Friday the 13th

Are you a Paraskevidekatriaphobic? That's the fancy pants word for fear of Friday the 13th.

The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have foreboding reputations said to date from ancient times, and their inevitable conjunction from one to three times a year portends great misfortune. It may be the most widespread superstition in the United States, affecting nearly 21 million people. Some won't go to work on Friday the 13th; some won't eat in restaurants; many wouldn't think of setting a wedding on the date.

One theory has the fear going back to ancient times, when the Egyptians' 13th phase of life was 'death.' They celebrated the move to the afterlife, but not so much the Christians, who made the number 13 unlucky. (There were 13 at the Last Supper.)

Another story takes the man vs. woman battle to the heavens, where there are 13 lunar (or menstrual) cycles in a year (female,) as opposed to the solar calendar of 12 months in a year (male.) Men, naturally, wanting to be the boss, made 13 an unlucky number.

There is a Viking tale about a Valhalla dinner feast gone wrong when the evil Loki crashed the party, making 13 guests.

A witches coven has 13 members.

Then what's so wrong with Friday? Christendom has it that Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit on a Friday. The Great Flood began on a Friday; God tongue-tied the builders of the Tower of Babel on a Friday; the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday; and, of course, Friday was the day of the week on which Christ was crucified.

The Brits, attempting to dispel the superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky, commissioned a ship named "H.M.S. Friday." They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. To top it off, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage on a Friday, and was never seen or heard from again!

So how did Friday and the 13th together become the worst of all? Nobody really knows. There is nothing in literature prior to 1800 that even mentions the convergence. Some scholars are now convinced the stigma is a thoroughly modern phenomenon overblown by 20th-century media hype. Great, one more thing for the neo-con talkers and Fox News to blame on the "mainstream media."

Perpetuating the superstition more than anything are the series of movies of the same name.

Here's the scariest thing for me on this Friday the 13th: