Why such a Friday is scary and how many times it occurs throughout the year is a question that worries quite a lot of people, especially the superstitious.

According to some, this combination of date and day of the week is unlucky. There are several such days throughout the year. What determines their number? How many unlucky Fridays can there be in a year and why is everyone afraid of them?

The combination of day of week and date occurs at least once a year, and a maximum of three times. There is no such likelihood that throughout the year, such a tandem will be absent from the calendar.

What determines the number of Friday the 13th in a year?

It all depends on whether the year is an ordinary year or a leap year. In order to calculate how many Friday the thirteenth there will be during the year, you need to take into account what day of the week the first day of the year falls on. For example. If the first day of the year is Monday, and the year is normal, then Friday the 13th will be in April and July. But if it is a leap year, it will be in September and December. Depending on the first day of the year and the type of year (regular or leap year), using the appropriate mathematical formula, you can calculate in which month there will be an “ominous” combination.

Genesis of the thirteenth

Apparently, the fear of the number thirteen stems from ancient Babylon. According to Babylonian laws, order in the world was based on the number of twelve: 12 months in a year, 12 hours of day and night, and 12 zodiac signs representing harmony. The appearance of the number thirteen destroyed everything. This number means chaos. It shifts the balance of the Universe. Even the ancient Egyptians felt fear of the number thirteen. Thirteen steps on the staircase leading to eternity, the thirteenth step symbolized death.

The number's fame reached ancient Rome because on the Ides of March ("ID" in the Roman calendar meant the thirteenth day of the month), one of the most famous Roman leaders, Julius Caesar, was stabbed to death. Whether the number 13 is a coincidence, and what kind of day Friday is, is up to you to decide.

Friday the 13th - superstition or reality?

The spread of evil forces dormant in the number thirteen owes much to the development of Christianity. We can say that the number is responsible for all the misfortunes that Christians have encountered.

It all started with the ill-fated last supper of Jesus Christ, in which thirteen people took part, including the well-known traitor Judas. Moreover, Christ was crucified on Friday. People combined Friday and the number to create a deadly duet, foreshadowing the apocalypse.

On Friday, October 13, 1307, the murder of the Templars took place, in collaboration with Christians and the then Pope Clement V.

Why is Friday the 13th dangerous?

This is truly a hellish number associated with Satan himself. It is not for nothing that the thirteenth chapter of the Apocalypse refers to the Antichrist and the Monster. According to beliefs, Satan was the thirteenth member of the coven, in which twelve witches took part. Thirteen did not bring happiness to the head of the Roman Catholic Church. On May 13, 1981, an attempt was made on the life of John Paul II. It's a good thing it wasn't Friday because it probably would have ended tragically. The sum of the digits of the date of his death, the sum of the digits of the time of his death, and the sum of the digits of his age when he died is thirteen.

Friday the 13th - what does this day mean?

The number 13 has both destructive power and great power of unification and harmonization.

Friday the thirteenth, in accordance with pre-Christian beliefs, was the day of feminine energy and combined all the faces of the goddess - maiden, mother and destroyer.

The recognition of her as an unlucky day was caused by the fear of performing in honor of the goddess, through which, as it was believed, the old matriarchal order was supposed to be returned. Women on this day do not need to be afraid of failures; the goddess will help them discover their capabilities.

Phobias and reality

All the phobias against Friday the 13th seem absurd. Ultimately, Karol Wojtyła was elected pope at the age of 58 (5 + 8 = 13).

In the Old Testament, thirteen is indicated as the number of salvation. To this day, it brings good luck to South American Indians and Chinese. And yet people go crazy just thinking about the number 13, let alone Friday the 13th. Sailors are afraid to go to sea on the thirteenth day of the month; in some hotels there are no rooms under this number. The day became the starting point for a horror film of the same name. This is the day Jason began the bloodshed at Crystal Lake...

On this day, apparently, you should not start new things, sneeze or swim. The best thing is to stay at home and not get out of bed. But do not give in to this superstition, because to believe means to unconsciously provoke the occurrence of an expected failure. Four walls do not always provide security. Because even in a wooden church a brick can fall on your head.

In fact, Friday the 13th is the most ordinary day of the month, for some the happiest, for others not so much, which according to many coincidences and superstitions has acquired such a surreal meaning.

