does anyone know why Friday 13th is so unlucky?

Answer 1

As most people probably already realize, today is Friday the 13th, a date commonly associated with bad luck.



For the next several hours, millions of superstitious individuals across the country will hold their breath anticipating misfortune. Others will avoid leaving the house altogether, refusing to drive, shop or work on the ill-fated day.



But whether you're a true triskaidekaphobe (a person with an irrational fear of Friday the 13th, also called a paraskevidekatriaphobe) or just mildly suspicious, it's probably a good idea to know just where your trepidation comes from.



Though it's hard to pinpoint the exact origins of any superstition, several Internet sites are devoted to the history of the Friday the 13th legend. And most list the same possible origins of the rumoured curse. One of the more lucid sites is David Emery's urbanlegends.about.



According to a biography on the Web site, Emery is a freelance journalist, as well as a staff writer for both a TV sitcom and a satirical newspaper. He has a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Portland (Or.) State University and completed graduate studies in philosophy and the classics at the University of Texas at Austin. He apparently has a particular interest in modern folklore and founded urbanlegends.about.com to "debunk, deconstruct and discuss the most popular tall tales and hoaxes in circulation."



While the Web site explores everything from e-mail hoaxes to dubious quotes, three pages are devoted to the history of Friday the 13th.



According to the site, the superstition is derived from myths about both Fridays and the number 13.



Fridays, for example, are hailed as a particularly significant day in the Christian tradition. Obviously, there is Good Friday, the day Jesus Christ was crucified. But according to Christian lore, Adam and Eve also supposedly ate the forbidden fruit on a Friday, the Great Flood started on a Friday, the builders of the Tower of Babel were tongue-tied on a Friday and the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday.



Of course, the Bible doesn't specifically note many these events occurring on Fridays, and Emery explains some of the tradition may have stemmed from the fact that pre-Christian pagan cultures hailed Friday as holy days. The word "Friday" is, in fact, derived from a Norse deity who was worshipped on the sixth day of the week and who represented marriage and fertility. Fridays in the early Norse culture were associated with love and considered a good day for weddings.



Over time, however, mythology transformed the Norse fertility goddess into a witch, and Fridays became an unholy Sabbath. Incidentally, the goddess' sacred animal was a cat, which may explain the legendary connection between witches and cats, as well as the superstition about black cats heralding bad luck.



In addition to the legendary significance of Fridays, the sixth day of the week also was execution day in ancient Rome and later Hangman's Day in Britain, according the Emery's Web site.



The number 13 also has mythological and religious symbolism.



Both the Hindus and Vikings reportedly had a myth in which 12 gods were invited to a gathering and Loki, the god of mischief, crashed the party and incited a riot. Tradition in both cultures holds that 13 people at a dinner party is bad luck and will end in the death of the party-goers.



Following in that vein, the Last Supper in Christian tradition hosted 13 people and one betrayed Christ, resulting in the crucifixion.



The number 13 also has been associated with death in other cultures. The ancient Egyptians, for example, believed life unfolded in 12 stages, and the 13th stage was death. The Egyptians considered death a part of their ultimate journey and looked forward to the spiritual transformation ‹ thus 13 was not an unlucky number in their culture ‹ but like so many others, the tradition warped through time and cultures, eventually associating the number 13 with a more negative and fearful interpretation of death, Emery writes.



Finally, Emery suggests the number 13 may have an unlucky connotation because of its association with the lunar calendar (there are 13 lunar cycles in a year) and with femininity (women have 13 menstrual cycles in a year).



Then, there's the event that ties the two superstitions together.



"Though it's clear that superstitions associating Fridays and the number 13 with misfortune date back to the ancient times, some sources assign the precise origin of the black spot on the day itself, Friday the 13th, to a specific historical event," adds Emery.



It was on Friday, Oct. 13, 1307, that France's King Philip IV had the Knights Templar rounded up for torture and execution. The Knights Templar were an order of warriors within the Roman Catholic Church who banded together to protect Christian travellers visiting Jerusalem in the centuries after the Crusades. The Knights eventually became a rich, powerful ‹ and allegedly corrupt order within the church and were executed for heresy.



So, who knows?



The date may be forever cursed by one event that occurred nearly 700 years ago, or by a series of cosmic coincidences.



Or it may be a figment of human beings' collective imaginations.

Answer 2

It may have originated from the last supper, as it has already been stated.
There is also a Norse legend that 12 gods gathered for a feast and all was well until Loki, the 13th joined them.
In relation to wicca and witchcraft, many wiccans believe that there should be 13 witches in a coven.Ie one for every sign of the zodiac plus a high priestess. This could date from medieval times as people did not like witches. Fridays also used to be considered unlucky so Friday the 13th is double the bad luck.

Answer 3

13: The Devil's Dozen
It is said: If 13 people sit down to dinner together, all will die within the year. The Turks so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged from their vocabulary (Brewer, 1894). Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor. If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck (Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names). There are 13 witches in a coven.

Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla. Loki, the Evil One, god of mischief, had been left off the guest list but crashed the party, bringing the total number of attendees to 13. True to character, Loki raised hell by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to attack Balder the Good, who was a favorite of the gods. Hod took a spear of mistletoe offered by Loki and obediently hurled it at Balder, killing him instantly. All Valhalla grieved. And although one might take the moral of this story to be "Beware of uninvited guests bearing mistletoe," the Norse themselves apparently concluded that 13 people at a dinner party is just plain bad luck.

As if to prove the point, the Bible tells us there were exactly 13 present at the Last Supper. One of the dinner guests — er, disciples — betrayed Jesus Christ, setting the stage for the Crucifixion.

Did I mention the Crucifixion took place on a Friday?

Answer 4

You mean "considered to be unlucky". Friday the 13th, the day when the Pope and the King of France betrayed and destroyed the Templar movement.

Answer 5

I've always heard that certain persons consider Friday the 13th unlucky because the crucifixion took place on a friday, and, Jesus had 12 disciples, plus himself, which equals 13.

Answer 6

Friday used to be considered v. unlucky. (Except the Normans, who always did important things on a Friday because they said it was so lucky.) And we all know the story with 13.
So 13 AND Friday is unlucky x2!

Answer 7

One proposed origin relates to the Last Supper. Judas, the thirteenth guest, was instrumental in the Crucifixion of Jesus, which happened on a Friday.

Other theories offered in relation to Friday suggest that Eve offered the apple to Adam on a Friday or the slaying of Abel happened on a Friday (though the Bible does not identify the days of the week when these events occurred).

It is also sometimes claimed that the superstition derived from the massacre of the Knights Templar on Friday October 13, 1307. King Philip IV of France ordered the destruction of the Templars, after having claimed that they were engaged in heretical practices. Philip sent letters to his forces all over the country with instructions to open that morning. The orders were simple - seek out and arrest all known members of the Knights, slaughter those that resisted, and capture Jacques DeMolay, the last known Grand Master of the Knights Templar

Answer 8

Friday the 13th got it's reputation for being unlucky because that is the day that the Catholic church declared the Temple Knights be executed. The Knights Templar became so powerful during the crusades that it was a threat to the Church.

Answer 9

It's the date that Phillip of France had the leaders of the Knights Templar rounded up for execution. Was pretty unlucky for them.

Answer 10

The knights Templar where killed on a Friday 13th.