12/01/2023
Friday 13 Superstation 🔮🔮🔮🔮
Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year. For example, 2015 had a Friday the 13th in February, March, and November; 2017 through 2020 had two Friday the 13ths each; 2016, 2021 and 2022 had just one occurrence of Friday the 13th each; 2023 and 2024 will have two Friday the 13ths each.
Friday the 13th marked on a calendar
Friday the 13th occurs in any month that begins on a Sunday.
According to folklore historian Donald Dossey, the unlucky nature of the number "13" originated with a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party in Valhalla. The trickster god Loki, who was not invited, arrived as the 13th guest, and arranged for Höðr to shoot Balder with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Dossey: "Balder died, and the whole Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned. It was a bad, unlucky day." This major event in Norse mythology caused the number 13 to be considered unlucky.
Christian associations
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
The superstition seems to relate to various things, like the story of Jesus' last supper and crucifixion in which there were 13 individuals present in the Upper Room on the 13th of Nisan Maundy Thursday, the night before his death on Good Friday.
In conjunction with Friday
While there is evidence of both Friday [circular reference] and the number 13 being considered unlucky, there is no record of the two items being referred to as especially unlucky in conjunction before the 19th century.
19th century
Gioachino Rossini by Henri Grevedon
In France, Friday 13th might have been associated with misfortune as early as the first half of the 19th century. A character in the 1834 play Les Finesses des Gribouilles states, "I was born on a Friday, December 13th, 1813 from which come all of my misfortunes".
An early documented reference in English occurs in H. S. Edwards' biography of Gioachino Rossini, who died on a Friday 13th:
"Rossini 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."
Dissemination
It is possible that the publication in 1907 of T. W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth, contributed to popularizing the superstition. In the novel, an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.
Similar dates are prevalent in many cultures, although it is unclear whether these similarities are in any way historically connected or only coincidental.
Tuesday the 13th in Hispanic and Greek culture
In Spanish-speaking countries, instead of Friday, Tuesday the 13th (martes trece) is considered a day of bad luck.
The Greeks also consider Tuesday (and especially the 13th) an unlucky day. Tuesday is considered dominated by the influence of Ares, the god of war (or Mars, the Roman equivalent). The fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade occurred on Tuesday 13 April 1204, and the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans happened on Tuesday 29 May 1453, events that strengthen the superstition about Tuesday. In addition, in Greek the name of the day is Triti (Τρίτη) meaning the third (day of the week), adding weight to the superstition, since bad luck is said to "come in threes".
Tuesday the 13th occurs in a month that begins on a Thursday.
Friday the 17th in Italy
An Alitalia airplane without the row 17
In Italian popular culture, Friday the 17th (and not the 13th) is considered a bad luck day. The origin of this belief could be traced in the writing of the number 17, in Roman numerals: XVII. By shuffling the digits of the number one can easily get the word VIXI ("I have lived", implying death at present), an omen of bad luck. In fact, in Italy, 13 is generally considered a lucky number. However, due to Americanization, young people consider Friday the 13th unlucky as well.[dubious – discuss.
The 2000 parody film Shriek if You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth was released in Italy with the title Shriek – Hai impegni per venerdì 17? ("Shriek – Do You Have Something to Do on Friday the 17th?").
Friday the 17th occurs on a month starting on Wednesday.
There can be no more than three Friday the 13ths in a single calendar year; either in February, March, and November in a common year starting on Thursday (such as 2009, 2015, or 2026) (D), or January, April, and July in a leap year starting on Sunday (such as 1984, 2012, or 2040) (AG).
In the 2000s, there were three Friday the 13ths in 2009, and two Friday the 13ths in 2001, 2002, 2006, and 2007. In the 2010s, there were three Friday the 13ths in 2012 and 2015, and two in 2013, 2017, 2018, and 2019. In the 2020s, there were two Friday the 13ths in 2020. There will also be three Friday the 13ths in 2026, and two in 2023, 2024, and 2029. The remaining years all have at least one Friday the 13th.
