Hospitals and hotels traditionally won’t have a room thirteen, airports will skip terminal 13 while many tall buildings will go straight from floor 12 to 14. Fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia. The number thirteen has been linked with bad luck since the Biblical times. This is when the thirteenth guest (Judas) betrayed Jesus at the Last Supper. By the middle ages Friday was also considered a bearer of bad fortune and when the thirteenth day of the month falls on a Friday it is considered doubly unlucky. Praskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia is a fear of Friday the 13th which is a popular modern myth of science.
This could be due to the fact that the number 13 has to follow the number 12 which is considered to be a complete number according to numerologists. There are 12 months in a year, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 eggs in a dozen, 12 apostles of Jesus, 12 labors of Hercules and 12 days of Christmas to name a few. Numerology is considered para-science today and is the belief that numbers are connected to physical things and life. This belief is dismissed by mathematicians who claim it lacks scientific merit.
Several key figures of history were triskaidekaphobic including Napoleon, President Herbert Hoover and President Franklin D. Roosevelt who would not host 13 guests at a meal or travel on the 13th day of any month Friday or not. Mark Twain was once urged not to attend a dinner party in which he would be the 13th guest and in Paris you can hire a professional 14th guest or quatorzieme.
If you do consider Friday the 13th to be unlucky then 2009 has been a truly unlucky year with three of them! One was in February, one in March and one today (November). Luckily for you this is very unusual; it only happens once every 11 years, and is the last one you will have to endure this year.
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