Halloween just gone and what better time to talk about superstitions than a holiday focused on spirits and symbolism. Whether you're superstitious or not, discovering the origins of these common beliefs is a fascinating look at religion and human psychology.
Friday The Thirteenth
The fear of Friday the thirteenth and the fear of the number thirteen are
both so common that they each even have their own psychological names,
paraskevidekatiaphobia and triskaidekaphobia, respectively. But who ever decided
that one number is unluckier than any other or why it's particularly bad for the
thirteenth day of the month to happen to fall on a Friday? As it turns out,
there are a lot of reasons behind the superstitions surrounding the mystical
number.
In Christianity, there were thirteen people at the Last Supper, including Judas who has been rumored as being the last person to sit at the table. In Viking lore, Loki was the thirteenth god and in the story of Norna-Gest, when uninvited guests showed up at an infant's birthday party, bringing the number of guests up to thirteen, the last of the guests cursed the child. Even ancient Persians were weary of the number thirteen because they believed the twelve constellations of the Zodiac would each rule the earth for a thousand years, but after the cycle ended (in the thirteenth millennia), the sky and earth would collapse into chaos.
Interestingly, the fear of Friday the thirteenth is actually a relatively recent development. In fact, historians have found no evidence that anyone ever had talked about "Friday the thirteenth" until the 19th century and the earliest mention of the evils of the date were seen in an 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini. Even then, the myth didn't really get going until the 20th century, when Thomas W. Lawson's novel Friday, the Thirteenth became a best seller. After the book became a household name, so did the stories about how unlucky the day was.
In reality, the idea of Friday the thirteenth being unlucky is most likely a result of the fact that both Fridays and the number thirteen are both considered unlucky. Friday has been considered unlucky since at least the 14th century, as Chaucer mentioned the superstition in The Canterbury Tales. The most likely reason for people to consider Fridays unlikely is that according to scripture, Jesus was crucified on a Friday. It doesn't seem like much of a stretch to imagine that people decided that if Fridays are unlucky and the number thirteen is unlucky, then any time the thirteenth occurs of the Friday, it's really unlucky.
The fear of Friday the thirteenth is still very common. In fact, around 19 million Americans are affected by a fear of the day and many are so scared that they refuse to leave their house on Friday the thirteenth. Accordingly, the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute estimates that businesses lose around $850 million ever time the date rolls around on the calendar.
In Christianity, there were thirteen people at the Last Supper, including Judas who has been rumored as being the last person to sit at the table. In Viking lore, Loki was the thirteenth god and in the story of Norna-Gest, when uninvited guests showed up at an infant's birthday party, bringing the number of guests up to thirteen, the last of the guests cursed the child. Even ancient Persians were weary of the number thirteen because they believed the twelve constellations of the Zodiac would each rule the earth for a thousand years, but after the cycle ended (in the thirteenth millennia), the sky and earth would collapse into chaos.
Interestingly, the fear of Friday the thirteenth is actually a relatively recent development. In fact, historians have found no evidence that anyone ever had talked about "Friday the thirteenth" until the 19th century and the earliest mention of the evils of the date were seen in an 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini. Even then, the myth didn't really get going until the 20th century, when Thomas W. Lawson's novel Friday, the Thirteenth became a best seller. After the book became a household name, so did the stories about how unlucky the day was.
In reality, the idea of Friday the thirteenth being unlucky is most likely a result of the fact that both Fridays and the number thirteen are both considered unlucky. Friday has been considered unlucky since at least the 14th century, as Chaucer mentioned the superstition in The Canterbury Tales. The most likely reason for people to consider Fridays unlikely is that according to scripture, Jesus was crucified on a Friday. It doesn't seem like much of a stretch to imagine that people decided that if Fridays are unlucky and the number thirteen is unlucky, then any time the thirteenth occurs of the Friday, it's really unlucky.
The fear of Friday the thirteenth is still very common. In fact, around 19 million Americans are affected by a fear of the day and many are so scared that they refuse to leave their house on Friday the thirteenth. Accordingly, the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute estimates that businesses lose around $850 million ever time the date rolls around on the calendar.
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