Friday the 13th is associated with superstition and fear in many cultures, with a phobia called paraskavedekatriaphobia. Fear of Friday and the number 13 is rooted in cultural traditions and numerology. While some people dread this day, others regard it as an old superstition.
Sometimes, the 13th of the month falls on a Friday. This can happen one to three times a year. Friday the 13th is associated with a great deal of superstition in many cultures, and some people think it is an unlucky or inauspicious day. So many people are afraid of Friday the 13th that a single word has been invented to describe the fear of Friday the 13th: paraskavedekatriaphobia. Say it five times quickly, and once you’ve mastered it, you can move on to friggatriskaidekaphobia, a variant of “paraskavedekatriaphobia.”
Friday the 13th is not bad luck anywhere. In general, superstitions about the day can be seen in French, German and English speaking cultures. Greeks, Spanish speakers and Romanians, on the other hand, fear Tuesday the 13th, while renegade Italians have doubts about Friday the 17th. In some Asian cultures, fours and sevens are considered unlucky. In any case, the phobia is rooted in complex cultural traditions.
For people who fear this day, two fears are involved: the fear of Friday and the fear of the number 13. While it might seem strange to some people to fear one day of the week, the fear of Friday is actually very old. Numerous authors dating back to the medieval period noted that bad things happened on Fridays, and there were many superstitions about starting new businesses on Fridays, traveling on Fridays, or really doing anything on Fridays. This fear dominates Christian cultures and is probably related to the belief that Christ was crucified on a Friday.
Fear of number 13 is based on numerology. Some people feel that angel number 13 does not bode well. It is associated with Christ and the Apostles in some cultures and with the idea that the number 12 is “whole”, while 13 is “unbalanced”. Numerous legends surround the number 13, perhaps most notably the story that when 13 people sit down to dine, the first to rise will die. A variant of this myth causes all unfortunate diners to die.
Curiously enough, despite the associated unease surrounding Friday and the number 13, it wasn’t until the 1800s that people began to fear Friday the 13th. Whenever a month starts on a Sunday, people can look forward to Friday the 13th. Some people really dread this day, and may avoid activities on that day and look for information that confirms their fear, such as reports that suggest that day is especially busy for emergency rooms. Other people simply regard the legend as an old superstition and don’t give it much credence.
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