Unlucky Date: Friday the 13th

Cat

As I scrolled down in Facebook, I saw a picture of the black cat. Fortunately, it's not the typical of avoiding the black cat but encouraging us, as readers, that the black cat is an adorable, beautiful, and lovable animal in their caption.

I agree with what the caption says. Additionally, the black cats are not an outcast for their clowder, unlike the white cats.

So, I was thinking about why is Friday the 13th being unlucky in the western world, specifically in America? Why do some people feel the need to avoid activities they're uncomfortable with, such as walking under the ladder, crossing paths with a black cat, or even breaking a mirror?

According to Wikipedia, Friday, the 13th in the Western world, is considered to be unlucky when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on Friday.

A single question struck me:'When did the idea start?'

Apparantly, the ideas of misfortune started in 1907 when Thomas W. Lawson published his popular classic novel called "Friday, the Thirteenth."

It captures a successful stock broker taking advantage through superstitions, and they pick the date Friday the 13th as a revenge to bring the Wall Street down in the stock market world.

As Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in North Carolina report, it's been estimated that $800 to $900 million is lost in business every Friday the 13th because of superstition, fearing it would bring bad luck to their business, so to avoid their loss, they skip Friday the 13th. Thus, it affects the market.

In the United States, some of the buildings do not have a 13th floor, airports don't have Gate 13, airplanes have no Row 13, and even hospitals and hotels skip the number 13 from their rooms.

Because of the fear of number 13, it forms into a specific phobia called Triskaidekaphobia. This term was used dating back to early 1910 by Isador Coriat in Abnormal Psychology.

Additionally, there's even a specific fear of Friday the 13th in any month; it is called paraskevidekatriaphobia devised by Dr. Donald Dossey.

Even though Friday the 13th's origin is shrouded with myths and superstitions, it's fascinating how it came to be, especially since there are various superstitions around the world.

In my country, the Philippines, we knock three times on the wood to negate the curse happening in our lives if we say something bad is happening to us, not letting the black butterfly enter our home because it will bring the harbinger of death, not sweeping the floor at night so that the blessing into the household would not disappear, and I noticed a lot of our superstitions are related to Filipino folk tales and spirits, such as if your items got misplaced, we blame the mischievous elves. It was fun hearing that from our elder's warnings or even our parents'.

How about you? What are your superstitions in your country that brings bad luck?