Friday the 13th: Meaning, Origin and Story Behind the Superstitions of This Unlucky Day

For long people have considered Friday the 13^th an unlucky day. There are some fear and several superstitions about this day, normally referred as black day! In 2018, it will also occur twice on April 13 and July 13. The fear is so prominent that it has a created a phobia too! The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia, from the Greek words Paraskeví meaning "Friday", and dekatreís "thirteen". A phenomenon considered deeply superstitious in the Western world, people are literally fearful of the day. There is a strong belief that something bad will happen to them. And like most superstitions, people just follow them without any proper reasoning. Not many would know how it all began. Let us understand the meaning and origin of this unfateful day.

How did Friday the 13^th start?

There are a number of theories regarding the origin of the Friday the 13^th but the earliest association comes from Christianity. Jesus Christ was crucified on Friday and the last supper had 13 guests, the night before.

On October 13, 1307 which was a Friday, King Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of the Knights Templar. He imprisoned them on various charges of illegal behaviours and later executed them. So some even consider this has the origin of Friday the 13th superstition

According to Norse mythology, Frigga a free-spirited goddess of love and fertility was labelled a witch. She was banished when the tribes converted to Christianity. A legend states, that on every Friday, the malicious goddess called the devil and eleven other witches together and made evil plans for the week. So there were a total of 13 devils working upon creating harm every Friday.

Besides the number 13 already has some negative associations to it. Of the oldest references in ancient Babylonian history (1700s BC), in the Code of Hammurabi, the laws numbering skipped number 13. A possibility is expressed that they considered the number unlucky because, in one of the poems, the 13^th line had reference to death.

What bad events took place on Friday the 13^th?

Other than the once mentioned which may have started the superstitions, there are several other historical events which proved the oddity of the day. Many unlucky events have taken place in the past, all of them occurring on Friday the 13^th.

Take a look at the video which shows unlucky events:

 Given so many unfortunate events that have taken place, it gets called the black Friday. Pop culture too has made movies and told stories about the dark day. There is a horror film called Friday the 13^th. With much reinforcement about the negativity around the date, the fear still continues. The next Friday the 13^th will be on July 13, 2018.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 12, 2018 02:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).