Friday the 13th is known as a day of misfortune, starting in the 19th century. In a French play, a man had stated he had an unfortunate life starting on the day he was born, which just so happened to be on Friday the 13th.
“I was born on a Friday, December 13th, 1813, from which come all of my misfortunes” says the man in the play “Les Finesses des Gribouilles” by Claude Louis Marie de Marquis Rochefort-Lucay and Philippe François Pinel Dumanoir.
Even though this is the reason for Friday the 13th, the number 13 has always been unlucky. Thirteen can also be drawn back to Jesus and his 12 disciples. In the Jerusalemite story, Jesus calls all his closest friends together and explains that he knows he is going to be betrayed after the dinner party. Jesus is taken away and later crucified. This story is similar to the Norse myth about the 12 invite dinner party.
There is the oft-quoted Norse myth of 12, 12 gods and goddess were invited to a dinner party. Although they refused to invite the Norse god of mischief, Loki. In revenge Loki had Hoder (God of darkness) to attack Balder the beautiful. Hoder was successful and killed Balder the Beautiful with an arrow tipped with mistletoe. This caused an all-out war between the dogs ending with many of them dying. This is the story of the first winter, and the message the Norse received from this story was not about killing people over a party invite but was rather “Don’t invite 13 people to a diner party” which is still a custom of places of Norse descent.
Although these tell us about the number 13, every culture has unlucky days. Greek and Hispanic cultures have Tuesday 13 and Italians have Friday the 17. As we can see there is a common theme with these weekdays and numbers.
Friday the 13 has been on the rise of public awareness since the movie “Friday the 13th” came out in 1980. Popularity continued to rise as a new version of the movie was released in 2013. The premise of the movie is a man in a hockey mask, Jason Voorhees, haunts the summer camp where he died. This movie sparked a national phenomenon of the day Friday the 13 becoming a day of weird and unusual mishaps.
On these certain Friday’s, people tend to act out irrationally and arrest rates tend be high. These rates are even higher if it falls on a day with a full moon or in the month of October; even the economy suffers on days like Friday the 13.
“The world’s economy apparently loses about $900 million because people are afraid to work and travel on this date…” said Andy Simmons, writer for “Reader’s Digest.”
Friday the 13 has a long and colorful history, and there are many reasons why it is seen as creepy. However, there is nothing to be afraid of, and it is only well known because of pop culture, jokes and weird coincidences with the number 13. Just remember to stay safe while going out, and if you do go out, bring a person with you. Although this is just a day, people’s superstitions can get the better of them.
