Friday The 13th.(Ed DeRousse) A folklore historian estimates that 17 to 21 million people suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia. That’s fear of Friday the 13th. It happens at least three times a year. Friday the 13th is a day when many get squeamish. You may be one of them. But do you really know why?
There are many reasons why Friday the 13th is considered unlucky. No one knows for sure, but experts have some clues.
Numerology
Fear of the number 13 is known as triskaidekaphobia. Numerology is a belief in the mystical significance of numbers and their capacity to influence events. In a variety of cultures, it represents “Completeness” the number of months in a year, gods on Olympus, signs of the Zodiac, and apostles of Jesus. The number 12 represents a sense of goodness and perfection. Conversely, the number 13 is often perceived as irregular and disruptive, disrupting the harmony of 12. Consequently, this perception labels 13 as ushering in chaos and misfortune.
Some claim that fear of the number 13 can be traced back to the ancient Sumerians. They believed the number 12 to be a “perfect” number. Their numeral system was based on 12. The number 13 broke that harmony. It was known as a potent, powerful, dangerous number.
Perhaps another cause for the number 13 being unlucky has to do with not being complete. The number 13 falls just outside what many people consider complete. There are 12 months in a year, 12 inches in a foot, 12 pairs of ribs in the body. Some experts speculate that the number 13 causes people to think about the unknown-beyond the number 12.
In Norse mythology, the god of evil and turmoil, Loki, was the 13th to arrive at a feast in Valhalla. At that feast Loki tricked an attendee to kill the god Baldur, one of their most beloved gods.
Why bad luck on Friday?
Friday has long been associated with ill fortune and misfortune. The combination of negative events occurring on Friday and the number 13, I am sure, has some bearing on this.
In Britain, Friday was once known as Hangman’s Day. In the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer’s famous Canterbury Tales unlucky Friday was associated with bad luck “and on a Friday fell all this mischance.”
Some theorize it may have originated from the Christian religion. The 13th guest at the Last Supper was Judas, a person who betrayed Jesus. Jesus was executed on Friday. A number of scholars believe that Adam was tempted by Eve to eat the forbidden fruit on Friday and that Abel was slain by his brother, Cain, on Friday the 13th.
The fall of the legendary warriors known as the Knights Templar (founded around 1118 A.D.) is perhaps one of the most popular theories. They were a French military order of Catholic faith established to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem during the First Crusade. They became one of the richest and most influential groups of the Middle Ages. Their reputation was due in part to generous donations from the crowned heads of Europe eager to warrant the favor of the fierce Knights. It was that wealth that led to their downfall.
In the early morning hours of Friday, October 13, 1307A.D. King Philip IV of France ordered the arrest of hundreds of Knights Templar. Some historians believed King Philip, being short of money, saw and seized an opportunity to make some. He had every Templar in France arrested on the same day, turned them over to the Inquisition for interrogation. Most were tortured and killed and their property in France seized.
The arrests and executions of the Templar marked a momentous event in European history. Those arrests on Friday the 13th obviously led many to be superstitious of that the date. Definitive evidence, though, remains elusive.
Pop culture
Pop culture has, of course, influenced the superstition of Friday the 13th. Books, movies, and television shows have all contributed to etching this superstition into the minds of many. For example, in 1980 a masked Jason Voorhees began terrorizing campers at “cursed” Camp Crystal Lake in a movie entitled Friday the 13th. The commercially successful Friday the 13th project includes 12 horror movies, a television series, and several books that focus on curses and superstitions. There is a suspicion that a 13th Friday the 13th. movie is being planned.
No one can prove for sure that more bad luck and adversity takes place on Friday the 13th. If bad things happen on that day, we just tend to notice it more. There is no real scientific evidence why Friday the 13th. should be dreaded. Studies have shown that accidents, injuries, and fatalities are not more common on this day. The idea that it is unlucky is simply a superstition.

Friday 13th Facts
**It’s a day when most people seem to be more careful or avoid things they usually are not afraid to do. Many people play hooky from work. Businesses can lose hundreds of millions of dollars!

**The fear of Friday the 13th is known as friggatriskaidekaphobia. This word comes from combining Frigga – the Norse goddess named for Friday, with triskaidekaphobia – fear of the number thirteen.
Triskaidekaphobia is so widespread that many high-rise buildings, hotels, and hospitals skip the 13th floor, and many airports do not have gates numbered 13. In many parts of the world, having 13 people at the dinner table is considered bad luck.
**The Thirteen Club of Manhattan held their first dinner for 13 people on Friday, January 13th, 1882. They go out of their way to break taboos about luck.
**Alfred Hitchcock Was Born on the 13th. The master of suspense made his directorial debut in 1922 with a movie called Number 13. Unfortunately, the film was doomed from the start and never got off the ground due to financial troubles.
**The Asteroid, Apophis, will safely fly by the Earth on Friday, April the 13th, 2029. Fortunately, scientists say there is absolutely no risk of the asteroid impacting the Earth or the Moon.
**For a month to have a Friday the 13th, the month must begin on a Sunday. Check your calendar and test it for yourself.

Of course, as with most things, there is also a substantial superstition that 13 is a lucky number. But that is a story for another time.

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