Why do people think Friday the 13th is bad luck?
Watch out for black cats, avoid mirrors and ladders and, by all means, don’t spill the salt. As most people probably already realize, today is Friday the 13th, a date commonly associated with bad luck. For the next several hours, millions of superstitious individuals across the country will hold their breath anticipating misfortune. Others will avoid leaving the house altogether, refusing to drive, shop or work on the ill-fated day. But whether you’re a true triskaidekaphobe (a person with an irrational fear of Friday the 13th, also called a paraskevidekatriaphobe) or just mildly suspicious, it’s probably a good idea to know just where your trepidation comes from. Though it’s hard to pinpoint the exact origins of any superstition, several Internet sites are devoted to the history of the Friday the 13th legend. And most list the same possible origins of the rumoured curse. One of the more lucid sites is David Emery’s urbanlegends.about. According to a biography on the Web site, Emery is
I’ve always heard the superstition of Friday the 13th was bad luck, because in numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 hours of the clock, 12 Apostles of Jesus, etc. The number 13 is considered irregular and not complete. The Last Supper is the best example of unlucky, because you take the 12 Apostles plus Jesus. Since that total are 13, and you taking into the fact that Jesus died, that makes 13 not a good number. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.
Not only is 13 a prime number, but also it is thought as the number after the number of completeness – 12.
There are 12 hours on a clock, 12 apostles of Jesus, 12 months of the year, etc. Jesus also was the 13th person to his 12 apostles when he died. So that is where the number became bad luck.
This has turned into a superstition – some buildings do not have a thirteenth floor, etc. Now Friday the 13th has become some arbitrary superstition from a legend where people avoid black cats, broken mirrors, and stepping on cracks in the sidewalk.
