What is the meaning of Friday 13th. Friday the 13th: A Brief History of Superstition and Bad Day Facts

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Friday the 13th - Make a tradition of hanging out with your cat

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What Friday the 13th means, what happens on this day, when the next Fridays the 13th will happen and why you shouldn't be afraid of them.

Friday the 13th is considered to be a day of trouble, when supposedly you need to be prepared for all sorts of failures, and The best way to prepare for them is to do nothing. Scientists, including psychologists and doctors, consider the superstitions and beliefs associated with Friday the 13th to be a phobia, a special case of the fear of the number 13, which received its own name - paraskavedekatriaphobia, based on the Greek words παρασκευή (Friday) and δεκατρία (thirteen). According to the scientist who proposed it, Dossey, if you can say the term several times without hesitation, your fear of Friday the 13th will disappear on its own.

The number 13 is popular in the occult / Photo: Bee Felten-Leidel / Unsplash

Culturologists note that this superstition is relatively young - there are no mentions of Friday the 13th until the second half of XIX century. What then about the “biblical legends”, according to which, “it was on Friday, the 13th, that Eve ate the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam. On the same date, Cain killed his brother Abel. Jesus Christ was also crucified on Friday.” The conclusion suggests itself - they appeared no earlier than the 19th century.

Friday and the number 13 only came together in the 19th century / Photo: Mallory Johndrow / Unsplash

Interestingly, one of the first mentions of Friday the 13th is found in the English-language biography of the composer Rossini: “until the end of his days he was surrounded by the love and sympathy of friends. And if it is true that he, like many Italians, considered Friday the day of failure, and thirteen as the number of failure, it is noteworthy that he died on Friday, November 13th. It happened in 1868.

Other "bad" days and numbers

In Spanish-speaking countries, Tuesday is considered a "bad" day, and especially Tuesday the 13th. The Greeks also adhere to this belief.

In Italy, Friday the 17th is considered an unlucky day, while the number 13 can bring good luck.

In China, they panicky avoid the number 4 - they even try not to write the “devil number”.

Friday the 17th is considered an unlucky day for Italians / Photo: Fabian Albert / Unsplash

What does Friday the 13th mean and what happens on this day

First of all, expect and fear trouble. In this regard, the following signs of Friday the 13th appeared:

• It is undesirable to go somewhere on Friday the 13th, "because you may not come back." On this day, they avoid serious transactions and signing documents, making important decisions.

• If possible, medical operations are also recommended to be postponed.

• Protect yourself from unwanted temptations - those that can harm.

What happened on Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th saw a series of events and catastrophes, among which stand out:

End of the Aztec Empire (August 13, 1521); bombing of Buckingham Palace (September 13, 1940); the crash of the Douglas C-54 airliner, during which all 50 passengers on board were killed (June 13, 1947); a super hurricane in South Asia that claimed the lives of 300 thousand people (November 13, 1970); the crash of an Il-62 airliner near Moscow, resulting in the death of 174 people - at that time it was the largest plane crash in the world. On the same day, the FH-227 crashed in the Andes (October 13, 1972); computer virus Friday the 13th (January 13, 1989); the crash of the Costa Concordia with 4,200 passengers and crew on board (January 13, 2012); attacks in Paris (November 13, 2015).

At the same time, the researchers argue that the probability of incidents does not increase on this day. And some research suggests that the number of accidents is even decreasing, perhaps because more people are being more careful.

Do you believe that Friday the 13th is a bad day or not, if you have the opportunity to organize a day for yourself without major decisions and get rid of work, then why not do it? It is possible that thanks to such a tradition, Friday the 13th will eventually begin to be considered a day that brings.

When is next Friday the 13th?

Last update: 05/13/2015

Friday, which falls on the 13th day of the month, is considered a "bad" day in many cultures. This superstition originates from the Middle Ages and is associated with the curse of the Templars.

The Knights Templar, or Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, is an order founded in 1119 by a small group of knights. His mission was to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land - Jerusalem.

In the XII-XIII centuries, the order was engaged in usury and was very rich, it owned vast land holdings both in the states created by the crusaders in Palestine and Syria, and in Europe.

In 1307, precisely on the 13th on Friday, French monarch Philip IV decided to improve his financial situation at the expense of the Templars and ordered the arrest of members of the order on charges of heresy. The knights were tortured and killed. According to legend, the master of the order cursed those gathered at the execution.

Burning of two Templars. Photo: Public Domain

We emphasize once again that the fears associated with this day have no scientific evidence and are nothing more than superstitions.

Replication of myths

In 1980, an American horror film was released called "Friday the 13th" about a murderous maniac in a hockey mask. The picture had more than 10 sequels and adaptations, the last of which was released in 2009.