That's how Friday the 13th has already passed a couple of days, and I somehow missed it completely. It is generally accepted that on this day one should be especially careful, as failures and troubles await a person. Particularly superstitious people do not even leave the house - psychiatrists diagnose them with “paraskavidekatriaphobia” (fear of Friday the 13th). This phobia is considered a special case of triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13).

Before the release of the horror film, I had no idea that I needed to be “afraid” of this date, but after studying the history of the phenomenon, I learned that this “damn Friday” appeared long before the film.

Let's see how this could happen...

History of superstition about Friday the 13th

Even the ancient Romans considered “13” the number of death, destruction, and misfortune. Some theologians believe that it was on Friday the 13th that Eve ate the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam. There is also an opinion that on Friday the 13th Cain killed his brother Abel. Also, some believe that Friday the 13th is unlucky due to the fact that the crucifixion of Christ took place on Friday, and Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was the thirteenth apostle. There are also opinions unrelated to Scripture.

A popular explanation for the special treatment of Friday the 13th is the history of the Knights Templar. It was on Friday October 13, 1307 that the French king Philip IV the Fair ordered the arrest of members of the order, including all of its supreme leadership. As a result of the ensuing trial on charges of heresy and blasphemy of its members, the order was dissolved, and many Templars arrested in France were tortured and later executed, including by burning.

The story presented is well known from Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, although he was far from the first to present it due to the special relationship that some people have with Friday the 13th.

According to the oldest beliefs, on Friday the 13th, 12 witches always flocked to the Sabbath, ghouls and other evil spirits gathered, and at the height of the fun, when the full moon rose, Satan himself appeared thirteenth.

At the end of the 18th century, the superstition about Friday the 13th became so strong in the minds of the British that the authorities decided to prove the absurdity of this sign. For this purpose, a ship called "Friday" was built, construction of which began on Friday the 13th. It was also launched on Friday the 13th, and in front of the general public, again on Friday the 13th, the ship went out to sea. Since then, no one has seen "Friday" again: the ship and its crew went missing.

One of the most notorious shipwrecks of the 20th century is also associated with Friday the 13th - on December 13, 1907, one of the largest ships at that time - the seven-masted schooner Thomas Laurson - crashed on underwater reefs.

Spanish and Portuguese sailors, on the contrary, consider Friday the 13th a favorable day for sailing. This is explained by the fact that Christopher Columbus began his voyage to the shores of America on Friday.

Beliefs on Friday the 13th

Sociological surveys show that every fifth European is afraid of the number “13”.

Many surgeons are afraid of this date. Some doctors do not schedule operations on this day, and already scheduled operations are postponed to any other day. Doctors are convinced that the risk of failure of the operation performed on Friday the 13th doubles. For example, British surgeons are canceling 50% of operations scheduled for Friday the 13th.

Also, many computer users consider Black Friday the most dangerous day in terms of virus attacks. At the dawn of the computer age, many creators of virus programs set the mechanism for triggering the malicious properties of the virus precisely on this day.

To avoid the terrible consequences of Friday the 13th, according to popular belief, you just need to visit church on this day.

Friday the 13th at the movies

At the end of the 20th century, the term “Friday the 13th” was popularized by a series of films of the same name about a serial killer in a hockey mask, Jason Voorhees, who comes to life on the day of his death, Friday the 13th, and begins to take revenge on everyone. A total of 12 films in the series were made.

The film studio Paramount Pictures plans to show the next horror film in the Friday the 13th series in the winter of 2017.

There is a whole separate phobia in honor of this day - paraskavedekatriaphobia. This word consists of the words Friday and thirteen in Greek. Here are the accidents they collected on Friday the 13th:

25. One of the oldest theories about the origins of the fear of Friday the 13th dates back to 1307, when French King Philip IV ordered the arrest and execution of thousands of crusaders.

24. Just before Halloween 1989, the New York Stock Exchange crashed on Friday the 13th, dropping the Dow Jones Industrial Average by nearly 191 points in just one day. It was the second worst day in US history.

23. On Friday the 13th 2010 in England at 1:13 p.m., a 13-year-old boy was struck by lightning. He miraculously survived, escaping with a minor burn.

