Friday the 13th Fascinating fun facts and fallacies

Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. The upcoming Friday the 13 this week is the second day of misfortune in 2019, with the first taking place on September 13.

Why are we like this? Whether you are superstitious or not, you can't escape the chatter circling the spookiest calendar date.

Unlucky Friday 13 is mostly a Western thing on the Gregorian calendar. Both the day Friday and the number 13 are considered unlucky, but there is no evidence of the two together being unlucky before the 19th century.

As 2019 is coming to a close, the last Friday the 13th of the decade is spooking people out. Friday the 13th is considered to be the most cursed day in Western culture. But why is the 13th day of a month falling on a Friday considered unlucky?

Some attribute the superstitions around Friday 13th to the story of Jesus’s last supper and crucifixion. The painting of The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci presents 13 people in the Upper Room on the 13th of Nisan Maundy Thursday, the night before Jesus’s death on Good Friday.

It’s also possible that the novel titled Friday, the Thirteenth, written by Thomas W. Lawson in 1907 helped spread the superstition.

It’s also been suggested that the superstition comes from an incident that took place way back on Friday 13th 1307, when Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of the Knights Templar.

Fascinating fun facts and fallacies about Friday the 13th:

1. More than 20 million people in the U.S. affected

According to the Stress Management Centre and Phobia Institute an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by an irrational fear of this day. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines, doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed.

2. Paraskevidekatriaphobia

Fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia, from the Greek words Paraskeví for Friday and dekatreís for thirteen. Ja, ja there is a kat in dekatreis, but that’s no reason to panic. The ancient Greeks couldn’t speak Afrikaans.

3. Black cats

Black cats have nothing to do with Friday the 13th or any so called evil for that matter. However, since the Middle Ages they have been associated with witches and witchcraft – myths that have been perpetuated by Hollywood. Major celebrities like Norman Reedus, Morgan Freeman, Robert Redford, Elizabeth Taylor, Brigit Bardot, Nicole Kidman and John Travolta have all had black cats.

4. Thirteen comes after twelve

Thomas Fernsler an associate policy scientist at the Mathematics and Science Education Resource Centre at the University of Delaware says the number 13 suffers because of its position after 12. Twelve is considered a complete number – 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labours of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus – whereas 13 is not. But were there 12 or 13 apostles?