The third and last Friday the 13th of 2009 is upon us, so we thought we'd try to get to the bottom of why this day is feared by some 17-21 million Americans (as estimated by the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute). Paraskevidekatriaphobia, the scientific term for fear of Friday the 13th, is an amalgam of superstition and old wives' tales having to do with Friday--a day some claim Jesus was crucified as it was the Romans' execution day, or when Eve ate that darn apple, when Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden or even the day that Noah's Great Flood began (which is unlikely as Friday didn't exist way back then)--and the number 13.
The number 13 is considered unlucky in many pockets of the world (though not in ancient Egypt or China) as it's not 12, a number with positive connotations in numerology, related to the 12 months of the year in the Gregorian calendar, 12 signs of the zodiac, the 12 apostles, the 12 gods of Olympus, 12 hours on a clock, and the 12 tribes of Israel. Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest at the Last Supper. Or, 13 may have gotten its bad rep because in a tarot deck--the 13th card represents death. Others trace the superstition to legends surrounding witchcraft; witches covens supposedly had 12 members but that number rose to 13 when the devil appeared at the satanic ceremonies.
Going back to pre-Christian times, in Norse myth, 12 gods were dining at Valhalla when Loki, an uninvited 13th guest arrived, causing chaos as he arranged for Hoder to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness. Balder died, the world went black, and 13 began its path to notoriety.
Friday has been considered an inauspicious day since at least the 14th Century when The Canterbury Tales was published; many cultures and professions regard it as bad luck to being a journey or other important undertaking on a Friday.
Dan Brown in the 2003 The Da Vinci Code brought new life to the legend that Friday the 13th refers to that day in 1307 when French King Philip IV arrested masses of Knights Templar on charges of heresy and blasphemy, resulting in many being tortured or burned at the stake.
The most interesting tidbit we unearthed in this investigation is that in the Spanish-speaking world, Tuesday the 13th, not Friday, is a day of fear and anxiety, a day to avoid making big decisions (like getting married) or departing for a journey, as the saying goes ("No te cases ni te embarques."). Tuesday the 13th may be feared in the Spanish-speaking world as it was on that day in 1453 that Constantinople fell, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire, a bad moment for the Christian world. Or, Martes (Tuesday in Spanish) may hold ominous meaning due to its relation to Mars, the red planet and the god of war and destruction. As you can see from the photo at the top of the post, the title of the U.S. horror flick Friday the 13th (and its slew of sequels) has even been changed in some markets to Martes 13 to make sense to Spanish-speaking audiences.
For more info, check out a 2004 Nat Geo News story on Friday the 13th.
IT Wants To Know: What other superstitions vary across cultures?
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