22. The Aztec Empire unexpectedly fell on Friday, August 13, 1521, when the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived with his men in the city of Tenochtitlan, remaining in Mexico City and putting an end to the once great civilization.

21. With millions of people afraid to travel or work on any Friday the 13th, the international economy loses an estimated $900 million for every day that flights and travel are canceled.

20. New York resident Daz Baxter decided to stay home in his bed all day on Friday, August 13, 1976, to avoid potential misfortunes and misfortunes. But failure itself came for him when his apartment building collapsed.

19. 1989 was marked by the “Friday the 13th Virus”, when hundreds of IBM computers in the UK were infected and their data was constantly erased. Those were the times when backup had not yet been put into practice, and information was lost without a trace.

18. During one of the recent Friday the 13th in 2012, a real disaster occurred. In January 2012, the cruise ship Costa Concordia sank in the Tyrrhenian Sea near the island of Giglio off the coast of Italy. 32 people died in this accident.

17. Uncle Joshua Dudley died at the end of 1995. A lawyer for a deceased relative called Joshua to tell him that his uncle had bequeathed a fortune of $3 million to his nephew. Everything would be fine, but at the time the will was announced, Dudley was at an exhibition of Faberge eggs, and his emotional dance of happiness caused damage amounting to $4 million.

16. Have you ever heard of such a psychological phenomenon as the Observer Effect? The point is that when people are in a large group and someone is in trouble, no one dares to help because they think that someone else will do it for them. Nearly 30 neighbors are said to have seen Catherine Susan Genovese stabbed to death in Queens, New York, on Friday the 13th, 1964. But no one called the police and stopped the murder.

15. On Friday, January 13, 1939, severe bushfires broke out in Victoria, Australia, killing 36 people that day and destroying 75% of the state.

14. In October 1972, on Friday the 13th, a plane crashed in the Andes Mountains. Of all those on board, 12 people died immediately, several more died due to an avalanche, and those who survived became cannibals. On the same day, another plane flying from St. Petersburg to Moscow crashed. All 160 passengers were killed.

13. Prostitute Frances Cole was brutally murdered on Friday 13th February 1891 in London, with her throat cut from ear to ear. The girl's murder is believed to be the latest murder in the notorious Whitechapel area, where Jack the Ripper rampaged.

12. Researcher Tawny Wetzel tried to determine if there was any connection between the ominous date and the ambulance calls. She eventually died tragically on Friday, January 13th, 1977 due to a hornet attack.

11. Some pretty scary people were born on Friday the 13th, including horror lord Alfred Hitchcock and the former president of Cuba.

10. Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist organization, was also born on Friday, July 13, 1821.

9. Adolf Hitler's Blitz Offensive was to completely destroy London in a massive bombing campaign. On Friday 13 September 1940, Nazi fighter planes strafed Buckingham Palace, destroying the main chapel. Luckily the royal family was at a tea party elsewhere.

8. In November 1970, on Friday the 13th, one of the worst natural disasters in human history occurred. In just 1 day, 500,000 people died in Bangladesh. They were killed by the powerful tropical Cyclone Bhola.

7. The unluckiest Briton in 1998 was John Sheridan. His car was stolen 5 times in a day, his TVs exploded 6 times in six months, and he lost £4,000 by forgetting to remove a winning lottery ticket from his trousers before washing. On Friday the 13th in 1998, his car ran out of gas. A policeman, whose car also broke down right at the gas station, agreed to give him a ride. Sheridan walked back to his car with a can of gas, but as soon as he turned the corner, his wheel fell off. He switched to a bus to still get home that day, and, as you guessed, this transport also broke down.

6. On Friday, October 13, 1972, New Yorker Dana Hamilton sold her beautiful hair to a wig store to buy a gold chain for her husband's favorite pocket watch. She returned home that evening with a gift. Inadvertently, she discovered that her husband had sold his expensive watch to buy a pearl necklace for the secretary with whom he was having an affair.

5. In 1992, a certain Justin Bartlett was arrested in Texas. The criminal was sentenced to death. On January 11 the prisoner awaiting execution was given a reprieve, but unfortunately he died two days later on Friday the 13th, having been poisoned during his last meal.

