Do you fear Friday the 13th?

Do you have friggatriskaidekaphobia or paraskavedekatriaphobia - fear of Friday the Thirteenth, or just or just triskaidekaphobia - fear of the number thirteen.  You’re not alone.  It’s not so much a fear these days as a superstition handed down through the generations.

No one knows exactly why 13 or Friday the 13^th particularly is unlucky.  In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness.  Consider the things that come in twelves: months in a year; hours in a day; tribes of Israel, apostles (Judas was the 13^th).  Thirteen obviously throws off the whole and bad things happen.

Historically, the 13th Street and 13th Avenue are often omitted in street numbering; the 13^th floor skipped in tall buildings.  As if the not naming it 13 belies the fact that it is 13 carrying another label.

Personally, I have adopted it as a pseudo holiday.  I don my all black attire, pat my black cat on the way out the door and wish everyone a happy Friday the 13^th.