‘13’ phobia originates from mythology and religion… ‘Hanging Friday’ in the US
Professor at the University of Lille in France: “It has no effect on employment wages.”
Just as there is a superstition to avoid the number ‘4’ in the East, there are also unlucky numbers and days in the West. Ahead of ‘Friday the 13th’, the New York Times (NYT) reported on superstitions and scientific analysis related to it on the 12th (local time).
It is one of the widely known ominous superstitions that Friday the 13th is unlucky. Architects and hoteliers are eliminating the 13th floor altogether, some airlines do not have a 13th floor, and some couples change their wedding dates when Friday the 13th falls.
The exact roots of the superstition are unclear, but historians say there are several hypotheses as to why fear of this day arose in parts of Europe and North America.
The number ’13’ has long been associated with bad luck in Western mythology and religion. In one Norse myth, Loki, the god of mischief, appears uninvited at a banquet of 12 gods, and the banquet ends in disaster. The number also symbolizes betrayal, with Judas appearing as the 13th guest at the biblical Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples.
In North America, executions are carried out on Fridays, so this day is also called ‘Hanging Friday’.
In the 19th century, a French book claimed that the combination of Friday and the number 13 symbolized bad luck. This superstition was widespread at the time, and in New York, USA and London, England, the ‘Thirteen Club’, where 13 people gathered and sprinkled salt at dinner to drive away negativity, was popular.
Researchers say that while fear of the number 13 or Friday the 13th may exist, few people have symptoms severe enough to seek treatment.
“I don’t think it’s a true phobia in the medical sense,” said psychologist Stuart Weiss. “It’s not listed as an official disease by the American Psychiatric Association.”
Barry Markovsky, a professor at the University of South Carolina, said, “We become more alert and conscious because of bad things that happened that day.”
Friday the 13th does not seem to have much of an impact on the economy. “We found through our research that Friday the 13th has no effect on employment or wages,” said Professor Jan Piedremouk of the University of Lille in France. “There is nothing in superstitions.”
Meanwhile, in addition to 13, cultures around the world have various superstitions related to numbers. In Asia, ‘4’ is considered an unlucky number because it has a similar pronunciation to ‘死’, which means death in many languages. In Italy, Tuesday the 17th, and in Spain and Greece, Tuesday the 13th, which is not Friday, is considered an unlucky day.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.