4. Hurricane Charlie hit south Florida on August 13, 2004 and continued for 6 days. The state suffered $11 billion in damages.

3. Arguably the most famous rapper of all time, Tupac Shakur died on Friday, September 13, 1996, from gunshot wounds suffered while leaving Mike Tyson's boxing match in Las Vegas a few days earlier.

2. And although we cannot yet be sure what will happen in the future, on Friday, April 13, 2029, it is predicted that Asteroid 99942 Apophis will fly past the Earth. The trajectory of the cosmic body will pass closer than any of our satellites. A little reassurance for the particularly superstitious - since these forecasts were given, the possibility of a collision has been significantly reduced thanks to new, more accurate calculations.

1. America's most famous daredevil was Sam Patch, who gained fame after he jumped into the Niagara River from a platform located almost at the very top of Niagara Falls in 1829. Later that year, he decided to jump from the 100-foot Rotchester Falls above the Genesee River. After Sam failed to collect the expected proceeds from his jump on November 6th, he repeated the stunt on Friday November 13th, during which he fell to his death.

Let's take a look at it, and also what it is. Let me remind you about , and here it is

Friday the 13th is notorious, and not only among superstitious people. Many consider this date unlucky and fear troubles and failures. Let's look at why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day. Back in the Middle Ages, this day of the week was considered unlucky, and the number 13 was notorious as the number of the devil. After all, this is a damn dozen.

Bible version

The answer to why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day can be found in the Bible. It was on this day that the devil in the guise of a serpent seduced Eve into eating an apple from the tree of paradise. Interestingly, the most terrible events in biblical history took place on Fridays:

• The murder of Abel by his own brother Cain.
• Global flood.
• Destruction of Solomon's Temple.
• Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

In general, the Bible was very negative about the last working day of the week. At the same time, the modern church does not recognize a single superstition associated with this day.

A similar version of the origin of the bad date is contained in Scandinavian mythology. 12 great gods gathered at the festive table, and the 13th, uninvited - Loki, caused general confusion with his appearance.

Popular hypotheses

There are several versions explaining why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day:

• The Last Supper took place on just such a day; 12 guests were present at Christ’s dinner and the thirteenth was the traitor Judas. It was from then that the superstition began.
• On this day, members of the Templar Order were captured, tortured and burned alive. Since then, combinations of number and day of the week have been considered unlucky.
• There is also a more mystical version: Friday the 13th is the day of the witches’ Sabbath, when evil spirits begin to roam the earth, arranging intrigues for people.

Each version explaining why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day is interesting in its own way.

Astrologers' version

Astrologers also briefly tried to answer the question of why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day. They explained:

• Friday itself is a completely safe day. It is ruled by Venus.
• 13 is the number of the constellation Gemini, ruled by Mercury.

From the point of view of astrology, the combination of day of the week and date does not carry any deep, dangerous properties for humans; there are much more unfavorable days in the year. Therefore, star experts advise not to pay attention, not to try to find out why Friday the 13th is considered a bad date, but to spend this day communicating with family and loved ones.

Signs

Superstitious people believe that important decisions cannot be made on this date. The following facts are known:

• In Britain, surgeons - people seemingly far from religious superstitions - refuse to perform operations on this day.
• The sailors do not start sailing.
• Many Americans try not to leave their homes on this day.

There are many signs that are associated with an unkind number. People who are far from superstitions in everyday life try to adhere to them:

• You should not lend on this day, otherwise you yourself will experience financial difficulties.
• You can’t start a journey, it won’t be easy and it won’t bring you joy.
• You cannot look in a broken mirror, otherwise failure will follow you for 6 years.
• You shouldn't have fun on Friday the 13th - it's a harbinger of imminent sadness.
• On the night of this Friday, you may have prophetic dreams, but you should not retell them to anyone. However, you should definitely listen to the clues of fate.
• Plants planted on this last working day of the week will quickly wither.
• Any risk should be abandoned.

Quite an impressive list of signs and warnings is associated with this seemingly ordinary date. This is why Friday the 13th is a bad day. He is not suitable for beginnings.

Statistics data

Alas, superstitions turned out to be so strong that the number of accidents and other troubles increases exponentially on this date:

• The number of car accidents in the UK on this day is more than 50% more than, for example, the 6th.
• In the USA, the highest percentage of ruins occurs on the 13th, Friday. Many refuse any active action and meekly resign themselves to fate.

