The Unlucky Number

In many cultures, the number “13” is synonymous with the UNLUCKY NUMBER. In English-speaking cultures, Sweden, Russia and Germany, it is unlucky when the 13th day of the month falls on a Friday (Friday the 13th). A specific fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia.However, in the Greek or Spanish-speaking cultures, there is an unlucky presence when the 13th day falls on a Tuesday. Fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia. There are many interpretations used to try and explain why the number is termed “unlucky.” As a start to years of superstition and scare, in his writings in 1925, Charles A. Platt proposed that the reason the number 13 was considered to be unlucky was that a person could only count from 1-12 with their 8 fingers, 2 thumbs and 2 feet but not beyond that. Christians believe that it is ill-fated since the 13th disciple to sit at the Last Supper was Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus in the end. The 13th card of Tarot Decks of the Major Arcana is Death. A calendar of 13 months was used in England up until Tudor times when scientific methods were put into effect. Another interpretation as to why the number 13 is unlucky is because it is the number of full moons in a calendar year. Although there are many other superstitions in the world today, this seems to be the one with the most substantiated evidence and reasoning as to why it still stands today and how it came about to start off with.