Friday the 13th

 

Friday the 13th or Unlucky 13

By Twinty Karat

 

Probably anywhere in the world if you ask someone what’s the most unlucky day they will say Friday the 13^th. Unlucky Friday 13^th is regarded as one of the most unlucky days of the year.

It is believed that if the 13^th day of a month falls on a Friday, then it considered as day for bad luck and evil omens.

Many people suffer from this phobia and the fear of Friday the 13^th is known as paraskevidekatriaphobia. This particular belief has no scientific reason behind it and neither any logical nor illogical base behind this fear. Another scientific name of this fear is ‘tridecaphobia’.

The Number 13 and the Bible

According to the old and new testaments of the holy book, the Bible, the number 12 was considered to be a lucky number. Therefore the number which followed it was regarded as evil.

So this was the number 13. The fear of Friday the 13^th is a very common superstition. It was a Friday when Jesus Christ was crucified.

Also the great flood mentioned in the Bible had also taken place on a Friday.

The Number 13 in Buildings

Some buildings skip the number 13 (unlucky 13^th floor) in their numbering of the floors. The rooms in hotels are avoided being numbered as the 13 number rooms. It is regarded as a very unlucky day in North America. In some places some streets do not contain a house number 13.

Born on Friday the 13^th

Under normal circumstances Friday the thirteenth is unlucky. It seems like if someone is born on that day they are facing a life of lots of bad luck. But no, there is an exception in this case. It is said that Friday the 13^th can be the luckiest day of your life if you are born on this day.

The Number 13 and Mathematics

13 is the second Star Number.

13 is a Fibonacci Number.

There are 13 circles in Metatron’s Cube.

13 is the 6th prime number. 6 is sometimes considered an unlucky number due to its association with 666. In numerology 666 reduces down to 18, which reduces down to 9. 9 is the close of a cycle and in traditional numerology only the numbers 1 through 9 are used. There is another mathematical reason thirteen may be considered a “bad” or “unlucky” number. That’s because when a group of 13 objects or people is divided into two, three, four or six equal groups, there is always one leftover, or “unlucky”, object or person. Wouldn’t you hate to be that lone left out?

The Number 13 and the Calendar

According to a Gregorian calendar, this day comes at least thrice in a year. If the first day of the month falls on a Sunday, then it is seen that the 13^th day will always fall on a Friday. The historians say that there is no evidence of this superstition before the 19^th century. Actually it is the fusion of two older superstitions.

As we all know that the number 13 is looked upon as an unlucky number and Friday was also known to be an unlucky day, so the amalgamation of these two things resulted in making Friday the 13^th, an unlucky day.

More Myths and Superstitions regarding 13

There is a superstition from the Norse myth that if there are thirteen people sitting for a dinner, one of the people will die soon. This could be related to the fact that Jesus and his 12 disciples at the Last Supper may have inspired that and similar superstitions, since one of the 13 died shortly thereafter; that was Jesus.

There are some Friday superstitions also. It is said that it was a Friday when Eve had tempted Adam to eat the forbidden apple. Many other historical events have taken place on this particular day which shows that Friday has some of the weirdest things about it, particularly if it happens to be on the 13th.

According to an old Scandinavian belief, it was said that there were twelve demigods according to mythological stories and they were later on joined by Loki, the thirteenth demigod who was known because of his cruelty and who brought a lot of misfortune to the people. Since then the number 13 is considered to be unlucky 13 by many. There was yet another belief that on Fridays, the twelve witches met the devil and the meeting of thirteen evils was always regarded as a bad omen.

There are lots more superstitions dealing with the number 13 and virtually all of them have the same theme; bad luck or unlucky day. These were just some of the various reasons for this superstition to be popular. If you live in an area that has an unusual Friday the 13th belief or superstition please leave a comment so we all can learn about it.

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