The History of Friday the Thirteenth

When the 13th falls on a Friday, which happens from one to three times a year, you can expect to hear comments and jokes about all the rotten things that are bound to occur on that day. Most of us know that Friday the 13th is considered unlucky, but a good proportion of us have no idea why. While it is difficult to accurately pinpoint the origins of this superstition, there are several theories.

Knights Templar

One theory made popular in the best-selling book "The Da Vinci Code" is that the Friday the 13th superstition goes back to the misfortunes of the Knights Templar, a monastic military order charged with protecting Christians making pilgrimages to the holy land. In the course of 200 years, they grew to be enormously powerful and wealthy. It is said that the king of France, in debt to the knights and hoping to fill his coffers with their wealth, used rumors circulating about the knights to justify attacking the order on false charges of heresy to imprison them, convince the Vatican to officially disband the order and have them executed--then, of course, seizing their wealth. On what day was the attack ordered? Friday, Oct. 13, 1307.

Jesus and Friday the 13th

Some say the superstition began long before the Knights Templar and point to the New Testament as the origin of the association of Friday the 13th with bad luck. They say 13 is unlucky because traitorous disciple Judas was the 13th diner at the Last Supper. Friday's negative connotation stems from the belief that Jesus died on a Friday (hence the observation of Good Friday). The two were allegedly combined to make Friday the 13th an unlucky day.

Unlucky 13

Some think that because 13 and Friday have both long been considered a bad mix, people began to see Friday the 13th as especially bad. The association with 13 and bad luck has occurred throughout history and in a number of cultures. In one Norse myth, 12 gods were dining when a 13th, the mischievous Loki, arrived and fooled one of the guests into killing another. Also, 13 is considered the ideal number of members for a witch's coven. Others believe that the number 13 was revered by pre-Judeo-Christian goddess-worshipping religions, prompting later, more prominent faiths such as Christianity to associate 13 with evil. In addition, 12 was widely considered a number of completeness, thus rendering 13 unbalanced--and unlucky.

Unlucky Friday

While today, we celebrate Friday as the end of the workweek, it has not always had that positive association. In ancient Rome, for example, executions were held on Fridays. Also, several ancient religions considered Friday a holy day, so as the Christian religion began to rise and gain power, it sought to suppress the traditions of those other "pagan" religions, to the point that Friday became known as the witch's sabbath.

Phobia

The fear of Friday the 13th is so common that it has even been given a name: paraskevidekatriaphobia. Whatever the origins of this superstition, it persists to this day, when millions of people each year refuse to fly or drive on this day, and many won't even leave the house.

References

• Friday the 13th