In honor of today’s date, I decided to do a little research on the history of the Friday the 13th superstitions. I have always known that it is a day of supposed bad luck, and a great night to watch scary movies (Jason, anyone?), but I never really knew the meaning of it.
Apparently, there is more than one believed origin. I’ll share a couple of them with you here.
- Numerologists have always known the number 12 to be a symbol of wholeness or completeness. However, they feel that 13 transgressed that “wholeness”, making it bad or unlucky. Some even think that having 13 dinner patrons sitting at one table means that one of those in attendance will perish soon.
- Friday has been seen by many as an unlucky day all around. This notion dates way back to the 14th century with The Canterbury Tales. In some professions, people will not start new projects or leave for a trip on a Friday due to the unluckiness surrounding the day of the week. The term “Black Friday” was actually invented during a financial crisis in the late 1800′s. With so much negativity, it only seems fair to pair this day with the unlucky 13, right?
Random Facts about the Friday the 13th Superstitions
- Recently, a psychotherapist that specializes in treating patients with various phobias guesstimated that there could be up to 21 million (8%) of Americans suffering from paraskevidekatriaphobia, of the fear of Friday the 13th.
- In 2008, the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics stated “”fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays, because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home”.
- Every month that begins on a Sunday will have a Friday the 13th.
- There is at least one Friday the 13th in each calendar year.
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Interesting, thanks for sharing!
Cool facts! I now look at the 13th as a lucky day since my little girl was born on the 13th of November.
i wonder, though, the whys. i mean i can see where walking under a ladder and the ladder falling on a person brings the superstition of that, especially if it happened to a few people you knew, or a black cat tripping someone, and so on. My Grandma was born on Friday the 13th of February and we always say that is the luckiest day.
This is an interesting article, thank you! My son’s birthday was on Friday the 13th (just last Friday) and it was all good!