Unlucky Friday the 13th. Friday the 13th has long been considered as an unlucky day, many superstitions, folk lore and conspiracies are offered as an explanation.

Friday the 13th has long been considered as an unlucky day and some people will follow strange, often seemingly irrational, rituals or habits on this day, to avoid being affected by the bad luck.

There is even a phobia relating to the day, fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, but what is the origin of these beliefs and fears.

One potential theory cites the murder, or assasination, of members of the Knights Templar, at the orders of King Philip IV of France. On Friday October 13th 1307, the French autorities carried out mass arrests of members of the Knights Templar, accused of crimes ranging from heresy, blasphemy, various obscenities, to homosexual practices.
The leader Jacques DeMolay, was arrested tortured and crucified.
Hundreds of other Knights Templar died as a result of this action, widely seen as a thinly disguised political action by the French monarch to redress the balance the power.

Friday and the number 13 have been considered unlucky serarately for thousands of years, so the combination of the two Friday falling on the 13th day, has been seen as a very negative combination. Why is Friday the 13th cosidered to be so unlucky. Ideas, evidence and beliefs we look at some of the most common explanations of the Friday the 13th belief.

The number 13 was viewed as sinister even in Norse mythology. Loki an evil Norse god, attended, univited, a gathering of 12 gods at Valhalla. At the event Loki caused the death of Balder the god of light, joy, and reconciliation. He did this by tricking Balders brother Hod, who was blind, to throw a sprig of mistletoe into Balders chest, mistletoe was the only thing on earth that could harm Balder who was killed.

Romans regarded the number 13 as a symbol of death, destruction and misfortune and Greek philosophers regarded 13 an 'imperfect' number.

Supposedly Friday was the day that Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, Jesus was said to be crucified on a Friday, in ancient Rome Friday was execution day and later was a common day for executions in Britain.

Commonly held Friday the 13th beliefs include:

  • If you cut your hair on Friday the 13th, one of your family will die.
  • A child born on Friday the 13th will be unlucky for life.
  • If a funeral procession passes you on Friday the 13th, you'll be next.
  • It is considered very unlucky to have 13 people at the dinner table.
  • Many ships will not start a voyage on Friday the 13th.
  • Some Texans say never to cut any kind of garment on a Friday because it will not be completed.

Contradictions and conspiracy theories:

  • In 1881 an organization called The Thirteen Club was formed.
    At the first meeting, the members (all 13 of them) walked under ladders to enter a room covered with spilled salt.
    The club lasted for many years and grew to over 400 members, including five US presidents' Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
    No major negative effects were recorded.
  • The design of the back face of the US dollar bill is said to contain the following references to the number 13, 13 steps on the pyramid, 13 stars above the eagle's head, 13 war arrows in the eagle's claw and 13 leaves on the olive branch, this is often cited as some sort of anti american conspiracy.
    A more rational explanation is that these symbols were designed to represent the 13 original states of the Union.
    The US appears to have survived this attempt to undermine its power.

Occurence:

  • On average, there are 1.72 Friday the 13ths per calendar year.

The definition of a superstition is "an irrational belief arising from ignorance or fear" (wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn) and this is probably a more accurate depiction of the Friday 13th phenomena, unless of course you know differently.