It’s Friday the 13th! Are you scared? A little squirmy?

I’ve heard so many stories over the years about the origin of the superstition surrounding Friday the thirteenth, that I decided to research it for myself. There’s a lot of junk on the web and no shortage of it on this topic. As I tell my students (I teach college classes in global cultures), always look to see how reliable the source is. I chose to go with an article posted on National Geographic’s website, Friday the 13th Phobia Rooted in Ancient History.

Donald Dossey, founder of the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, and author of Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun, says “fear of Friday the 13th is rooted in ancient, separate bad-luck associations with the number 13 and the day Friday. The two unlucky entities ultimately combined to make one super unlucky day.” This goes back to multiple cultures as well – Norse, Roman and Greek are all mentioned in the article.

Thomas Fernsler, an associate policy scientist in the Mathematics and Science Education Resource Center at the University of Delaware in Newark, said the number 13 suffers because of its position after 12. According to Fernsler, numerologists consider 12 a “complete” number. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus. In exceeding 12 by 1, Fernsler said 13′s association with bad luck “has to do with just being a little beyond completeness. The number becomes restless or squirmy.”

Squirmy!

“As for Friday, it is well known among Christians as the day Jesus was crucified. Some biblical scholars believe Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit on Friday. Perhaps most significant is a belief that Abel was slain by Cain on Friday the 13th.”

Are you a triskaidekaphobe?

Whether you’re fully phobic, or just a little “squirmy,” Dossey said “cures” are as simple as learning to refocus one’s thoughts from negative feelings to positive. His mantra:

What you think about, you begin to feel. What you feel generates what you do. And what you do creates how you will become.

Wiseman, a University of Hertfordshire psychologist, says, “[Trisaidekaphobes] need to realize that they have the ability to create much of their own good and bad luck… they should concentrate on being lucky by, for example, looking on the bright side of events in their lives, remembering the good things that have happened, and, most of all, be[ing] prepared to take control of their future.”

Does all of this sound familiar?!

I started to write out a long explanation of how we actively create our lives, and wanted to refer to an old post or two. What I found, was that I’d already written what I was planning to write today! Check out:

Do you misunderstand your power?

and

Do you have a bad case of the “supposed to’s”?

Keeping with this week’s theme that there are no mistakes, only opportunities, I decided to adjust today’s post and go the “superstition and astrology” route, only to realize I’d written about that before as well! See

Can astrologers predict the future? (Why are my horoscopes usually wrong?)

and

What to expect from an astrological reading (and why I understand if you’re skeptical!)

Focus!

I could interpret the unexpected twist with this post as “bad” luck – Why can’t I think of anything new to say?! Or “good” luck – I am finished writing earlier than expected and have a free afternoon!

I could even try the folklore recommendations for dealing with Friday the 13^th: to climb to the top of a mountain or skyscraper and burn all the socks I own that have holes in them; or, to stand on my head and eat a piece of gristle.

I’ll think I’ll stick with looking at the bright side.