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.

Interestingly enough, the identical superstition has been attributed to the ancient Vikings, which has become a hot debate among the scholars. The story has been laid down as follows:

“Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams. Don’t begin a trip on Friday or you will have misfortune. If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow. Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck ?As in the tale of H.M.S. Friday … One hundred years ago, the British government sought to quell once and for all the widespread superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned, named “H.M.S. Friday.” They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. To top it off, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage on a Friday, and was never seen or heard from again.”

No one could say for sure why and when the number 13 is associated with misfortune, its belief stems from the events that took place on Friday, October 13, 1307. Legend has it said that on that day, the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, together with the King of France, sentenced “the Knights Templar” (the legendary order of “warrior monks” formed during the Christian Crusades to combat Islam) to death and ordered the torture and crucifixion to be held among his leaders. This story was written by Katherine Kurtz in “Tales of the Knights Templar” (Warner Books, 1995) as follows:

“On October 13, 1307, a day so infamous that Friday the 13th would become a synonym for ill fortune, officers of King Philip IV of France carried out mass arrests in a well-coordinated dawn raid that left several thousand Templars- knights, sergeants, priests, and serving brethren – in chains, charged with heresy, blasphemy, various obscenities, and homosexual practices. None of these charges was ever proven, even in France – and the Order was found innocent elsewhere – but in the seven years following the arrests, hundreds of Templars suffered excruciating tortures intended to force “confessions,” and more than a hundred died under torture or were executed by burning at the stake.”

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On 11 April, 1970, Apollo 13 spacecraft was launched at John F. Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) on Merritt Island, Brevard Country, Florida, United States. Many claimed that the landing mission of Apollo 13 would be a catastrophic event as the number “thirteen” itself is an ominous figure which is believed to be of bad omen and evil doings.

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Many Westerners have perceived Friday the 13th as the unluckiest day as many biblical negative events occurred on a Friday. According to Bible, the first man was created on a Friday, and Eve was then created. Supposedly, on a Friday, Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit. When both of them ate the forbidden fruit, they were ejected from the paradise. Not only did Adam and Eve were ejected from the Garden of Eden, but many also believe that the Great Flood began on a Friday.

Image source- The Last Supper

Photo credit: Sohu- Jesus’ crucifixion

Thirteen is significant to Christians as it is the number of dinner guests who were present at the Last Supper. The Bible tells us that there were exactly 13 present at the Last Supper. 12 of them are his apostles, one of which being Judas, who was said to have betrayed Jesus by setting the stage for Jesus’ crucifixion, making 13 an unlucky number. And this was held on a Friday.

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Cain and Abel were the first and second sons of Adam and Eve. Cain, a farmer, had committed his first murder by killing his brother Abel, a shepherd on Friday, after God rejected Cain’s sacrifice but accepted Abel’s.

Photo credit: CRI

The Friday has regarded by Judaism as the “Witches’ Sabbath,” in the Middle Ages.

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Photo credit: Wupo.net

Various legends said: the witches of the north used to observe their Sabbath by gathering in a cemetery in the dark of the moon. On one such occasion the Friday goddess, Freya herself, came down from her sanctuary in the mountaintops and appeared before the group, who numbered only 12 at the time, and gave them one of her cats, after which the witches’ coven – and, by tradition, every properly-formed coven since – comprised exactly 13.

Photo credit: Fridaymyth

Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla. Loki, the Evil One, god of mischief, had been left off the guest list but crashed the party, bringing the total number of attendees to 13. Loki raised hell by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to attack Balder the Good, who was a favorite of the gods. Hod took a spear of mistletoe offered by Loki and obediently hurled it at Balder, killing him instantly. All Valhalla grieved. This story was apparently included in the Norse, “Beware of uninvited guests bearing mistletoe,” signifying that 13 people at a dinner party is just plain bad luck.

In the early England, many of the hangings took place on Fridays. There were 13 steps leading up into the gallows. Fridays were considered as an execution day or more commonly known as Hangman’s Day in Britain. This is another reason that linked Friday the 13th as the unlucky day. However, in other pre-Christian culture, this day was regarded as the Sabbath, a day of worship, so those who indulged in secular or self-interested activities on this day could not expect to receive blessing from the gods. This may explain why most trips or important projects are not done on Fridays.

As Fridays are regarded as the unluckiest day, many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. Many buildings don’t have a 13th floor. If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil’s luck (Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names). Legend had it said: If 13 people sit down to dinner together, all will die within the year. The Turks so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged from their vocabulary (Brewer, 1894).

I’m wondering what so unlucky of Fridays? Every Friday, no matter it be Fridays the 11th, 12th or 13th, they haven’t been all that evil days as claimed by the old superstition, instead they’re just like any other day. Is Friday the 13th an unlucky or an evil day? This question deserves your debate. What do you say then?