Friday the 13th superstitions

Does the 13th falling on a Friday strike terror and dread in your heart? Do you actually spend the entire day in bed so that you will be “safe?” It seems that you are a member of a very large group if you feel this way. While Friday the 13th superstition may have no effect on people as a whole, it does have a basis in fact for being thought of as a “bad or unlucky” day. It is considered to be a quite common superstition for a large number of people.

[edit] Eve tempts Adam

From a Biblical point of view, it was on a Friday that Eve tempted Adam with that, now quite famous, apple. Adam accepted it for many reasons, and you all know what happened after that. They were cast out of the Garden of Eden and made to feel ashamed. It was certainly not a very pleasant Friday for them.

Other Biblical references include the great flood detailed in the Bible which occurred on a Friday, as well as the collapse of the Tower of Babylon and the crucifixion of Jesus.

[edit] Modern theories

One of the theories behind Friday the 13th superstition is that of the events of Black Friday. On October 13, 1307, the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and the King of France got together and planned the very secret murder plot of the Knights Templar. They were found guilty of being heretics and were stripped of the power they had held for so long. Grand Master Jacques DeMolay was arrested, tortured and crucified. All of it took place on that particular Friday the 13th. This gave birth to this very common superstition that is still around today.

Another theory regarding the Friday the 13th superstition stems from the Witches’ Sabbath. It was thought that on this day, 12 witches met with the Devil. They were thought of as 13 evil spirits doing bad things, so therefore this became an unlucky day.

[edit] Not all bad

Some people view Friday the 13th as a very lucky day. This can be for personal reasons or it can have its own folklore. However, if you believe that this particular day is unlucky for you, then it may very well turn out to be that way. Many others think of it as a wonderful magical day, and celebrate it as such. Bad things rarely happen to these people on a Friday the 13th.

There was even a safety study conducted in Amsterdam to see if the rate of accidents was up or down on Friday the 13th. What they found was that accidents were significantly fewer on that day than other day in the year. The study was not able to establish if this was due to the common superstition making people more careful or not.

No matter what you feel about this day, try to keep a positive and upbeat attitude about it. If you truly feel you are going to be better off spending the day in bed, then do so. However, you could be cheating yourself out of the chance to be out on a Friday and having something truly wonderful happen to you.