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Friday 13th
12 November 2009
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The origins of “Friday the 13th” and its superstitions.
Some people expect bad luck on Friday the 13th, so if you get fired from your job today, or smash up your car, you can blame it on Friday the 13th. Superstition provides us with an excuse for explaining away our mistakes. It’s an easy way to rationalize the screw-ups for which we are responsible.
So where does it come from, the fear of 13? Its origins can be traced to Norse mythology and a dinner party at Valhalla, home of the God Odin, where Odin and 11 of his closest God-friends were gathered one night to 
party. Everyone was having fun, but then Loki, the God of evil and turmoil, showed up uninvited, making it a crowd of 13. The beloved God Balder tried to boot Loki out of the house and in the scuffle that followed he suffered a death-blow from a spear.
From that mythological start, the number 13 has been bad luck through-out history. There were 13 people at Christ’s Last Supper, including the double-crossing Judas. Apollo 13 lunar mission left the launching pad at 13:13 hours and was aborted on April 13. Fridays haven’t been any better. 
Friday was execution day in ancient Rome — Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Put it all together, and Friday the 13th spells trouble.
Skyscrapers and hotels have no 13th floor; airplanes have no 13th aisle. But the joke is, “triskaidekaphobics”, fear of the number 13, since the 13th aisle is sitting right there behind the 12th, (obviously) it’s just labeled as 14 to trick you into relaxing.
But triskaidekaphobia isn’t just an American affliction. Italians have taken the number 13 from their national lottery. There is an organization in France whose exclusive purpose is to provide last-minute guests for dinner parties, so that no party host ever has to suffer the curse of entertaining 13 guests. (Were can I sign up for that job?)
So how bad can the phobia get? Donald Dossey, director of the Phobia Center in Asheville, N.C., says that the various effects of triskaidekaphobia can range from a mild, nagging sense of doom to full-blown obsessive behavior. Some people refuse to get out of bed on Friday the 13th, Dossey says.
party. Everyone was having fun, but then Loki, the God of evil and turmoil, showed up uninvited, making it a crowd of 13. The beloved God Balder tried to boot Loki out of the house and in the scuffle that followed he suffered a death-blow from a spear.
Friday was execution day in ancient Rome — Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Put it all together, and Friday the 13th spells trouble.
But triskaidekaphobia isn’t just an American affliction. Italians have taken the number 13 from their national lottery. There is an organization in France whose exclusive purpose is to provide last-minute guests for dinner parties, so that no party host ever has to suffer the curse of entertaining 13 guests. (Were can I sign up for that job?)
[...] Friday 13thThe origins of Friday the 13th and its superstitions. Some people expect bad luck on Friday the 13th, so if you get fired from your job today, or smash up.Read more [...]
ummm maybe you should do you research before you post an article. Friday the 13th’s origins is because the knights of templar were all killed on a friday the 13th…..
Me, believe it or not Norse mythology predates, your “knights of templar” lol. You might want to dig a little deeper. You should also turn off the National Treasure movie and go to a place that holds real information. Google my friend.
Cheers for that article – the Norse bit was news to me. However, I had to laugh when you said ‘triskaidekaphobia isn’t just an American affliction’, as it’s also a superstition in France and Italy…. Not surprising, really, is it? Er, like, and us Europeans didn’t invent your country? Or was this article written for your average Sarah Palin type?
After reading this post and comments. I was stuck on the Loki and 13th origins. I knew of the Knights Templar origins also, and had never heard of the Loki one. After doing a little research I found that while Nordic tales had been passed down for centuries via word of mouth. They had been written down in the mid 13th centuries. While the K.T. happened Oct 13th 1307.
I don’t want to dismiss the Nordic version, but… It would be my opinion that, while the Loki version seems to be much older than the K.T version, it was not necessarily as old as most of the other mythological tales. It may be “new” compared to other Nordic mythology. The K.T.s massacre had been a horrific very well know event. The church used it as an example to all corners of the church. They purposely attached an evil meaning to the K.T.s and anything associated with them.
It would make sense that the word of mouth Loki story may have come about just in time to be written down. To better solidify the “bad” meaning of Friday the 13th.
Just something to think about.
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