Friday the 13th – OoOoooooo. Yes well, Paraskevidekatriaphobia, is being afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th. Its difficult to believe that in 2008, the age of modern man there are still people with the fear of a number, when theres a perfectly good hijacker standing at your front gate.
Well I started of this as normal as any other, not cowering in fear, or wanting to stay under the blanket all day to avoid the number 13. And the guys on the radio got me interested in this Friday the 13th phenomenon and why exactly people have this superstition and any others for that matter. Personally when I think of Friday the 13th I think of Jason chasing down some poor blonde college girl with a big knife.
Though no one can say for sure when and why human beings first associated the number 13 with misfortune, the belief is assumed to be quite old, and there exist any number of theories — all of which have been called into question at one time or another but there still remains no house number 13 on my street. It seems even the poor guy numbering our home has succumbed to this superstition.
A few other familiar examples:
- Breaking a mirror will result in 7 years of bad luck.
- Walking under an open ladder is bad luck.
- It will bring you bad luck if you step on the cracks in a sidewalk.
- Turning salt to avoid the “evil eye”
Is it just me or do most superstitions tell you not to do seemingly sane and normal things? Yet I subconsciously avoid walking under that ladder (to avoid the guy on it falling on me), or breaking that mirror (cos damn I'd have to buy a new one)
So what are some of the things that your granny told you? What are your most memorable superstitions?
Happy Friday the 13th!
