Tread lightly around sidewalk cracks, keep an eye out for black cats and ensure all mirrors are intact before taking a glimpse in them.
Ahead of the spookiest month of the year, a superstitiously unlucky day falls this week. Yes, this Friday is that Friday; Friday the 13th . From once up to thrice a year, the 13th day of a month falls on a feared Friday. This will be the first freaky Friday of 2024, with the unlucky date coming back around in December .
Besides being a sign to re-watch the classic slasher film, why does the day get such a bad rep?
Possible biblical and mythical origins of Friday the 13th
Although it is hard to pinpoint exactly where the Friday the 13th lore comes from, some believe the Bible might have some answers.
In the Bible, the Last Supper hosted 13 guests including Jesus and his 12 apostles the day before his crucifixion. Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest at the dinner.
"Though Friday’s negative associations are weaker, some have suggested they also have roots in Christian tradition: Just as Jesus was crucified on a Friday, Friday was also said to be the day Eve gave Adam the fateful apple from the Tree of Knowledge, as well as the day Cain killed his brother, Abel," according to History.com.
In Norse mythology, the 13th (and uninvited) guest at the feast of Valhalla was Loki, the trickster god. Loki deceived another guest into killing Baldur, the god of light. The number of guests in both instances are seen as potential origins for the superstition that having 13 people at a table is a bad omen or even synonymous with death.
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Numerology and the fear of the number 13
The number 12 is often seen as a harmonious and complete number, referencing significant examples such as there being 12 months in the Gregorian calendar, 12 zodiac signs and the 12 gods of Olympus.
According to National Geographic Kids, it is possible that the number 13 can seem disruptive to many people "because it causes them to think about the unknown—beyond the number 12."
The phobia of 13, a numeral left out of even the ancient Code of Hammurabi, has a name: Triskaidekaphobia. Some high-rise buildings and hotels skip over the floor due to longstanding uneasiness behind the number. The fear of Friday the 13th is called Friggatriskaidekaphobia, which is made up of the Norse goddess Friday was named after and the Greek words for 13.
Friday the 13th has appeared in both books and on screen
Before the "Friday the 13th" slasher series introduced us to hockey-mask wearing, machete-slanging Jason Voorhees, the date was the title of a 1907 novel by Thomas William Lawson. Seen as another suspect in popularizing the day's unlucky stigma, the book was centered around a stock broker aiming to take down the stock market on the day.
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Some bad things that have happened on Friday the 13th
- On January 13, 1939 , The Black Friday bushfires killed 36 people and destroyed several towns in Victoria, Australia.
- Buckingham Palace was bombed by Nazi Germany on September 13, 1940 .
- The murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens, New York occurred on March 13, 1964 .
- On October 13, 1972 , two planes crashed. One carried an Uruguayan rugby team and crashed into the Andes mountains. The other, an Aeroflot IIyushin II-62, crashed near Moscow.
- Rapper Tupac Shakur died on September 13, 1996 in Las Vegas after being shot four times in the chest.
- On January 13, 2012 , the Costa Concordia Italian cruise ship capsized off the Giglio Island coast.
- The Trump Administration declared a nationwide emergency due to COVID-19 on March 13, 2020 . The administration also issued an additional travel ban on non-U.S. citizens traveling from 26 European countries.
What does this Friday the 13th mean in astrology?
Astrology shines a different light on the day.
In astrology, Friday is ruled by Venus: the planet of love, beauty, art and indulgence. The energy Venus brings about is said to play a role in why Fridays are beloved.
As reported by the New York Post, this year "Venus will be in her home turf of Libra on Friday the 13th," enhancing the planet's themes.
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Ashley Ferrer is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post , part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today .
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Why is Friday the 13th said to bring bad luck? The day according to superstition, astrology
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