear of Friday the Thirteenth and the number thirteen itself.
The fear of the number thirteen is called triskaidekaphobia. Those who have a fear of thirteen often pass down their beliefs to their children and often point to Apollo 13 to show the rationality behind their fears. The fear of Friday the Thirteenth is called paraskevidekatreisphobia, with paraskevi meaning Friday in Greek, dekatreis meaning thirteen, and phobia. The fear of Friday the Thirteenth can also be called Friggatriskaidekaphobia, with Frigg meaning the Norse god from whose name Friday originates. Around the late middle ages, both the fear of Friday and thirteen were both widespread. Today, around 17 to 21 million Americans are effected by the fears of Friday, thirteen, and Friday the Thirteenth.
A common potential reason for the fear of thirteen may be due to its location after twelve. Twelve is considered to be a “complete number” in a sense. There are twelve months in a years, twelve zodiac signs, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus. Thirteen may cause fear due to its sense of being just over completeness.
Now, here’s the irrationality of it all and the effects it has on people action wise. There are actually fewer traffic accidents on Friday the Thirteenth, with the average Friday being around 7,800 and the thirteenth being around 7,500 accidents. Though those who think they are more unlucky will often get more anxious, causing themselves to be more prone to accidents. There are fewer reports of fires, robberies, and thefts. People on this particular days also refuse to buy a house, get married, have a child, or use a hot tip on the stock market. It is estimated that $800 to $900 million are lost on this day. Other interesting oddities includes: 80% of high rises don’t have a thirteenth floor, many airports skip gate thirteen, hospitals and hotels often don’t have a room thirteen, and in Florence, Italy, the houses between twelve and fourteen are called twelve and a half. French socialites even call themselves quatoniziens (French for fourteeners), who make themselves available for dinner parties as the fourteenth guest.
Myths involving Friday, thirteen, and Friday the Thirteenth are in abundance. A few of those myths include: thirteen dine together one will die in a year, trips started will have misfortune on them, it’s a bad day to start new projects, a bad day for any major life changes (marriage, birth, house buying, etc.), if your hair is cut then a family member with die, if a funeral procession passes you then you will be the next to die, a child born on this day with forever have bad luck, a bad day to set sail on a ship for misfortune will get it, a mirror broke is seven years bad luck, and if a black cat crosses your path or you go under a ladder, this day will surely be unlucky for you.
Just as there are many insane myths, there is just as many solutions. To get over your fear of Friday the Thirteenth, take small steps out of your comfort zone, and if nothing bad happens, keep going. That is actually the only good one. The strange solutions include: climb a mountain, burn holes in all your socks, or stand on your head and chew gristle.
Friday the Thirteenth, while a long standing superstition, we would probably be better without. The fear of any of its factors are irrational. It is thought that the only reason we follow these superstitions is culture. The fact it plays a part in culture is really one of the reasons we truly do it. Since it is culture, you honor it. If you don’t honor it, you feel as if you are tempting fate.
Whether you go along with Friday the Thirteenth out of cultural need, true fear, fun, or just for the sake of it, you probably won’t be escaping it any time soon, so make the most out of what could possibly be the very worst day of your life, because it most likely won’t be. But, you know, who knows, right?