These data indicate that people take superstitions very seriously and unwittingly become the cause of their own troubles. Why is Friday the 13th considered an unlucky day? Largely due to the fact that people themselves believe in it and expect trouble. And the energy field of a person focused on failure attracts problems.

Facts from history

However, in the past there is a lot of evidence that this day really brought troubles. Is this a coincidence or a legend? Why is Friday the 13th considered a bad day? Does this have any basis in reality? We invite you to get acquainted with the facts. So, what happened on Friday the 13th in different years:

• In 1204, participants in the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople.
• In 1633, astronomer Galileo Galilei arrived at the Inquisition trial. He was not burned at the stake, but was sentenced to eternal exile.
• In 1772, the British navigator, Captain James Cook, set off on his last voyage. The third expedition around the world ended tragically: Cook was killed by Hawaiian aborigines and partially eaten; the team managed to return only a basket with pieces of human meat and part of a skull - all that was left of the captain.
• Napoleon, superstitious, like a true Corsican, never made important decisions on this day or signed documents.
• 1940 - Nazi aircraft dropped bombs on Buckingham Palace, causing the destruction of the Palace Chapel.
• 1970 - a terrifying hurricane in South Asia killed more than 300 thousand people.
• The plane crash in the Andes, known in history as the “Miracle in the Andes,” occurred in 1972. Cut off from the world, with no hope of salvation, with a minimal supply of food, people struggled for life for more than 2 months. All the money was burned, and the survivors made the difficult decision to eat the frozen bodies of their dead friends and loved ones.
• On the same day, in 1972, another plane crash occurred, the crash of an Il-62 plane, which claimed the lives of 174 people.

These facts illustrate why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day. It was during this period that many terrible events occurred that claimed many human lives.

Born on Friday the 13th

Having considered why Friday the 13th is considered a bad day, we will find out which famous people were born on this date:

• Alfred Hitchcock (1899). The great director and big fan of the horror genre gave the world films that still make your blood run cold when you watch them. He himself was interested in various mystical phenomena and was known as a mysterious person.
• Fidel Castro (1926). The Cuban revolutionary was born on this unlucky day, according to many. However, he himself considered it a good sign.
• Orlando Bloom (1977). The actor considers the mystical number to be his lucky number.
• Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (1986). Twin sisters do not attach much importance to their date of birth, and yet good luck accompanies them in life.
• Robert Pattinson (1986). The famous actor, who played the role of Edward Cullen in the popular Twilight saga, admits in one of his interviews that he is afraid of his date of birth, and if Friday falls on the 13th, he tries not to leave the house.

Examples of celebrities who were born on a mystical date prove that there is nothing bad in the very combination of the number and day of the week. However, if you wait for trouble, it will definitely happen. Trying to prove that Friday the 13th is a bad day, bringing disappointment and misfortune, people often turn to events that happened on this day in different years and even centuries. But we should not forget that various disasters happened on other days of the week.

There is probably no person who does not believe in omens, accidents and coincidences. He may not recognize them, but everyone has something of their own, verified by personal experience. For example, you shouldn’t get up on your left foot, return home for a forgotten item, sew up clothes for the trip... this list can be extended to hundreds, and sometimes we adhere to many things without even realizing it. But there is another superstition associated with one day.

Friday the 13th.

Why did it become fashionable to tremble with fear of “Friday the 13th”, call it “the day of Satan” and expect evil tricks from the dark forces? They say it all started with the Templars, who were executed on this very day. Let's try to figure out where the superstitions about the mystical properties of Friday the 13th came from, and should we be afraid of this day?!

There are several versions about the origin of the mystical power of Friday the 13th. The most popular explanation is given by the Last Supper, in which 13 people took part - Jesus and 12 of his disciples. The thirteenth was the traitor Judas.

Another explanation is that witch conclaves always consisted of thirteen participants. Court records do not always confirm this rule, but the people firmly believed in it. It is believed that on this day all ghouls, witches and other evil spirits gather for a demonic Sabbath from all over the world.

Friday was also “guilty” of the fact that, according to legend, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and were expelled from paradise on this very day.

