In the Western world, a significant chunk of the population suspects bad things
will happen whenever the 13th day of a month occurs on the day of the week called
Friday.
Like many human beliefs, the fear of Friday the 13th (known as
paraskevidekatriaphobia) isn't exactly grounded in scientific logic. But the really strange
thing is that most of the people who believe the day is unlucky offer no explanation at
all, logical or illogical. As with most superstitions, people fear Friday the 13th for its
own sake, without any need for background
information.
The fear of Friday the 13th stems from two separate fears -- the fear of the number 13
and the fear of Fridays. Both fears have deep roots in Western culture, most notably in
Christian theology. Thirteen is significant to Christians because it is the number of people
who were present at the Last Supper (Jesus and his 12 apostles). Judas, the apostle who
betrayed Jesus, was the 13th member of the party to arrive. Jesus was crucified on a
Friday. Additionally, some theologians hold that Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden
fruit on a Friday, and that the Great Flood began on a Friday. In the past, many Christians
would never begin any new project or trip on a Friday, fearing they would be doomed
from the start.
Sailors were particularly superstitious in this regard, often refusing to ship out on a Friday. According to unverified legend (very likely untrue), the British Navy commissioned a ship in the 1800s called H.M.S. Friday, in order to quell the superstition. The navy selected the crew on a Friday, launched the
ship on a Friday and even selected a man named James Friday as the ship's captain.
Then, one Friday morning, the ship set off on its maiden voyage... and disappeared
forever. A similar, entirely factual story is the harrowing flight of Apollo 13.
Some trace the infamy of the number 13 back to ancient Norse culture. In
Norse mythology, the beloved hero Balder was killed at a banquet by the mischievous
god Loki, who crashed the party of twelve, bringing the group to 13. This story, as well
as the story of the Last Supper, led to one of the most entrenched 13-related beliefs:
You should never sit down to a meal in a group of 13.
Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital
punishment. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings,
and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose.
Source: http://people.howstuffworks.com/friday-thirteenth.htm
With the aim of mapping "the relation between health, behaviour, and
superstition surrounding Friday 13th in the United Kingdom," its authors compared the
ratio of traffic volume to the number of automobile accidents on two different days,
Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th, over a period of years.
Incredibly, they found that in the region sampled, while consistently fewer
people chose to drive their cars on Friday the 13th, the number of hospital admissions
due to vehicular accidents was significantly higher than on "normal" Fridays. Their
conclusion:
"Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of
a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is
recommended."
Paraskevidekatriaphobics — people afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of
Friday the 13th — should be pricking up their ears about now, buoyed by seeming
evidence that the source of their unholy terror may not be so irrational after all. But it's
unwise to take solace in a single scientific study, especially one so peculiar. I suspect
these statistics have more to teach us about human psychology than the ill-fatedness of
any particular date on the calendar.
The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have foreboding reputations
said to date from ancient times, and their inevitable conjunction from one to three times
a year (there happen to be three such occurrences in 2009, two of them right in a row)
portends more misfortune than some credulous minds can bear. According to experts it's
the most widespread superstition in the United States today. Some people won't go to
work on Friday the 13th; some won't eat in restaurants; many wouldn't think of setting a
wedding on the date.
Source: http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/friday_the_13th.htm
