Fear of Friday The 13th aka Paraskavedekatriaphobia or Paraskevidekatriaphobia

Friday The Thirteenth: Bad Omen or Scapegoat?

Today marking the first Friday the 13th of the year 2005 I decided to research this cultural superstition that gets perpetuated through the ages, even spawning a saturation of semi-successful slasher sequels & televison series based on the infamous date. The terms to describe the fear surrounding this date seem bizarre in themselves:
From Wikipedia:
Fear/Phobia of Friday The 13th - Paraskavedekatriaphobia or Paraskevidekatriaphobia
Fear/Phobia of the Number 13 - Triskaidekaphobia

A little more info I found on the web:

Fear Of Number 13
Triskaidekaphobia
By Mr. Yogi (YOGI INKA)
Friday the 13th phobia has its roots in the early days of Christianity. There were 13 people at Christ's Last Supper before his captivity, and then He was crucified on a Friday. Since number 13 is regarded as an ominous and unlucky. The latest example of ill-fated Apollo 13 lunar mission, which was, aborted en route to the moon in 1970 because of a fuel cell in the service module. The flight left the launching pad at 13 minutes after the hour on April 13. In China also, 13 was regarded as a number of obstacles.

In the ancient religion of Mexico, number 13 were considered the most fortunate number- since it symbolizes the Sun, the male and positive energy. In the Cabala, 13 are not regarded as unlucky. In the second book of the Moses, one can study of the 13 attributes of God (Exodus34: 6-7). In numerology, it is a number of practical, alert, and intelligent. Those born on this date are very successful in scientific research and development. Their interests in religion and philosophy can bring them great fame and siddhis/ riddhis (powers that are believed to be supernatural)

Are you more adamant about your fear of number 13? Would you consider living on floor marked 13 in unit 13? Most of the scientist world does not offer you any solid proof, but stating it is simply a superstition phobia. For centuries, the scary combination of Friday the 13 has portended misfortune to many across this world. The number 13 by itself have led many high-rise buildings to number of their floors 12 to 14. Although the West is famous for scientific technological wizardry and education, the number 13's superstition still has a powerful hold on many aspects of everyday life. It seems to be that even concern authorities and governments recognize the power of this number and willing to bend the rules. Perhaps numbers do have their strengths.

www.yogi.com...

Origins & Effects of Friday The Thirteenth from Wikipedia:
Origins
The origins of the Friday the 13th superstition has been linked to the fact there were 13 people at the last supper of Jesus, who was traditionally crucified on Good Friday, but it probably originated only in medieval times. It has also been linked to the fact that a lunisolar calendar must have 13 months in some years, while the solar Gregorian calendar and lunar Islamic calendar always have 12 months in a year. Another suggestion is that the belief originated in a Norse myth about twelve gods having a feast in Valhalla. The mischievous Loki gatecrashed the party as an uninvited 13th guest and arranged for Hod, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Baldur, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Baldur was killed and the Earth was plunged into darkness and mourning as a result.

Some also say that the arrest of Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and 60 of his senior knights on Friday, October 13, 1307 by King Philip IV of France is the origin of this superstition. That day thousands of Templars were arrested and subsequently tortured. They then 'confessed' and were executed. From that day on, Friday the 13th was considered by followers of the Templars as an evil and unlucky day.

Effects Interesting IMO

Strangely, there is evidence to suggest that Friday the 13th is actually unlucky for some. Psychologists have found that some people are especially likely to have accidents or fall ill on Friday the 13th. This has been attributed to such people feeling a heightened state of anxiety on that day. The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Ashville, North Carolina estimates that in the United States alone, $800 or $900 million is lost in business each Friday the 13th because some people will not travel or go to work.

Friday The 13th

Other phobias pertaining to 13 would be tenants refusing to occupy a thirteenth floor or a room #13. Some buildings and elevators avoid using or designating a 13 altogether.

Some more on the significance of 13 :
There are 13 cards in each suit of a standard pack.
13 is the 6th prime number and the 7th Fibonacci number.
13 is the second smallest prime, p, the period of whose reciprocal is ½(p-1).
1/13 = 0·076923 076923 ...(1/3 is the smallest such prime)
Exactly half the multiples of 1/13 from 1/13 to 12/13 have periods that are a cyclic permutation of this string. The other multiples all have periods that are cyclic permutations of 153846.
13 = A "bakers" dozen

That's all I have for now. I wish everyone a lucky day today and maybe this myth will go away.

