Once again, Friday the 13th has arrived to unsettle Westerners and put folks on the edge of their seats. Those of us who believe in superstitions will tread carefully: avoiding walking under ladders, sidestepping black cats, and being careful not to break any mirrors. But where exactly did this day originate from?
Michael Bailey, a history professor at Iowa State University who focuses on the origins of superstitions says that one route for the superstitious day could stem from Christianity. In the Bible, Judas is the 13th guest at the Last Supper, the night before Christ’s death on Good Friday. But it wasn’t until the 19th century that the 'unlucky' date began to take hold as a cultural phenomenon.
In addition to Christ’s death on Friday, Eve gave Adam the apple that would see them exiled from the Garden of Eden on the seventh day of creation: a Friday.
Another account even suggests the day is unlucky because in 1307, King Philip IV of France gave orders to arrest hundreds of Knights Templar (an organization of devout Christians) in France. Most of them were afterwards executed.
Other days that coincide with Friday the 13th include: the German bombing of Buckingham Palace on September 13, 1940, a cyclone killing more than 300,000 people in Bangladesh on November 13, 1970, the death of rapper Tupac Shakur on September 13, 1996, and the Costa Concordia cruise ship crash on January 13, 2012.
Folklore historian Donald Dossey, who is the author of "Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun," believes the number “13” originated in Norse mythology when 12 gods were dining in Valhalla, and the god Loki, who was uninvited, arrived as the 13th guest who then tricked the god Höðr into shooting the god Baldr, bringing about misfortune and sadness to the world - it also solidified the notion that inviting an odd number of guests to one’s party… may not be such a 'lucky' idea.
But the number 13 is also just odd in general. Thomas Fernsler, a math and policy scientist at the University of Delaware says the number 13 is “a little beyond completeness” and “becomes restless and squirmy.” This notion can be attributed by the fact that the even number 12 seems more rounded, and more complete. There were after all 12 apostles, 12 Olympic Gods, 12 animals associated with the Chinese horoscope, and 12 months in the Gregorian calendar.
While some may shake in fear at the day (a phobia called Paraskavedekatriaphobia), others use the day to capitalize on art or in the entertainment industry. Anytime Friday the 13th rears its head, tattoo parlors use the day as a tradition to offer special days for flash tattoos.
Meanwhile, Hollywood has been bankrolling on the “Friday the 13th” horror film franchise since the first film came out in 1980.
At least one known Westerner believes the number 13 to be lucky. Taylor Swift swears the number 13 has followed her throughout her life, and career, saying: “Whenever a 13 comes up in my life, it’s a good thing.”
"I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first No. 1 one song had a 13-second intro," she told MTV in 2009. "Every time I've won an award I've been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter. Basically, whenever a 13 comes up in my life, it's a good thing."
On that note, happy Friday the 13th, folks.