Popularizers of the superstition about Friday the 13th have become computer hackers. They have repeatedly dated the spread of viruses to this date. For example, the computer virus Israeli Virus was launched on May 13, Friday, in 1988.

Why are people afraid of the number 13?

In Christian culture, the number 13 is considered unlucky. Most researchers attribute this to the fact that during the Last Supper Judas sat at table thirteenth. As you know, this apostle hanged himself shortly after the execution Christ. For this reason, in the 19th century, a superstition spread in Europe that if 13 people sit down at the table, then one of them will certainly die within a year after the meal. There was even a profession of the "fourteenth guest", who was invited to a meeting in order to avoid an unlucky number.

How is this number treated in different countries?

In the UK, there is a belief that it is impossible to go to sea on Friday the 13th, while in Spain and Portugal this day is considered successful for boat trips.

Americans are wary of the number 13. In a rare cinema, you can find seat number 13, 13th floor, 13th room.

The British, although to a lesser extent, but also support the people of the United States in their unreasonable fear of this date. The British try not to schedule operations on this day and do not go to the doctor.

The French avoid the company of 13 people, and if exactly this number of people have gathered, then they put extra appliances on the table for the 14th guest.

The morbid fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia. The specific fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia.

Friday the 13th is notorious, and not only among superstitious people. Many consider this date unlucky, they fear troubles and failures. Consider why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day. Back in the Middle Ages, this day of the week was considered unlucky, and the number 13 was notorious as the number of the devil. It's a hell of a dozen.

Bible version

The answer to why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day can be found in the Bible. It was on this day that the devil, in the form of a serpent, seduced Eve to taste apples from the tree of paradise. Interestingly, the most terrible events in biblical history took place on Fridays:

• The murder of Abel by his own brother Cain.
• Global flood.
• Destruction of Solomon's temple.
• Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

In general, the Bible was very negative about the last working day of the week. Wherein modern church does not recognize any superstition associated with this day.

A similar version of the origin of the bad date is contained in Scandinavian mythology. 12 great gods gathered at the festive table, and the 13th, uninvited - Loki, caused general confusion with his appearance.

Popular hypotheses

There are several versions explaining why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day:

• The Last Supper took place on such a day, 12 guests and the thirteenth, the traitor Judas, were present at Christ's dinner. It was from then on that the superstition began.
• On this day, members of the Knights Templar were captured, tortured and burned alive. Since then, combinations of the number and day of the week have been considered unsuccessful.
• There is also a more mystical version: it is Friday the 13th - this is the day of the witches' sabbath, when evil spirits begin to roam the earth, arranging intrigues for people.

Each version of why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day is interesting in its own way.

Astrologers version

Astrologers briefly tried to answer the question why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day. They explained:

• Friday itself is a very safe day. It is ruled by Venus.
• 13 is the number of the constellation Gemini, ruled by Mercury.

From the point of view of astrology, the combination of the day of the week and the date does not carry any deep, dangerous property for a person, there are much more bad days. Therefore, experts on the stars advise not to pay attention, not to try to find out why Friday the 13th is considered a bad date, but to spend this day in communication with family and loved ones.

Signs

Superstitious people believe that important decisions cannot be made on this number. The following facts are known:

• In Britain, surgeons - people who seem to be far from religious superstitions - refuse to perform operations on this day.
• Sailors don't start sailing.
• Many Americans try not to leave the house on this day.

There are many signs that are associated with an unkind number. People who in ordinary life are far from superstition try to adhere to them:

• You should not lend on this day, otherwise you yourself will experience financial difficulties.
• You can not start a journey, it will not be easy and will not bring joy.
• You can’t look into a broken mirror, otherwise failures will haunt you for 6 years.
• Do not have fun on Friday the 13th - this is a messenger of imminent sadness.
• On the night of this Friday, they may dream prophetic dreams but don't tell anyone about them. However, you should definitely listen to the clues of fate.
• Plants planted on this last working day of the week will quickly wither.
• Any risk should be abandoned.

A rather impressive list of signs and warnings is associated with this seemingly ordinary date. This is why Friday the 13th is a bad day. He's not good for getting started.

Statistics data

Alas, superstitions turned out to be so strong that the number of accidents and other troubles increases exponentially on this date:

• The number of car accidents in the UK on this day is more than 50% more than, for example, on the 6th.
• In the US, the highest percentage of ruins falls on the 13th, Friday. Many refuse any active actions and meekly resign themselves to fate.

These data indicate that people take superstition very seriously and unwittingly become the cause of their own troubles. Why is Friday the 13th considered an unlucky day? Largely due to the fact that people themselves believe in it and expect trouble. And the energy field of a person aimed at failure attracts problems.

