Do you suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia?

Today is Friday 13th. For many this is considered unlucky but where does this come from and is there any basis of truth is this?

The fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia  and triskaidekaphobia, meaning fear of the number thirteen. Try saying that fast three times.


According to folklore, there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century. There is at least one Friday 13th per year and like 2012, as many as three.


So where does it come from?


There are several theories about the origin of the fear of Friday the 13th.

• In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 Descendants of Muhammad Imams, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
• Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales, and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s. It has also been suggested that Friday has been considered an unlucky day because, according to Christian tradition, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
• One author, noting that references are all but nonexistent before 1907 but frequently seen thereafter, has argued that its popularity derives from the publication that year of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth, in which an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th. Records of the superstition are rarely found before the 20th century, when it became extremely common.

According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed. "It's been estimated that [US] $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day".


I say relax! Experience has taught me that your luck is made by yourself and your perception of good and bad is determined by your attitude.

Let's change this medieval superstition and let's have a great Friday 13th.

Onward and upward