For centuries, we've been wary of the number 13.
We've built office blocks and condominiums with 12th and 14th floors but no 13th, and
Winston Churchill, considered by many to be one of the most rational and pragmatic historical
figures, refused to sit in the 13th row at the theater.
Even some airlines, like Continental, Air France, and Ryanair, don't have a 13th row.
We both fear and respect the number 13 - but just what is triskaidekophobia - the fear
of the number thirteen – and where does it originate from?
Today we'll find out, in this episode of the Infographics show, Why are we afraid of
Friday the 13th and the number 13.
First of all, we must consider the number 12 as the perfect number.
The ancient Sumerians produced a numeral system based on the number 12 that we still enjoy
today.
Calendars have 12 months; the day is halved by two sets of 12.
12 is a whole, complete, perfectly divisible number.
So why, then, is 13 so sinister?
Is it just that 12 is so ideal that we must find something inherently bad in 13?
As any theology student will tell you, there were 13 disciples at the last supper and the
13th person to take his seat was probably Jesus, although some say it was the backstabbing
Judas who took chair number 13.
Whoever took that last 13th seat came to a sticky end.
Matthew says that Judas committed suicide after the crucifixion while the early Christian
leader Papias says that "Judas walked around in the world a sad example of impiety, for
his body having swollen to such an extent that he could not pass where a chariot could
pass easily."
So Judas may well have grown to a size 13.
The Last Supper took place on the 13th day of the month, and the crucifixion occurred
on Friday the 13th.
The Knight's Templar, protectors of the Holy Grail, the cup Jesus drank from at that
ominous shindig, were all slaughtered, on order from Pope Clement, on, yes, Friday the
13th.
13 is also an unlucky number if you find yourself unfortunate or guilty enough to be sentenced
to hang for a crime.
There were thirteen long steps up to the gallows and only one short cut down.
A coven of witches has 13 members and if there are thirteen letters in your name you are
surely cursed to damnation.
Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson and Hitler all had 13 letters in their birth
names.
And it's not just on planet earth that the number 13 is considered unlucky.
Apollo 13, the seventh manned mission in the Apollo Space program was launched in 1970
from the Kennedy Space Center but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded
and the astronauts were lucky to return to earth six days later with their lives intact.
Even in space the number 13 is the unluckiest number.
In tarot, the 13th card in the deck is Death.
To draw the Death card in the tarot doesn't mean that you will die straight away.
Death in the tarot sense is more about change, rebirth and creation - but if you do draw
the death card on the 13th day of the month, and see a black cat crossing your path, and
the moon is full, and you happen to be superstitious, you may potentially have an unlucky day.
But you probably won't die, not that day anyway.
But why is Friday considered the unlucky day?
In biblical terms Friday has had a checkered history.
Jesus was crucified, and Eve tempted Adam, on a lazy Friday afternoon.
Abel was slain by Cain and the great floods began on a Friday.
Historically, Friday doesn't fare well either.
Citizens were executed in Rome on a Friday, and also on a Friday, in Britain, people were
usually hung, meaning that on Saturday people were usually hung-over after merrily watching
one of their fellow men be eliminated the night before.
Fridays in theological and historical texts usually spells bad news.
The number 13 isn't totally unlucky wherever you go in time and history - the ancient Egyptians
considered 13 fortuitous, China has a deep fear of the number 4, the Japanese avoid the
number 9, and the unluckiest number in Italy is seventeen.
Indians have a deep distrust of 26, and in Bulgaria the number 088 888 8888 is the one
to be most terrified of all numbers following the acquisition of that jinxed phone number
by a number of high profile people who subsequently died according to urban myth.
The former US flag had 13 red and white stripes and 13 stars representing the first 13 colonies
that founded the country.
Christopher Columbus landed on the Western hemisphere on October 13th,, although deliberately
changed the official date to the 12th of October to avoid the scandal of a cursed landing.
Sikh religion believes the number 13 is special - in Punjabi 13 translates to "yours"
or "I am yours my lord" and is considered divinely lucky.
Moreover, in bakery circles 13 is also considered lucky, a baker's dozen, or 13, is the ordinarily
12 with one added, just for luck.
The number 13 also represents femininity as the number of lunar or menstrual cycles in
a year is often around 12 or 13.
In China women make offerings of moon cakes with the number 13 imprinted on them as 13
denotes blood, fertility and lunar potency and good luck from the Great Female Goddess.
13 represents the life cycle and the rhythm of nature and the moon.
So although considered unlucky by some, the number 13 represents the very thing that brought
us all here to watch this episode, so perhaps 13 isn't that unlucky after all.
So, what do you think about the number 13?
Lucky or unlucky?
Let us know why in the comments.
Also, be sure to check out our other video called Taboos Around the World!
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!
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