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Fri 13 May, 2005 08:08 am
Superstition of Friday the 13th dates back to early Christianity
at 21:45 on May 12, 2005, EST.
ERIN HENDERSON
TORONTO (CP) - Friday the 13th is a day that seems to promise bad luck - but on the upside, it only happens once this year.
The norm is one or two Friday the 13ths a year, says John Percy, a University of Toronto astronomy and astrophysics professor. Over the last decade, only 1998 had three of the bad-luck days, and no year had more. And looking ahead over the next five years, only 2009 will have three - in February, March and November.
It would be rare to see four or five Friday the 13ths in a calendar year, says Percy.
But if the low number of unlucky days doesn't ease anxieties, Percy said there's no evidence linking Friday the 13th to bad luck.
"It's strictly a superstition," Percy said from his Mississauga, Ont., office. "I can't think of any reason why Friday the 13th should be any more unusual than Monday the 1st."
Fears about Friday the 13th stem from early Christianity, said Dena Taylor, a U of T occult expert.
"Friday was the day on which Christ was crucified. ... Judas was considered the 13th person at the table (of the Last Supper) and he of course, is the betrayer," Taylor said.
Taylor said 13 was linked with evil by Christians in the Middle Ages in the belief that witches met in covens of 13, and the 13th member was the devil.
She adds the superstition is only a western phenomenon.
"Within western culture Friday the 13th is perceived as being unlucky .... (In other cultures) it's meaningless."
But the day does have value beyond superstitious hocus-pocus, said Elizabeth Ridgely, a Toronto social worker. She said Friday the 13th allows people one day to accept their own fears.
"It's a day that's dedicated to people's anxiety about safety, anxiety about things working out for them, anxiety about a bad thing happening to either themselves or to somebody in their family."
Whether Friday the 13th brings fear of the worst or freedom to acknowledge anxieties, you won't have to deal with it again until January 2006.
Exactly.February 14th is supposed to bring love and flowers and a cute guy in shorts but it doesnt for everyone, not me , oh no never me....
so there is no reason to think Friday 13th is to be feared.
The worst thing so far thats happened is that I have a horrid tummy ache, I lost my brain momentarily earlier and Im still doing a job I hate.Other than that Im fine,touch wood....but the day isnt over yet.
I just scared myself!!!
Thanks for the info Reyn.
Here's some useless information, Reyn:
paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia
Paraskevidekatriaphobia is a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th. Therapist Dr. Donald Dossey, whose specialty is treating people with irrational fears, coined the term. He claims that when you can pronounce the word you are cured.
Paraskevidekatriaphobia is related to triskaidekaphobia, the fear of the number 13.
Watch out for those black cats and don't walk under any ladders.
Letty wrote:paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia
Paraskevidekatriaphobia is a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th. Therapist Dr. Donald Dossey, whose specialty is treating people with irrational fears, coined the term. He claims that when you can pronounce the word you are cured.
Paraskevidekatriaphobia is related to triskaidekaphobia, the fear of the number 13.
It just goes to show you, you learn something new every day. Never heard those terms before. Thanks for educating me!
Quote:"Friday was the day on which Christ was crucified. ... Judas was considered the 13th person at the table (of the Last Supper) and he of course, is the betrayer," Taylor said.
Taylor said 13 was linked with evil by Christians in the Middle Ages in the belief that witches met in covens of 13, and the 13th member was the devil.
She adds the superstition is only a western phenomenon.
It's also a very
recent phenomenon. Although Friday has been felt to be an unlucky day for centuries, and 13 was felt to be an unlucky number, nobody seems to have put these superstitions together till quite late on in the 20th century. There is no indication that Friday 13th was felt to be especially unlucky in earlier centuries.
The "Friday 13th" superstition seems only to have become popular as the notion of the unluckiness of Fridays in general died out. I think you'd find hardly anyone now who routinely avoids starting a new enterprise, or buying a house, or putting on new clothes, on a Friday, as our ancestors did. I suspect that "Friday 13th" is just a last remnant of the old superstition, adapted to a busy modern lifestyle; we no longer believe that all Fridays are bad, and we certainly aren't prepared to disrupt our lives by restricting our activities for a whole day every week, so we concentrate all the ill-luck on just a couple of Fridays a year. A streamlined, modern, low-maintenance superstition.
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