There is another version: 700 years ago, the most powerful and richest organization in Europe, the Order of the Templars, ceased to exist. Militant monks built roads, fought wars, and financed the construction of Gothic cathedrals. But in 1307 they disappeared from the historical arena as mysteriously as they appeared on it. One day, April 13, Friday, they were all captured, put behind bars, and then burned at the stake of the Inquisition.

Some astrologers believe that the number 13 itself, according to numerology, is the beginning of everything new. In the Middle Ages, in contrast to the dozen - the number 12 - people involved in dark affairs decided to “invent” the devil’s dozen, which is designated by the number 13. Friday as a negative day in combination with the “devil” number was chosen because dreams from Thursday to Friday are considered prophetic.

The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, it is a special form of the disease. For reference, we note that the term “phobia” goes back to Phobos, the god of fear. And they talk about phobias when a person finds himself in the power of the “god of fear,” that is, fear controls him, and he does not control fear.

Note that Friday the 13th is considered unlucky by many.

The Americans turned out to be the most impressionable in terms of superstitions. A large number of high-rise buildings in the United States do not have a 13th floor. After the 12th comes the 14th. Many airports do not have a 13th gate. Some airlines remove this day from their flight schedules. In hospitals and hotels there is no 13th ward and 13th room. Together with other facts, every time on Friday the 13th the US economy suffers losses of $800–900 million. After all, making purchases on this day is considered a bad sign.

And in Britain, surgeons are afraid of Friday the 13th. Some of them are canceling operations scheduled for that day. British doctors are confident that the risk of failure doubles on Friday the 13th. In cinemas there is no chair number 13. And in France there is a tradition: if 13 people gather for lunch, they put the 14th chair and put a mannequin on it, which is served like the rest.

By the way, it was the thirteenth pillar of the Paris tunnel that the car carrying Princess Diana crashed into. In 1970, the Apollo 13 spacecraft aborted its flight to the Moon due to the explosion of an oxygen tank on board. It launched on April 13 at 13:13 from launch pad No. 39 (three times 13).

There are several cases of strange coincidences of the number 13 in the fate of quite famous personalities. For example Richard Wagner. The number thirteen haunted me all my life. His name is written in Latin letters, consists of thirteen letters, and he was born in 1813. On October 13 (Friday), he heard Weber's opera "Freeshot", which had a great influence on him. Throughout his life, he wrote 13 operas, no more, no less. The opera Tannhäuser (which he completed on April 13, 1844) failed in Paris on March 13, 1861, but was rehabilitated there on May 13, 1895. The Riga theater, where Wagner began his service as bandmaster, opened on September 13, 1837, and his own theater in Bayreth opened on August 13. He died in the thirteenth year of German unity, and the day of his death was February 13th. Mysticism, and that’s all.

It was on Friday the 13th that the once all-powerful “master of Chicago,” the famous American gangster Al Capone, was arrested and sentenced to prison. On Friday, September 13, 1996, in the famous city of gambling, Las Vegas, the popular musician and composer Tupac Shakur was killed, having previously managed to happily escape several serious assassination attempts. But on Friday the 13th, the killer’s bullets still caught up with him.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1804-1815) on this day refrained from conducting military operations and, like a true Corsican, was not deprived of superstitious fear. As you can see, the French emperor was not alone, the German statesman Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) nicknamed the “Iron Chancellor”, the English Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) and the oil magnate Jean Paul Getty (1892-1976) never signed this day of no contracts or agreements.

The German poet, thinker and natural scientist Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) preferred to spend Friday the 13th in bed, just in case. It would seem that he was an enlightened man, the author of the famous “Faust,” but he was terribly superstitious.

Austrian composer Arnold Schonberg (1874-1951), inventor of 12-tone music, spent Friday, July 13, 1951, locked in bed, shaking with fear. A quarter of an hour before midnight, his wife Gertrude looked in on him: “Soon everything will be over.” Schonberg raised his head slightly, whispered the word “harmony” and... died. Time of death: 13 minutes to midnight. He was 76 years old, 13 in total. And he was born on September 13, 1874.

However, the number 13 is considered auspicious in Kabbalah and among the Mayans.
A Jewish boy undergoes his Bar Mitzvah at the age of thirteen.

