What Makes Friday the 13th Unlucky
Three times this year, many people will be especially careful to avoid stepping under ladders, spotting a black cat, or being associated with the number 13. Their steps will be a little more careful and their minds a little more on edge. So why is this? Because in 2012, there will be three Friday the 13ths.
The first unlucky day of this year started off with January 13, and will be followed by April 13 and finally July 13, all 13 weeks apart. But the reason why this random day is considered unlucky in the first place is a little more of a mystery.
Unfortunately, no one really knows exactly why the day is unlucky, and is more based on modern hype combined with the superstitions of many cultures.
According to Christian beliefs, there were 13 disciples present at the Last Supper, one of whom betrayed Jesus and set the stage for the Crucifixon, which also occurred on a Friday.
So, 13 is considered the “devil’s number,” and oddly enough, Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names, according to urbanlegends.com.
Plus, it was on a Friday that Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit, leading them to be banished from Paradise. Friday stands in for many other unfortunate days in the Christian faith, such as the start of the Great Flood, and the destruction of the Temple of Solomon.
It is in other religions and cultures as well that Friday or the 13th is unlucky. There are 13 witches in a coven and according to the ancient Egyptians, 13 symbolized death because there are 12 stages of life.
Some say that the number 13 is considered unlucky simply because 12 is the number of completeness in many instances, according to the International Business Times. There are 12 months in a year, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 hours on the clock, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles of Jesus, and 12 descendants of Muhammad Imam.
So now we have to ask ourselves, is Friday the 13th really bad luck? Or is it all just a bunch of historical hoopla? According to a study done in the South West Thames region of the United Kingdom, the risk of hospital admission by vehicular accident is increased as much as 52% on Friday the 13th.
Also, there are quite a few unusual occurrences that take place on the devil’s day. In 1989, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 190 points, the second largest drop that ever happened at the time. In 1989 as well, the “Friday the 13th virus” infected hundreds of IBM computers, destroying files across Great Britain and causing widespread panic. In 1970, a huge South Asian storm killed 300,000 people in Chittagong, Bangladesh, and created floods that killed one million in the Ganges delta, according to B96 Radio.
With the huge pile of unfortunate events that take place on the 13th, some seem to take heed and stay inside on the day. A phobia called Paraskevidekatriaphobics is associated with the fear, which affects eight percent of Americans, according to the North Carolina Stress Management Center. Some people refuse to go to work, some don’t go to restaurants, and many would refuse to even consider having a wedding on the day. Both Napoleon Bonaparte and President Herbert Hoover were rumored to have suffered from the phobia.
According to Tom McCarthy, University psychologist, people who are in a certain culture or religion may be more predisposed to be superstitious, going along with the theory of nurture versus nature.
“Anxious people may also be more predisposed. Anxiety is borderline superstition, like the worry of, ‘If I stop worrying that I am going to get in a car crash, then I will definitely get in a crash.’”
McCarthy, who doesn’t consider himself superstitious, “although [I] would not pick up a penny if it was on tails,” said that like most disorders, superstition can become a real problem when it starts interfering with daily life.
Most University students, though, don’t seem to be buying into the superstition. Megan Pereira, sophomore communication major, said, “I think that people believe what others tell them and they get worried about things they shouldn’t be worried about. Superstitions should be the last thing on a college student’s mind.”
According to Andrew Dichiara, junior criminal justice major, Friday the 13th is actually considered a lucky day in the Italian culture. He, personally, has experienced good luck on the day.
However, Nicole Sidari, junior photography major, is a believer. “Superstitions give reason for things that otherwise wouldn’t make sense. Even though it’s not logical, some things just can’t be explained.”
PHOTO COURTESY of metro.co.uk
