fear of Friday the 13th is rooted in ancient, separate bad-luck associations with the number 13 and the day Friday. The two unlucky entities combine to make one super unlucky day.

There is a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow.Balder died and the Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned.

There is a Biblical reference to the unlucky number 13. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest to the Last Supper.

A particularly bad Friday the 13th occurred in the middle ages. On a Friday the 13th in 1306, King Philip of France arrested the revered Knights Templar and began torturing them, marking the occasion as a day of evil.
In ancient Rome, witches reportedly gathered in groups of 12. The 13th was believed to be the devil.

Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose.

It is traditionally believed that Eve tempted Adam with the apple on a Friday. Tradition also has it that the Flood in the Bible, the confusion at the Tower of Babel, and the death of Jesus Christ all took place on Friday.

Numerologists consider 12 a "complete" number. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus. In exceeding 12 by 1, 13's association with bad luck has to do with just being a little beyond completeness.

More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor.
Many airports skip the 13th gate.
Airplanes have no 13th aisle.
Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.
Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.
On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half.
Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue
In France, socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.
Many triskaidekaphobes, as those who fear the unlucky integer are known, point to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13.
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.

it has been estimated that 750 MILLION DOLLARS will be LOST in business because people will not shop, travel or take risks of any kind on this Friday the 13th?

* that the U.S. NAVY to this day will NOT LAUNCH a ship on Friday the 13th?

* that OVER 85% will RISK THEIR LIVES rather than walk under a ladder

Bad Luck: Walking under a ladder - A leaning ladder forms a triangle with the wall and ground. Triangles represent the Holy Trinity, and violating the Trinity by breaking it (walking through it) would put you in league with the devil himself.

Bad Luck: Black Cats - In ancient Egypt, the Goddess Bast was a black, female cat. Christians, wanting to rid society of all traces of other religions, convinced the ignorant that black cats were demons in disguise and should thus be destroyed. In the process, they also destroyed the kindly ladies who cared for the cats, believing them to be witches. Being demons, a black cat crossing your path would create a barrier of evil, cutting you off from God and blocking the entrance to heaven

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I don't believe in it but when I was in 7th grade, I was attempting to catch a kick ball someone kicked high into the air. It landed on my thumb and dislocated it. It was Friday the 13th and I went to the hospital on the 13th floor in room 13. No joke.

ch-ch-ch ah-ah-ah

I kinda like that word. paraskevidekatriaphobia *says it 900 times*

I can't say it once!

I have no superstitions. I used to have a little fun with people that did. I walked under one too many fishing lines, my Aunt picked me up and threw me in her pond. Yeah, I stopped after that.

Nice post owlscrying.

I completely forgot tomorrow was the 13th. ^^

Thats interesting, thnx for sharing it.

Friday the 13th....so far so good....but I'm not superstitious...just another day, another dollar, at work and trying to look busy - while surfing the boards of UM

Have a good day everyone.

lmao I HEAR THAT

My work day is ok too. Except I got a "paper cut." But that doesn't prove anything.

Just my luck. I was born on Friday the 13th. Guess my next wife will not suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia. lol.

Although i don't believe the friday thing, i do believe the 13 thing. the Norse myths are always right.

so jack the ripper's middle name was "the"?

I have 13 letters in my name and i'm holding a bloody axe. weird.

Does that include middle names as well? because, i'm in the clear if it does.

No, Geves. The name we know him by. Has "13 letters" in it. ^^

I saw on the news yesterday (they were doing friday the 13th facts) That a guillotine falls exactly 13 feet and that when Lizzie Borden went to trial she only said 13 words.