Triskaidekaphobia

Today is Friday 13th December 2024 … and is supposed to be an unlucky day.

Fear of the number thirteen is known as triskaidekaphobia, and the origins of this phobia are shrouded in mystery. Some people claim that it dates back to Norse mythology when Loki was not invited to a feast for twelve gods that was taking place in Valhalla. Loki tricked his way into the feast and pursuaded Höðr - the god of darkness - to shoot Balder - the god of joy and gladness - with an arrow tipped with mistletoe. As a result, great suffering was visited upon the world. Others think that the fear of thirteen dates back to the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. There were supposedly thirteen people at the Last Supper, and that as this meal took place on what is now Maundy Thursday - the day before the crucifixion - this made Friday 13th unlucky.

Another oft quoted reason why Friday 13th is seen as being unlucky is due to the fact that King Philip IV of France ordered the arrest of the Knights Templar on Friday October 13th 1307. The King was heavily in debt to the Templars and used what were false accusations about corruption and immoral conduct in the Order to justify the arrest of the leader of the Templars - Jacques de Molay - and other senior members. De Molay was tortured and eventually executed for heresy by burning at the stake. Many other Templars suffered a similar fate, and by 1312 the Order had collapsed, its wealth had been seized, and its surviving members were dispersed.

What is certain is that a belief that the number thirteen was an unlucky one was prevalent in Europe by the end of the Middle Ages, and in some packs of tarot cards from the mid fifteenth century the number is associated with the card that depicts the figure of Death.

To date I have no personal experience of Friday 13th being particularly unlucky … but I know plenty of people who do. From what I can gather, many buildings do not have a numbered thirteenth floor and none of the cruise ships I’ve ever travelled on have had a deck that is designated as being the thirteenth. In the case of P&O’s cruise ships, the decks are referred to by numbers (e.g. Deck Seven), letters (e.g. A Deck, G Deck), and names (e.g. C Deck being named Canberra Deck).