There is no row 13 on airplanes. Some buildings do not have a 13th floor. There are also hotels that avoid rooms with the number 13. You can spin it any way you like: 13 simply doesn't have a good standing in many societies. The question is: why is that? And how long has this been going on?
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An old superstition
The superstition is believed to come from the Catholic religion, as the German publication Hanisauland writes. The Catholic superstition starts with the Last Supper where 13 people sit at Jesus' table: the 12 apostles and Jesus himself.
Among the 13 people is Judas, the betrayer. After Judas's betrayal, arrest, condemnation and crucifixion follow. According to the History Channel some people have been afraid of dining among a party of 13 ever since. Having a meal with 12 other people is considered 'a bad omen' and a way of 'courting death'.
The fear of the number 13 is very real, so real that it was given a name: Triskaidekaphobia. In addition, 12 is considered a sacred number in many religions. History Channel explains that it is why 12 is 'still used for measuring time today'. A hard reputation to follow for number 13.
What about Friday the 13th?
The reason why the number 13 in combination with Friday causes so much hysteria is also based on History. On 13 October 1307, all members of the Knights Templar were arrested in France. They were then tortured and burned on the orders of King Philip IV.
According to the UK National Archives, by 1314 the last Templars were burnt at the stake and cursed both the Pope and King Philip IV. The curse said that they would both die within the year which ended up happening. Not only that, the royal Capetian line was dead by 1328.
The History Channel does however add a grain of salt to that story as anything to do with the Knights Templar happens to be romanticised. They write:
Some cite the link with the Templars as the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition, but like many legends involving the Templars and their history, the truth remains murky.
However, some bad things did and do happen on Friday the 13th. For instance, in 1940, Buckingham Palace was bombed by the Germans and in 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur died.
This article was adapted from Gentside DE.
Read more:
⋙ Friday the 13th: Buying a house with the unlucky number could save you over £5000
⋙ This is what your lucky number says about you
Sources:
Hanisauland: Friday the 13th.
History Channel: What’s So Unlucky About the Number 13?
History Channel: Friday the 13th
