FRIDAY THE 13th

According to superstition, today is supposed to be unlucky. In fact, the fear of Friday the 13th has a scientific name: paraskevidekatriaphobia. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which can be the case at least once every year, and up to three times a year. This year there are two (January 13 and October 13).

I always wondered why people made such a big deal of Friday the 13th, so I decided to find out how it came about. According to Wikipedia, the superstition may have originated from the story of Jesus' last supper and crucifixion in which there were 13 present in the Upper Room on the 13th of Nisan Maundy Thursday, the night before his death on Good Friday.

While there is historical evidence of both Friday and the number 13 being considered unlucky, there is no record of the two items together being unlucky before the 19th century. An early documented reference in English occurs in Henry Sutherland Edwards' 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini, who died on a Friday 13th:

He was surrounded to the last by admiring friends; and if it be true that, like so many Italians, he regarded Fridays as an unlucky day and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday 13th of November he passed away.

It is possible that the publication in 1907 of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth, contributed to disseminating the superstition. In the novel, an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.

So what does Friday the 13th have to do with us? According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of the day, making it the most feared day and date in history. And according to London's Daily Mirror, more than 60 million people worldwide claim to be affected by a fear of Friday the 13th. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed. Some even have panic attacks. It's been estimated that [US] $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day.

What is your view of Friday the 13th? I'm with Groucho:

Dominique (Nik) Petersen is the author of the interactive book set, Partners Forever. 

Read about it and her other books at the website:

www.NikDesignsGraphics.com