History of Friday the 13th (Who's Afraid of the Thirteenth?)

Friday the 13th may be considered an unlucky day in some parts of Europe and in North America.   For some, the day can cause great anxiety called:  paraskevidekatriaphobia, which means: Fear of Friday the 13th.

The idea that Friday the 13th is unlucky is not very old. It seems to have arisen in the 19th century.  American newspapers don’t mention Friday the 13^th as an unlucky day until the 20^th century.

But there are clues that a belief in Friday the 13th as being unlucky must have existed in America during the 19th century in a group that went out of their way to break taboos about luck: The Thirteen Club of Manhattan. The Thirteen Club of Manhattan held their first dinner for 13 people on Friday, January 13^th in 1882.

Some point to the popularization of Friday the 13^th as being unlucky to a 1907 novel called: Friday the Thirteenth, written by Thomas W. Lawson.

Recent explanations, such as the one tied to Dan Brown’s novel: The Da Vinci Code, and the mass arrest of the Knights Templar in France on October 13th 1307, attempt to come up with an early source for Friday the 13th as being unlucky.  The problem is showing historic evidence for the belief before 1900.  But the two parts of the belief: 13 and Friday, have important meanings, and they do have a long history.

The idea that some days are unfavorable and others favorable is very old, and still an important part of planning one’s life in some countries, and among some ethnic and belief groups. Astrologers might be consulted to plan a wedding or a journey. Almanacs providing advice based on the phase of the moon or astrology, might be consulted for: planting, harvest, and everyday activities.

There were many unfavorable days, not just one or two a year. In the Middle Ages there were two unfavorable days each month called “Egyptian days” or “dismal days,” meaning that they had been determined by Egyptian Astrologers to be unlucky. These practices helped people to deal with the uncertainty of life by attempting to avoid calamity by planning around those days perceived as unlucky.

In many parts of Europe, Fridays have traditionally been considered an unfavorable day to begin new projects, get married, or begin a journey because in the Old Testament it was the last day of the creation of the Earth. Jesus was executed on a Friday, further adding to the symbolism of the day. Friday, then, is thought to be suitable for endings, not beginnings.

Fishermen often did not go out to sea on Fridays. Some ideas about beginning a journey or moving house on a Friday continue today.

The number 13 in numerology is the number of beginnings and endings, of birth and death. In many parts of Europe, it is a lucky number, and a good day to get married or start something new. 

In the United States, the number 13 has many positive associations related to the 13 original colonies.  So, on the Great Seal there are 13 stars, 13 red stripes, and thirteen arrows held by the eagle.

But 13, may be unlucky in certain contexts. A common belief about bad luck associated with 13 is that if 13 people dine together, then one of them will die. This belief is associated with the Last Supper. In the United States prior to 1900, this was the most common belief about the number 13.

An older root for the taboo of gatherings of thirteen comes from a story from Norse mythology of a dinner party of 12 gods that was crashed by Loki, with disastrous consequences. 

 It may be that combining the symbolism of Friday as a day of endings with the symbolism of 13 was thought to mean death or danger and so it makes an unfavorable day.

The common belief about 13 at dinner may have been combined with beliefs about Friday in the late 19th or early 20th century.  These are the complex of ideas that underlie the idea that Friday the 13th is unlucky.

Not everyone expects bad luck on the same days. In Spanish speaking countries and Greece, Tuesday the 13th may be considered unlucky because it combines the symbolism of Mars, the God of War, with the symbolism of 13. Such combination is seen as an omen for disaster.

In Italy, it is Friday the 17th that is unlucky, and other associations of the number 17 can also be unlucky. The usual explanation is that the Roman number XVII can be rearranged to spell vixi, meaning “I have lived,” which might indicate that there was a death.

In Japan, it is the number 4 that is unlucky, for a similar reason. The number sounds like the word for death, and so it is avoided in some contexts and a different word for 4 is used to count living things while the number 4 is used to count inanimate objects. April the 4th is an unlucky day because it is the 4th day of the 4th month. The Japanese have also picked up on the idea that Friday the 13th is unlucky from contact with western countries.

So, Friday the 13th is not universally unlucky, but the idea that some days are favorable, and others are unfavorable is a remnant of a belief system that stems back to the Middle Ages.  

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This article has been summarized and republished with permission of The Library of Congress

https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2017/0...