Is 13 Lucky Or Unlucky?

Friday the 13th happens in a month that starts with a Sunday. In 2023 there were two and in 2024 one is today and the next is in December.

A Friday falling on the 13th of the month happens at least once a year but can happen up to three times in one year.

Fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia. Fear of the day now even has a psychological diagnosis - paraskevidekatriaphobia.

It is a recognised fact that some people just expect something bad to happen on Friday the 13th. Airline ticket prices are supposed to drop and some bosses skip or cancel meetings that are held on that day.

Image by KERBSTONE from Pixabay

How often does the 13th fall on a Friday?

2020 - March and November
2021 - August
2022 - May
2023 - January and October
2024 - September and December
2025 - June
2026 - February, March and November
2027 - August
2028 - October
2029 - April and July
2030 - September and December

Origins of Friday the 13th

Many people believe that FRIDAY 13TH is unlucky because Judas in the Bible who betrayed Jesus is thought to be the 13th guest to sit down at the Last Supper and Jesus was crucified on a Friday.

Another reason is according to Norse mythology twelve gods were having a dinner party. A thirteenth god arrived who was not invited and killed one of the other gods making it a dark day thus causing the day to be considered unlucky.

Why is 13 unlucky?

The number 13 is considered unlucky by people who are superstitious. You will often find there is never a room 13 in hotels and lots of buildings don’t have a 13th floor. Most people avoid getting married on the 13th or even buy a house or make decisions on the 13th. It is also considered unlucky to have thirteen guests at a table.

In comparison Chinese people consider the number 13 to be lucky.



Are black cats lucky or unlucky?

The poor black cat seems to get bad press as for centuries it has been regarded by lots of people as being unlucky. Black cats are often associated with Halloween, witches and all things spooky. But in Ancient Egypt all cats including black ones were worshipped and considered sacred.

When a black cat crosses your path, do you cross yourself or count your blessings? This will depend on whether you are superstitious, or whether you're a cat lover or not.

Image by minorthreadsco from Pixabay

Some common superstitions in the UK

Breaking a mirror
Walking under a ladder
Throwing salt over your shoulder after spilling it
Putting new shoes on the table
Opening an umbrella indoors
Crossing your fingers
Letting a black cat cross your path
Avoiding the number 13
Bad luck comes in threes
Knock on wood

One for sorrow, Two for joy!

A single magpie is supposed to bring bad luck but a pair bring joy and are positive.

Do you remember the long-running children's television programme called Magpie? It had a magpie as a mascot called Murgatroyd. The theme tune was played by the Spencer Davis Group but they called themselves The Murgatroyd Band for the programme. It was composed by Eddie Hardin, Ray Fenwick and Spencer Davis, but the main lyrics were from the children's nursery rhyme One for Sorrow.

I expect you are familiar with the modern version of the rhyme:



Phobias about other numbers

The extreme fear of numbers is Arithmophobia
Tetraphobia is the fear of the number 4
Fear of the number 5 is called Pentaphobia (from the Greek or Latin for five)
Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13
Heptadecaphobia is the fear of the number 17
Some people have a fear of the number 666 and this is called Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.

Unlucky numbers around the world

#4 - China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. It is pronounced 'shi' and sounds like their word for death. This superstition is called tetraphobia.

#7 - In some countries 7 is often considered lucky but in the east, mainly China, Thailand and Vietnam the 7th month is the ghost month when people respect death and think ghosts escape from hell.

#8 - In the far east this is considered lucky but in India unlucky, because many catastrophes like earthquakes, tsunamis and terror attacks have happened on the 8th or something to do with the number 8.

#9 - This is another unlucky number in Japan as it is pronounced 'Ku'. This is again because of the pronounciation which sounds like the Japanese word for torture or suffering.

#13 - Probably the most common unlucky number in lots of countries particularly in the west.

#17 - In Italy the Roman numerals for 17 are XVII. If you rearrange these they spell VIXI translated from Latin meaning 'my life is over'.

#39 - This number translated in Afghanistan is 'morda gow' and this means 'dead cow'. This is slang for a pimp so many Afghans will go the other way if they see a car with a license plate of 39.

What is a good number?

There are various reasons why we have a lucky number and these can be very personal to us. Some countries in the world have lucky numbers as well as unlucky ones and the list could go on with the reasons for this.

The number 666 is found in the book of Revelation 13 verse 18, and is the number of the beast which is associated with Satan. Biblical scholars think that the writer of Revelation was using numbers to send the early Christians a coded message.

666 is also an angel number. An angel number is a repetitive or predictable sequence or pattern of numbers like 1111, 777, 5656 or 321. These numbers tend to attract your attention and some people believe they are a spiritual message and a good sign, not a bad omen.

But the number 12 in western cultures is considered to be a good number as it is associated with completeness.

Image by Duncan Cumming

Some facts about the number 12:

12 days of Christmas
12 months in the year
12 signs of the zodiac
12 tribes of Israel
In the Bible Jacob had 12 sons
12 gods of Olympus
12 is how many are in a dozen
A gross is 12 dozen
Jesus had twelve disciples
12 hours in the face of an analogue clock
12 inches in a foot
A group of twelve things is called a Duodecad

So be careful because TODAY is Friday the 13th!