I keep thinking of Friday the 13th as a day of good luck. Obviously I don't have a phobia. I'm posting this message in the early hours of Friday the 13th. So far the day is going well for me. Good luck in overcoming your fears for all those reading this message if your fears don't serve a useful purpose.

I was born on Friday the 13th of May, 1955. No superstitions here, but I will be buying some lottery tickets today. I FEEL LUCKY!!

Fear/Phobia of Friday The 13th - Paraskavedekatriaphobia or Paraskevidekatriaphobia

As a continuation of this, it is the second name for this fear that makes more sense. It is a literal translation of 'fear of Friday 13' into Greek. The word 'paraskevi' is Greek for Friday and 'thekatria' is 13. In the Greek language, the letter 'D' is pronounced more like a 'th' sound.
Interestingly, in Greece Friday 13th has little meaning, as the unlucky day is actually TUESDAY 13th. I don't think the movie would have remained so famous with that title...

Still, goes to show that Friday has little or no significance if one country has something different in their superstition.

Originally posted by groingrinder
I was born on Friday the 13th of May, 1955. No superstitions here, but I will be buying some lottery tickets today. I FEEL LUCKY!!

Best of luck to ya
I have never really thought about the 13th as bad luck...guess i'm ok too. People in my family are complete nuts though. They mark an x on the windshield when a black cat runs across the street in front of their cars
Todays mental blocks are funny to those that do not understand. Not to me..I know how serious these problems really are for some, so good luck to the one that have this.

I keep thinking of Friday the 13th as a day of good luck.

As rediculous as this sounds, Friday the 13th is always my luckiest day.

I don't mean luck as in winning money or anything like that, just everything
always seems to hum along very nicely on every Friday the 13th.

Any friday is good for me. Besides, if i wanted to ward off bad luck, i would simply spin around hopping on one foot singing zippedy-do-dah in nothing but my breifs. Usually this is the universal cure for bad luck, but one time my dog attacked me halfway throught the ritual. The results were a devastatingly bad day as being attacked by a dog while you are only wearing your underware is never a good thing.
Seriously though, any friday is my friend.

Never mind

[edit on 5/13/05 by LadyV]

13 is my FAVORITE lucky number!!!!!!! Because its everyone elses(most) unlucky number!!! hahahaaaaaa, only makes sense that it would be even the luckier for me!!!
Friday the 13th rules!!!!!!!!

OK ths is 100% true....

I woke up this morning and went to check out my website ...

it was gone ...

the webhost forgot to renew the domain name ... 2 hours of panic ensued.

I decided to go for a cycle (beautiful sunny still morning) Get my road bike out, flat front tyre ... replace tyre, pump it up ... the spare was flat ... get another tyre .. replace the first pump it up .. that too had a hole in it.

Used a new tyre instead....

Get kitted up (takes about 30 mins alone) get out on the road, chain falls off. .. front derailier won't change correctly ... spend 2 hours trying to reset it to no avail .. keeps rubbing at best...

Give up, and have spent the day inside working.

What day is it? Saturday 14th! So its more unlucky than yesterday!

[edit on 13-5-2005 by Netchicken]

Most of the people I've known, who weer born on a Fri 13, were unusually good natured folk.

I was trying to think of any bad or good things that happened to me on Friday the 13th. I only thought of one lucky thing that happened. It was quite hot and dry on Friday. As luck would have it, a storm popped up late in the day just in my location after I was already settled inside for the evening. The rain cooled everything down and watered my dry yard. It was another lucky day for me.

Yesterday was a pretty good day for me... I know alot of people that look at Friday the 13th as a day of good luck. I beleive its all in the perspective of the individual person.

I always find it so silly when people take this day to the extreme. SOme people are too scared to leave their house for example.

The thing is, arent unlucky things happening all the time and it just catches our attention more when it happens on friday the 13th?

Its like we are fullfilling the act of Friday the 13th, just by recognizing its friday the 13th. Does that make sense?

On what merit and foundation does friday the 13th stand on if people dont beleive in superstition. FOr that matter, what foundation does superstition stand on. How are we always tricked into these kinda things when we know rationally its all bogus?