Facts from history

However, in the past there is a lot of evidence that this day really brought trouble. Is this a coincidence or a legend? Why is Friday the 13th considered a bad day? Does it have any real basis? Let's take a look at the facts. So, what happened on Friday the 13th in different years:

• In 1204, members of the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople.
• In 1633, the astronomer Galileo Galilei arrived at the court of the Inquisition. He was not burned at the stake, but sentenced to eternal exile.
• In 1772, the British navigator, Captain James Cook, set out on his last voyage. The third round-the-world expedition ended tragically: Cook was killed by Hawaiian natives and partially eaten, the team managed to return only a basket with pieces of human meat and part of the skull - all that was left of the captain.
• Napoleon, superstitious as a true Corsican, never made important decisions on this day and did not sign documents.
• 1940 - Nazi aircraft dropped bombs on Buckingham Palace, which caused the destruction of the Palace Chapel.
• 1970 - a terrifying hurricane in South Asia claimed the lives of more than 300 thousand people.
• The plane crash in the Andes, which went down in history as the "Miracle in the Andes", occurred in 1972. Cut off from the world, not hoping for salvation, with a minimum supply of food, people fought for life for more than 2 months. All the money was burned, and the survivors made a difficult decision - to eat the frozen bodies of dead friends and relatives.
• On the same day, in 1972, there was another plane crash, the fall of the Il-62 aircraft, which claimed the lives of 174 people.

These facts illustrate why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day. It was during this period that many terrible events took place that claimed many human lives.

Those born on Friday the 13th

After considering why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day, we will find out which of famous people was born this number:

• Alfred Hitchcock (1899). The great director and big fan of the horror genre gave the world films that still make the blood run cold. He himself was fond of various mystical phenomena and was known as a mysterious person.
• Fidel Castro (1926). The Cuban revolutionary was born on this unlucky, according to many, day. However, he considered it a good sign.
• Orlando Bloom (1977). The actor considers the mystical number his lucky one.
• Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (1986). Twin sisters do not attach much importance to their date of birth, but meanwhile, they are lucky in life.
• Robert Pattinson (1986). The famous actor who played the role of Edward Cullen in the popular Twilight saga admits in an interview that he is afraid of his date of birth, and if Friday falls on the 13th, he tries not to leave the house.

Examples of celebrities who were born on a mystical date prove that there is nothing wrong with the very combination of the number and day of the week. However, if you wait for trouble, then it will definitely happen. Trying to prove that Friday the 13th is a bad day, bringing disappointment and misfortune, people often refer to the events that took place on this day in different years and even centuries. But do not forget that a variety of disasters happened on other days of the week.

In September, the 13th falls on Friday, and this is an occasion to spend an evening with horror, because it is them that we must thank for the fear of this day. But we still have to wait until the evening. "360" collected the main signs and superstitions of Friday the 13th. P.S.: we do not believe in them, but who is warned, as they say ...

When it got scary

In the minds of people, Friday the 13th is associated with some ancient mystical fear. In fact, the concept of "unlucky day" has become so popular recently.

Scientists have calculated that for the first time an unsuccessful Friday, the 13th, appeared in the biography of the Italian musician Gioacchino Rossini. There, the journalist, as reported by Liveabout, wrote that if the number "13" is considered unlucky, and Friday is an unlucky day, then Rossini died on the most unlucky day - on Friday, November 13th.

Often the story of the "unlucky day" is associated with the legend of the Templars. Allegedly on Friday, October 13, 1307, the French king Philip IV ordered the arrest of members of the Knights Templar, followed by cruel torture and executions. The story is old, only it has no medieval evidence, and it became popular in the world after its retelling in Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code.

The modern-day horror of this date is explained by a series of horror films called Friday the 13th. The creators of the franchise are American director Sean Cunningham and screenwriter Victor Miller. Main character there - Serial killer Jason Voorhees wearing a hockey mask. According to the story, as a child, he drowned on Friday, the 13th, in the lake, and every time such a date falls, he comes to life and begins to kill.

Scientific research

Whatever the reason, there are hardly many people who do not expect something special from the 13th, which falls on Friday. Moreover, this happens not so rarely: every year, sometimes twice. For example, in 2019, the day of trouble will also come in December.

In general, mathematicians have calculated that of all the days of the week, the 13th has the highest probability of falling on Friday 🤷‍♂️. They analyzed 4800 months, and it turned out that the 13th fell on Friday 688 times - this is more than the rest of the days of the week. But Thursday the 13th or Saturday the 13th are the least common.

In the history of the world, Friday the 13th is not marked by quite a huge number of incidents, as one would expect. On this day, there were murders, plane crashes, major fires, but the most famous and most tragic event was the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015. 130 people died, 350 were injured. The terrorists called the attack "September 11 in French."

