Friday the 13th has long been known in many cultures to be a day of bad luck.
There’s even a name to describe the irrational dread of the date: paraskevidekatriaphobia — a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a fear of the number 13.
The superstition has been around for centuries. This specific day is deemed to be unlucky for reasons which cannot be fully proven.
Let’s take a look at what others deem to be the possible origins of the superstitious day.
Possible Origins Of Friday the 13th
There are a few different interpretations on how 13 became such an unlucky number.
Some trace it back to a myth about the 12 gods of Asgard and a dinner in Valhalla going awry when the mischievous god Loki showed up as the 13th guest.
On the other hand, many think the number 13’s label as unlucky dates back to biblical times and the Last Supper. Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was thought to have been the 13th guest to sit down at the table among the disciples. The following day, on a Friday, Jesus got crucified.
For years, Friday has also been considered the unluckiest day of the week.
It is believed to have been a Friday when Eve gave Adam the fateful apple from the Tree of Knowledge, as well as the day Cain killed his brother, Abel. Friday is also alleged to be the day the Temple of Solomon was toppled; and the day Noah’s ark set sail in the Great Flood.
In 2003 Dan Brown’s novel “The Da Vinci Code,” helped popularize the incorrect claim that the superstition originated with the arrests of hundreds of members of the Knights Templar on Friday, October 13, 1307.
Tragedies associated with Friday the 13th
Other tragedies that have occurred on this day over the past century include:
– The German bombing of Buckingham Palace (September 1940)
– A cyclone that killed a great number of people in Bangladesh (May 1970)
– The disappearance of a Chilean Air Force Plane in the Andes (October 1972)
– The death of famous rapper Tupac Shakur (September 1996)
How others have stopped using the number 13
Many high-rise buildings, such as hotels and hospitals, do not have a 13th room or 13th floor, and many airports do not have a gate 13.
Consequently, the seating arrangement at the Last Supper is believed to have given rise to a longstanding Christian superstition that having 13 guests at a table is a bad omen.
The number was not used in Formula One racing from 1977 to 2013.
Is Friday the 13th a universal superstition?
It is not a universal superstition.
Not all cultures consider 13 unlucky. For the Aztecs, it was a sacred number that represented time and stood for completion.
In Greece and Spanish-speaking countries, it is Tuesday the 13th that is considered a day of bad luck.
While in Italy, it is Friday the 17th that is met with fear.