Triskaidekaphobia

Occurances and Examples of the 13 Superstition in Action

• In America, many tall buildings have no floor numbered as "13". Watch the elevator buttons as an indication of this.
• On some passenger aircraft there is no seating row numbered "13".
• In Formula One and many other racing categories, no vehicle carries the number 13.
• Microsoft will be skipping the name Office 13. Office 12 (a.k.a Microsoft Office 2007) will be followed by the next release whose working title was Microsoft Office 14 (it has been renamed Office 2010).
• Hospitals and hotels routinely have no room number 13.
• On streets in Florence, Italy, and in much of France the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half.
• In Scotland, there is no terminal 13 in any airport, instead there is a terminal 12B.
• On the Universal Studios sound stages in California, there is no sound stage numbered 13.

Possible Origins of this Worldwide Phobia

Why are we afraid of 13?

• The counting method of ancient man may be the source of the fear, in that man counted on ten fingers and two feet (presumably covered in an article of clothing, like a shoe). Anything beyond that countable dozen was "unknown" and therefore suspect. In English, we have distinct names for the numbers one through twelve.
• Or perhaps it came from the Last Supper a meal for which 13 people sat a the table. Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th to sit at the table.
• It may also be linked to that 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.
• There is also a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow, killing him.

Why is FRIDAY the 13th especially unlucky?

(paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia)

• The Crucifixion took place on a Friday, linking the bad luck of 13 (from the last supper) to the misfortune of the next day, Friday.
• The association of Friday the thirteenth with the arrest of Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, on Friday, October 13, 1307 by King Philippe IV of France has oftem been referenced as the origin of paraskavedekatriaphobia (Dan Brown included this in The Da Vinci Code), however this is a modern-day story.

More Bizzare 13 Facts

• There are traditionally thirteen steps leading up to a gallows.
• In Tarot decks, the 13th card of the Major Arcana is Death. While Death is rarely interpreted literally, it is possible that this furthered the perception of 13 as an unlucky number.
• On the 13th day of the Persian new year (Norouz), people consider staying at home unlucky, and go outside for a picnic in order to ward off the bad luck.
• The Code of Hammurabi, a collection of laws, created circa 1760 BC, does not contain a thirteenth law.