As a nerd, I love to learn, so writing this article allowed me to do just that. I love to learn, whether it is vocabulary words and definitions or the mythology of Gods and Goddesses (I write the Gods Of Smite articles). Except for math. I hate math. I was curious about why people fear Friday the 13th, so I looked into it and wanted to share it with all of you.
Something interesting about this date is that it has seen pop culture spring up around it. It started a club of thirteen men here in America that even inspired one in England. Early in the 20th century, a book called Friday the Thirteenth by Thomas Lawson was written. It has even seen the rise of a movie franchise with Jason Voorhees. That isn’t even to mention other books, shows, and movies that have to do with it.
12 and 13
It is fascinating to see such a huge difference between the two numbers. The number twelve is considered a good or holy number. Thirteen, however, seems to be cursed. Christianity has been a big influence on the difference in the two numbers. If you look around you, you can see twelve everywhere. The twelve months in a year, twelve zodiac signs, twelve days of Christmas, twelve apostles, the twelve labors of Hercules, among other things, mostly having to do with Judeo-Christian influence.
The number thirteen is so feared by people it actually has a phobia named for it: triskaidekaphobia. Please don’t ask me to pronounce it; I really can’t. It is said that the number thirteen is unlucky. Being one number past the divine grace of twelve has given way to people’s imagination. That being said, there were thirteen people at the last supper. Witch’s coven are often thirteen people big. Side note: Witches don’t see it as a bad thing. Even Jesus didn’t have a problem with thirteen. He walked around with twelve apostles plus him. That is thirteen. This is such a real fear that people will “leave out” the thirteenth floor, rule, or something else.
Friday the 13th
Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear, specifically, of Friday the 13th. Friggatriskaidekaphobia is an even more severe form of paraskavedekatriaphobia. I can’t pronounce these either. My son laughed at me, trying to pronounce them. It wasn’t enjoyable. Though not a lick of historical evidence and possibly debunked, I found reasons why people fear the date. It is believed that Jesus died on Friday the 13th. There were thirteen people at the last supper, which makes sense because Jesus walked around with twelve other men. Some of the Christian faith also believe that Eve gave Adam the apple on Friday the 13th and Cain killing Able on that day.
All in all, I cannot prove or disprove that Friday the 13th is cursed or not. Really, nobody else can either. I enjoy this superstition. It is interesting to see how other people view the day. I myself have never had anything bad happen on Friday the 13th. Mostly good fortune visits me that day. I also view the number thirteen as a good thing. There are thirteen lunar cycles in a year. Best of all, a baker’s dozen is thirteen. So how is getting thirteen of anything from the bakery a bad thing? I hope you liked learning about this day. What are your experiences or beliefs about the date? Let me know in the comments below. Until next week…