In English, 13 is often called "the baker's dozen." The origin of this name is due to the fact that in the Middle Ages, bakers, fearing the severe punishments in force at that time for deceiving customers (up to cutting off a hand), usually added an extra unit of goods to each dozen sold, so as not to accidentally shortchange themselves.

And I wish you not to believe prejudices, remember that your ancestors on your grandmother’s side were Mayan Indians, and enjoy Friday, August 13th!

Friday the 13th In many countries of the world it is considered an unlucky day when various big and small troubles occur. On this day, especially superstitious people generally try not to go out into the street, not to start new things and not to meet unknown people, so as not to become a victim of evil forces..

Baker's dozen

12 is a dozen, and 13 is a “devil’s dozen”, why? This number has long been considered negative in European culture (although, for example, among the Mayan Indians, the number 13 is a lucky number). There are many reasons for dislike of the number 13, most of them relate to mythology or religion. For example, 13 people were present at the Last Supper of Jesus Christ, and the last of them, Judas, ultimately betrayed the Savior. The Scandinavians have a legend that initially 12 gods sat at the heavenly table, but the 13th came - Loki - he started a quarrel, after which numerous misfortunes began.

Then the cause-and-effect relationships got mixed up, and now it is difficult to say, for example, whether 13 is considered unlucky because 13 witches gathered for the Sabbath, or whether so many of them gathered just because the number is demonic. The same applies to the gallows, to which, according to tradition, there are 13 steps, and to 13 ropes - turns of the rope on which the condemned person is hanged.

Fear of the number 13

The superstitious fear of the number 13 even has an unpronounceable scientific name: triskaidekaphobia. It is so common that in many European countries avoidance of the number 13 is widespread. For example, in some buildings there is no 13th floor, and immediately after the 12th there is the 14th or 12A. In opera houses in Italy, sometimes there are no seats with this number, and on almost all ships, after the 12th cabin, the 14th immediately follows. Also, the 13th row is sometimes missing on airplanes.

Previously, there was a superstition, associated precisely with the Last Supper, that if 13 people gathered at the table, the last one who came would soon die. To avoid such an unfortunate set of circumstances, a special “fourteenth guest” was even invited to celebrations and official meetings. And in the USA, for example, due to the superstitiousness of many pilots, there is no F-13 fighter (the YF-12 was immediately followed by the F-14). The 13th number is also not used for cars participating in auto racing.

Friday is an unlucky day, and Friday the 13th is even more so

It is believed that Jesus Christ was crucified on Friday, so this day is unlucky. It's hard to say when these two solitudes, Friday and the number 13, came together to create some super unlucky days of the year. Perhaps the main legend about this day is associated with the Templar Order. This explanation is popular among esotericists and followers of alternative history.

On Friday, October 13, 1307, the French king Philip IV ordered the arrest of all members of the order, including the supreme leaders. A protracted process began, as a result of which the order was dissolved, and many Templars arrested in France were tortured and later executed.

Here is what the French esotericist and occultist Robert Ambelain writes about this: “The day was not chosen by chance. The king chose Friday as the day of Christ's crucifixion. He chose the 13th day of the month - a hint of an unlucky number. 13 was considered a bad number by Homer (Iliad, V) and Cicero (Pro Cecina). In the Hebrew Kabbalah there were 13 Spirits of Evil, and the 13th mentioned in Scripture was Judas, who betrayed Christ.”

By the way, on Friday the 13th, terrible events, disasters and catastrophes actually took place in different years, the latest of which was the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015, which claimed the lives of about 150 people. However, on other days, no less great misfortunes happened, so blaming the day of the week that coincided with the “devil” date for everything is unfair.

Signs of Friday the 13th

You cannot start traveling, as the road will be full of unpleasant surprises.

It is better not to get behind the wheel and not to go on the road at all, there is a great danger of an accident.

You should not have surgery on this day.

It is believed that a child born on such a day will have a difficult fate.

If you bury someone on Friday the 13th, you will soon have to bury someone else.

Do not plant anything in the garden on this day - there will be no harvest.

Do not cut your hair - it can be stolen by evil forces and damaged.

Don't take all the superstitions associated with Friday the 13th to heart, because being negative in itself can result in something bad.