Today is Friday the 13th. Most people believe “Friday the 13th” as an ominous day. It’s a bizarre thing, but apparently true, that a substantial number of us would confess to feeling slightly anxious when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday. There is in fact a name for this phenomenon — and get ready because it’s rather a mouthful — paraskevidekatriaphobia.
No-one is quite certain why people associate Friday the 13th with bad luck. While folklore historians say it’s tough to pinpoint exactly how the taboo came to be, many believe it originates from the Last Supper, and the 13 guests who sat at the table on the day before the Friday on which Lord Jesus was crucified.
But there are many other theories of how the ominous day came to be considered the harbinger of bad luck. The number 13 also holds some cultural, religious and mythical significance in history, which hints that it is a bad day.
The term paraskevidekatriaphobia was first coined in the early nineties by Dr. Donald E. Dossey, an American psychotherapist specialising in phobias and stress management, who reputedly claimed that that “when you learn to pronounce it, you’re cured!” The term is based on the Greek words paraskevi (Friday) and dekatria (thirteen) with -phobia as a suffix to indicate ‘fear’. So say it all together: para-skev-EE-dek-a-tri-a-pho-bia. 🙂
Not all cultures, however, believe Friday the 13th is unlucky. In Greek and Hispanic cultures, Tuesday the 13th is considered far more ominous. In Italy, Friday the 17th is spookier than the 13th.
Any month that starts with a Sunday will contain a Friday the 13th, and there can be as many as three of them a year. For what it’s worth to believers, there is only one Friday the 13th this year and it occurs today. So, whatever you are doing today, do it safely and remember the best thing about Friday the 13th – is that it’s the weekend in the Middle East and the day after is Saturday, the weekend elsewhere!
May your irrational superstitions haunt you today! And enjoy the weekend!
Indrosphere 
So much of information about 13th…you seem to have researched about it a lot 🙂
Thank you…I didn’t know about the word, and the history behind 13th being ominous!
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Thanks Alok. 🙂
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I think we are just tracing some bad luck to a cause and Friday the 13 happens to be a deeply rooted culture fear stemming from the last supper. We humans become paranoid over calendar numbers due to traditions, beliefs and happenings in history which instills fear for the unknown…great post that set my thought process active on a superstitious day 🙂
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Thank you! Yes Sunita, we get superstitious from myths, traditions or past events. Some accidental coincidence embolden the belief.
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Thanks for throwing at us a new word (at least for me). I am still trying to figure out how to pronounce it. 🙂
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The movies and stories have highlighted the myths and superstitions regarding Friday the 13th.
Was not aware of the term paraskevidekatriaphobia! উচ্চারণ করতে দাঁত ভেঙ্গে গেল… 😀
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Friday the 13th… nice I hope I don’t caught paraskevidekatriaphobia phobia… thanks for teaching us to pronounce it… we now know how to cure ourselves from this phobia!!
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Paraskevidekatriaphobia – That’s quite a mouthful word. I read at the breakup twice to understand how to pronounce it. Wasn’t aware that the reason for 13th being ominous in many cultures goes back to the last supper. Thanks for sharing.
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Thankfully, when I am reading this post, on Wednesday the 27th in May 2020, Friday the 13th of 2016 is history 🙂
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Hahaha! Thanks for like.
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