In 2008, Dutch insurers found that their clients contacted them on Friday the 13th much less frequently than on other Fridays. According to them, this is due to the fact that people are more careful, reports The Mirror.

By the way, everyone who is afraid of Friday the 13th suffers from paraskavedekatriaphobia (two Greek words - Friday and the 13th). This is manifested in the desire on this day to be constantly on the alert, to prepare for any troubles. Folklore researcher Donald Dossey, who coined the term paraskavedekatriaphobia, claimed that a phobia can be cured by saying the word several times without hesitation, wrote the Livescience website.

What are we afraid of

So, and now just some of the signs that exist on this day:

1. On Friday, the 13th, in no case should you go on a trip. The road on this day will be filled with unpleasant surprises. 💀

2. It is believed that more car accidents occur on this day, so if possible, it is better to transfer to public transport, and even better to move on foot. True, in the 90s, British researchers disproved this superstition, proving that from 1990 to 1992 on the M25 highway on Friday the 13th, there were even fewer accidents than usual.

Friday the 13th in many countries of the world it is considered an unlucky day when various big and small troubles occur. On this day, especially superstitious people generally try not to go outside once again, not to start new business and not to get acquainted with unknown people, so as not to become a victim of evil forces ..

Baker's dozen

12 is a dozen, but 13 is a damn dozen, why? This number has long been considered negative in European culture (although, for example, the Mayan Indians have the number 13 - lucky). There are many reasons for dislike of the number 13, most of them related to the field of mythology or religion. For example, 13 people attended the Last Supper of Jesus Christ, and the last of them, Judas, eventually betrayed the Savior. The Scandinavians have a legend that initially 12 gods were sitting at the heavenly table, but the 13th - Loki - came - he made a quarrel, after which numerous misfortunes began.

Then the cause-and-effect relationships got mixed up, and now it’s hard to say, for example, whether 13 is considered unlucky, because 13 witches gathered for the Sabbath, or there were so many of them just because the number is demonic. The same applies to the gallows, to which, according to tradition, 13 steps lead, and to 13 hoses - turns of the rope on which the convict is hung.

Fear of the number 13

The superstitious fear of the number 13 even has an unpronounceable scientific name, triskaidekaphobia. It is so widespread that in many European countries the avoidance of the number 13 is massive. For example, in some buildings there is no 13th floor, and the 12th floor is immediately followed by the 14th or 12A. Opera theaters in Italy sometimes do not have seats with this number, and on almost all ships, after the 12th cabin, the 14th immediately goes. Also, the 13th row is sometimes absent in aircraft.

Previously, there was a superstition, associated just with the Last Supper, that if 13 people gathered at the table, the last one who came would soon die. To avoid such an unfortunate set of circumstances, a special "fourteenth guest" was even invited to celebrations and official meetings. And in the USA, for example, due to the superstition of many pilots, there is no F-13 fighter (the YF-12 was immediately followed by the F-14). The 13th number is also not used for cars participating in auto racing.

Friday is an unlucky day, and Friday the 13th is even more so

It is believed that it was on Friday that Jesus Christ was crucified, so this day is unlucky. When these two lonelinesses, Friday and the number 13, met to create some super-unlucky days of the year, it's hard to say. Perhaps the main legend about this day is associated with the Knights Templar. This explanation is popular among esotericists and adherents of alternative history.

On Friday, October 13, 1307, the French king Philip IV ordered the arrest of all members of the order, up to the supreme leaders. A protracted process began, as a result of which the order was dissolved, and many Templars arrested in France were tortured and later executed.

Here is what the French esoteric and occultist Robert Ambelain writes about this: “The day was not chosen by chance. The king chose Friday as the day of the crucifixion of Christ. He chose the 13th day of the month - a hint of an unlucky number. 13 was considered a bad number by Homer (Iliad, V) and Cicero (Pro Cecina). There were 13 Spirits of Evil in the Hebrew Kabbalah, and the 13th in Scripture was Judas who betrayed Christ.”

By the way, on Friday the 13th, terrible events, disasters and catastrophes really happened in different years, the last of which was the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015, which claimed the lives of about 150 people. However, on other days of great misfortune, no less happened, so it’s unfair to blame the day of the week that coincided with the “damn” number.

Signs of Friday the 13th

You can’t start traveling, as the road will be full of unpleasant surprises.

It is better not to get behind the wheel and not to go out on the road at all, the danger of an accident is great.

It is not necessary to do operations on this day.

It is believed that a child born on such a day will have a difficult fate.

If you bury someone on Friday the 13th, you will soon have to bury someone else.

Do not plant anything in the garden on this day - there will be no harvest.

Do not cut your hair - evil forces can steal it and cause damage.

Do not take to heart all the superstitions associated with Friday the 13th, because the negative attitude itself can result in something bad.