paraskavedekatriaphobia

This is a repost with a few additions / edits


Well it's that traditional day that comes one, two or three times a year where what appear to be perfectly logical (and perfectly illogical) people freak out. Yes I am of course speaking of the dreaded Friday the 13th (queue loud scary orchestrated horror movie music). There is an estimated $800 to $900 million lost on Friday the 13th due to people not flying, not going to work and not doing business as they normally do. So I was wondering what horrible events have happened on Friday the 13th. From Wikipedia..

* Hurricane Charley made landfall on August 13th, 2004 - Ok yeah that's bad
* Fidel Castro born on August 13th, 1926 - Bad? Not really. Someones birth isn't really bad, what they do later might be bad
* Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen born June 13, 1986 - again Bad? No.
* Steve Buscemi Born December 13th, 1956 - Bad? Certainly not.
* Tupac Shakur died from gunshot wounds September 13th, 1996 - Bad? Certainly for him, his family and his fans but as an event that signals the "badness" of Friday the 13th I think not.

So ok, there are a few things there, but nothing really of note besides the hurricane. But hurricane's happen on other days during the season so.... Lets see what else

There are a few studies that say that hospital admissions on Friday the 13th are higher than other days but there can be many contributing factors to that including the fear that the date brings on and peoples reactions to that. Religion has a lot to do with the superstition as is to be expected. Belief in one irrational explanation begets belief in others.

My favorite explanation as to why thirteen is unlucky is this. Loki is so cool

Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla. Loki, the Evil One, god of mischief, had been left off the guest list but crashed the party, bringing the total number of attendees to 13. True to character, Loki raised hell by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to attack Balder the Good, who was a favorite of the gods. Hod took a spear of mistletoe offered by Loki and obediently hurled it at Balder, killing him instantly. All Valhalla grieved. And although one might take the moral of this story to be "Beware of uninvited guests bearing mistletoe," the Norse themselves apparently concluded that 13 people at a dinner party is just plain bad luck.

A large number of reasons that can be given for Friday's bad reputation can be traced back to Christian stories. Jesus' alleged crucifiction occurred on a Friday, Eve supposedly tempted Adam with the super apple of doom on a Friday (who knew they had calendars back then?), The Flood started on a Friday, God muted the builders of the Tower of Babble on a Friday forever linking the word "babble" with people who drone on unintelligently (stop pointing fingers), Able supposedly killed Cain on Friday the 13th (I guess they jotted that down in their pocket calendar), the temple of Solomon was destroyed (again allegedly) on a Friday, in Rome Friday was execution day etc.. Chaucer mentions Friday as a bad day in the Canterbury tales

O destinee, that mayst nat been eschewed!
Allas, that Chauntecleer fleigh fro the bemes!
Allas, his wyf ne roghte nat of dremes!
And on a Friday fil al this meschaunce.
O Venus, that art goddesse of plesaunce!
Syn that thy servant was this Chauntecleer,
And in thy servyce dide al his poweer,
Moore for delit than world to multiplye,
Why woltestow suffre hym on thy day to dye?
O Gaufred, deere Maister soverayn!
That whan thy worthy kyng Richard was slayn
With shot, compleynedest his deeth so soore,
Why ne hadde I now thy sentence and thy loore,
The Friday for to chide, as diden ye?-
For on a Friday soothly slayn was he.
Thanne wolde I shewe yow, how that I koude pleyne
For Chauntecleres drede and for his peyne.

One event in particular is often pointed to as the origin of Friday the 13th as super spooky bad luck day. The slaughter of the Knights Templar in 1307.

On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip had many of the Order's members in France arrested, tortured into "confessions", and burned at the stake.[5] In 1312, Pope Clement, under continuing pressure from King Philip, forcibly disbanded the entire Order.

There were 13 attendees at the last supper, Judas allegedly was the 13th person to be seated, the 13th Tarot card is the card of Death, pagan rituals involving the number 13... there are plenty more.There is the ridiculous traditional practice of leaving the 13th floor of of the numbering of buildings (do those people on floor 14 not know that they are on the 13th floor?). Some airplanes skip row 13. Those good time wacky numerologists consider 12 a "whole" or "complete" number so 13's position following that causes it to suffer because it is considered beyond complete.

Ok so there are a number of reasons, none of which is reasonable, that people think Friday the 13th is bad. This is classic want to assign significance where there is none. Bad things happen on every day of the calendar year. I have particularly bad Tuesdays. Should I stop going to work on Tuesdays? Stop flying on Tuesdays?

"Superstition is the religion of feeble minds" Edmund Burke

Superstitions are fully based on the person's need to see things where they are not. Black cat crossing the road, walking under ladders, not stepping on cracks (break yo mamma's back), not saying Candyman five times in a row while staring into a mirror, breaking said mirror, lucky rabbit's foot (except to the rabbit), opening an umbrella indoors, etc... Yes those are all silly yet people practice them every day. Religion is just a larger better organized and marketed version of superstition. People choose to believe in a big mean sky daddy with a cool beard and flowing robes who will send punishment in the form of eternal damnation for all matter of small infractions (real version of Designer God) yet claims to love everyone (hippie version). It's just as silly as thinking that today is particularly more likely to be bad than tomorrow. If you can see the silliness in paraskavedekatriaphobia, you should extend that to other supernatural and superstitious things in your life.