Why Westerners Have Considered Friday the 13th as an Unlucky and Evil Day

For most Westerners, Friday and the number 13 represent bad luck. The superstition surrounding Friday the 13th is a combination fear of the number 13, called triskaidekaphobia, and the fear of Fridays. The phobia towards Friday the 13th and thus is termed as paraskevidekatriaphobics.

Incredibly, people in North America and Europe behave very strangely on Friday the 13th. On 13th Friday, they won’t fly in airplanes, host a party, apply for a job, get married, do a business, or even start a new project. Some people won’t go to work; some won’t drive their cars; some won’t think of setting a wedding or holding a ceremony; and many won’t eat in restaurants. This superstition is particularly more widespread in the United States. Some believe that the risk of hospital admission due to vehicular accidents might be increased by as much as 52% than on “normal” Fridays. Hence, they’d rather prefer to stay at home on Friday 13th. That’s why for many Christians in the past, they would never begin any activities or trip on Friday for fear that their endeavor would be doomed from the start.

According to Dr. Donald Dossey, a psychotherapist who specializes in the treatment of phobias, about 21 million of the Americans have an irrational fear of Friday the 13th. That means 8% of the Americans are still in the grip of this very old superstition.

By labeling Friday the 13th as “the unluckiest day of all”, we are guilty of perpetuating a misnomer by a negative designation, say, someone breaks a mirror, spills the salt, spies a black cat crossing one’s path, and walks under a ladder – Friday the 13th, a day that one would be in the safety to be at home with doors locked, windows or shutters closed.

People who lived before the late 1800s perceived Friday the 13th as a taboo. They used to think that this day was a catastrophic and misfortune day as many cultural significance and historical events that occurred on this day was shrouded in obscurity. Perhaps, the most convincing answer lies with Christianity as many bad things happened in Christianity on Fridays, for instance, Christ was crucified on a Friday, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, the start of the Great Flood. In fact, Christians have traditionally been wary of Fridays as on this day, Jesus Christ was crucified. This misfortune day is also considered as a day of penance for Christians. God tongue-tied the builders of the Tower of Babel on a Friday and the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday as well, are two other reasons that associate Friday the 13th as an unlucky day.