The truth behind 'Friday the 13th'

Friday the 13th is considered an ominous day in most cultures, and the reasons why it is considered particularly unlucky and generally unsafe, range from Gods to simple coincidences. Numerology and superstition have always had a relationship, many people consider numbers unlucky, especially gamblers and those dealing with money.

Paraskavedekatriaphobia (also known as friggatriskaidekaphobia) are the scientific terms for fear of Friday the 13th. Triskaidekaphobia is fear of the number 13. Sure, we all know breaking a mirror, walking under a ladder or watching a black cat cross our path are all signs of bad luck; but no other superstition has the same mass appeal as Friday the 13. It even inspired a commercially successful Hollywood film franchise.

The most common reason for affinity towards the date is the understanding that it is biblical, given that the 13th guest Judas was the one that betrayed Jesus and of course Jesus was crucified on a Friday. 13 is considered unlucky by Pagans as well, as there are 13 full moons in a year.

It is also a common belief that it is related as unlucky because the previous number 12 is a symbol of completeness. There are 12 in a dozen, 12 Olympian Gods, 12 Apostles of Jesus, 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the Zodiac, 12 trials of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel and so on. The number 13 appears as break the complete nature of a cycle and hence is seen as harmful or unsafe.

The spell that this date casts reaches far and wide, in many places including hotels, apartment buildings and even hospitals which often omit the number 13 altogether; skipping floors, apartment numbers and patient rooms with the number 13.

The date rarely occurs more than once in a year, although it has happened most notably in 2009, 2012 and even this year. The next time, Friday the 13th occurs more than once a year will be 2015.

There are many people who take this day extremely seriously, avoiding making big business deals, any financial transactions, travelling and some even refuse to leave the house for fear that something might happen to them. Former American President Franklin D Roosevelt is said to have avoided travel on the 13th day of any month, and would never host 13 guests at a meal. Napoleon and President Herbert Hoover were also triskaidekaphobic, with an abnormal fear of the number 13. It is said that many restaurants, most notable in Paris hire a professional 14th guest for fear that 13 might show up.

The main question is does this date really have an supernatural characteristics that makes it a bad luck. Thomas Gilovich, who chairs the department of psychology at Cornell University, tried to explain this phenomena, by saying that our minds make associations in very obvious ways. He said, "If anything bad happens to you on Friday the 13th, the two will be forever associated in your mind, and all those uneventful days in which the 13th fell on a Friday will be ignored,"

So superstition or not, it depends on how you look at it. Any date you pick will have some significance or the other, that's the tricky part about numerology. Of course there are some horrible things that happened on Friday the 13th, but I'm sure if you look hard enough, you will find equally horrible things that happened on Saturday the 14th.