THE FEARS OF FRIDAY 13

Friday 13 is superstitiously regarded as a date that brings bad luck. Hence, so many phobias are associated with the day, TNP reports.

Superstition has long held Friday the 13th to be a day of bad luck. It has become so widespread that there are specific phobias associated with the day. The number has a foreboding reputation said to have started from ancient times. It’s a most widespread superstition in the west, especially in United Kingdom and theUnited States. In the US, some people refuse to go to work on Friday the 13th; some won’t eat in restaurants; many will not even think of setting a wedding on the date.

Last September 13 was a Friday, the first of two Fridays the 13th this year, the second will take place in December. There is at least one Friday the 13th every year, but no single year has more than three. Months with a Friday the 13th, always begin on a Sunday, report says. The longest period that can occur without a Friday the 13th is fourteen months

Many cities do not have a 13th Street or 13th Avenue, just as many buildings don’t have a 13th floor. Most airports skip having a 13th gate and airplanes a 13th row. It’s has been established that many hospitals do not have a room 13.
The origins of the Friday the 13th being an unlucky date are shrouded in mystery. The most commonly held perception is that Friday is an unlucky day and 13 is a particularly unlucky number.
In numerology 13 is considered to be an irregular number and is also said to be the number of witches you need to form a coven. Some say the roots of 13 being considered unlucky lie in a Nordic myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla. The 13th guest was Loki, the god of mischief, who arranged for the god of joy and gladness to be shot with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. He died and the whole world was thrust into mourning.
In addition, legend has it if 13 people sit down to dinner together, one will die within the year. In France, diners can hire a quatorzieme, or professional 14th guest. Friday is said to be the day when Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit, Abel was killed by Cain and Jesus Christ was crucified on a Friday. If you have 13 letters in your name, you are believed to have the devil’s luck – Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer and Theodore Bundy all have 13 letters in their names. There are 13 twists of the rope in a traditional hangman’s noose and 13 steps leading up to the gallows. In Formula 1 racing, there is no car with the number 13. The number was said to have been removed after two drivers were killed in crashes, both driving cars numbered 13.
An urban myth states the British Royal Navy tried to dispel the superstition that sailing on Friday was bad luck. Records say they built a ship named HMS Friday. On its maiden voyage, the vessel left dock on a Friday the 13th, and was never heard from again.
Phobia for Friday 13, has its historical roots in certain events that occurred in the world. Why the fear is so ingrained in people point to some of the unfortunate incidents which have reportedly happened in the past. On Oct. 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France raided the homes of the Knights Templar, who were warrior monks during the Crusades, imprisoning several thousand men on charges of illegal activities. None of these charges were proven, but hundreds suffered excruciating torture intended to force confessions, and more than a hundred died.
Jacques de Molay, the last known Grand Master of the Knights Templar was burned to death on a slow fire outside Notre Dame on Friday, March 13, 1314.
Butch Cassidy, a notorious American train and bank robber, was born on Friday, April 13, 1866. Al Capone was sentenced to prison on a Friday the 13th.
The Butler Act, a Tennessee law prohibiting schools from teaching evolution, passed on Friday, March 13, 1925. On July 13, 1951, The Great Flood killed 24 people, destroyed more than 2 million acres of land in Kansas and caused $760 million in damage. A huge South Asian storm killed an estimated 300,000 people in Chittagong, Bangladesh, and created floods that killed as many as 1 million in the Ganges delta on Nov. 13, 1970.

 

A Uruguayan rugby team’s plane crashed in the Andes mountain range on Friday, 13 October, 1972. Hubert Humphrey, the 38th vice president of the United States, died on Friday Jan. 13, 1978.

An F4 tornado ripped through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and injuring at least 300 on July 13 1987. The “Friday the 13th virus” infected hundreds of IBMcomputers across Great Britain on Friday, Jan. 13, 1989. This is one of the most famous early examples of a computer virus making headlines. Tupac Shakur, an American Rapper, was shot and killed in Las Vegas on Friday, Sept. 13, 1996.
An abstract of a study published in the British Medical Journal provocatively titled, Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health? With the aim of mapping the relation between health, behavior and superstition surrounding Friday 13th in the United Kingdom, its authors compared the ratio of traffic volume to the number of automobile accidents on two different Friday 6th and Friday 13th, over a period of years. Amazingly, they found that the region sampled, while consistently fewer people chose to drive their cars on Friday the 13th, the number of hospital admissions due to vehicular accidents was significantly higher than on ‘normal’ Fridays. Their conclusion: Friday is unhealthy for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of vehicular accidents may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended.
Hallmark spoke to some people if they believe in the superstition that Friday 13th is an ominous date. Mrs. Yinka Lawal, an Accountant with a Lagos based company said she does not believe in anything superstitious. “What you believe in, may come to pass, this is because you will put your mind on it. For me, it is absurd to say Friday 13 will bring bad luck. My son’s birthday is on the 13th, and one day it will fall on a Friday. It is a day I am looking forward to enjoy with him and the whole family. So, every day has its own share of good and evil. Sunday is usually regarded as a holy day, but terrible things have known to have happened, people get robbed, accidents happen on Sundays, people also die and all kinds of bad things happen.”
For Mrs Ibilola Ilori, she offers a spiritual dimension to the issue, even though she does not believe 13th Friday is a day of bad luck. “Though people have some numbers they are spiritually connected or attuned to, that is numbers that work for them, that does not mean that a particular date, Friday 13th will bring bad luck. Lots of people do good things on Friday 13th, like giving birth, getting promoted, buying houses, meeting their spouses. It is just a myth.”
Mr. Chigozie Ikechukwu, an auditor in an Advertising Agency, debunks the myth thus: “I don’t believe it. I have a friend who celebrated his birthday last Friday13th. He travelled all the way from Nassarawa State where he is working to Lagos to celebrate with his family. Will I believe such a date will bring bad luck? It is not true. I don’t believe any date could bring bad luck. Certain elements cause bad luck.”
Myths or superstitions are passed around or down from one generation to another. People who believe them are just convinced of their credibility, in spite of lack of verifiable facts. What one believes is a function of ones world view and personal convictions. Superstition is not an exact science, so it is difficult to determine.