1. Friday the 13th’s reputation has origins in Christianity.
While there’s no exact specific reason why Friday the 13th is considered unlucky, some have suggested it’s a combination of two major superstitions, according to USA Today. Friday was once considered a day of “general ill omen,” according to Iowa State history professor, Michael Bailey, because according to Christianity, Jesus Christ was crucified on a Friday.
2. 13 being unlucky is another religious superstition.
There were also 13 people at the Last Supper, which cursed that number as bad luck. “The number 13 became a problematic number because of the number of people at that table during that fateful event,” Dr. Phil Stevens, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Buffalo, told TIME magazine. Since then, the number 13 has been seen as unlucky.
3. The day became unlucky in the Middle Ages.
Fridays and the number 13 became the Taylor Swift squad of unluckiness around the Middle Ages, according to the Daily Record. On Friday, October 13, 1307, the King of France sentenced hundreds of the Knights Templar to death. Fridays were also known as “Hangman’s Day,” when most public executions were held. However, in 1907, Thomas W. Lawson‘s novel, Friday, the Thirteenth, popularized the unlucky superstition in the modern world.
4. There are some frightening myths associated with Friday The 13th.
Forget black cats, broken mirrors or walking under ladders. There are some serious superstitions involved in Friday the 13th, according to International Business Times. If you cut your hair on this day, someone in your family will die, according to legend. If a funeral procession passes you by on Friday the 13th, supposedly YOU will be the next to die. Plus, children born today will be unlucky for life, according to superstition.
5. Not everyone fears Friday the 13th.
Friday the 13th is considered unlucky in Western superstition, but Tuesday the 13th is considered unlucky in Spanish-speaking countries. In Italy, people fear Friday the 17th because 13 is considered a lucky number in the country.
Do you consider Friday the 13th unlucky, HollywoodLifers? Are you frightened of getting bad luck today?