Fear of Friday the 13th, officially known as “paraskevidekatriaphobia,” may leave some battening down the hatches until the calendar turns to the 14th.
The film franchise of the same name, featuring the scary masked character Jason, has done nothing to ease people’s phobias – and today’s worrying date, which falls just two weeks before Halloween, has seen the social media flooded with anxious messages.
The superstitious can take a breather at midnight, there are only two Fridays the 13th this year and the first was back in January.
Why did the Western world begin to fear that the 13th of the calendar would fall on a Friday?
The unfortunate associations of this date are rooted in Norse mythology and the belief that the 13th person – Loki – sitting at the table of the gods ruined the celestial meeting and plunged the world into darkness.
October 13, 2023 marks the last Friday the 13th of the year – there was also one in January. The day traditionally associated with bad luck by the superstitious is actually a lucky day for many, as evidenced by social media posts announcing happy things that happened on it.
However, for some people the number 13 only has lucky associations, with people today sharing that they met the love of their life on Friday the 13th or took advantage of a windfall.
A nature enthusiast has posted beautiful images of the Northern Lights lighting up the night sky in Manitoba, Canada, just after midnight this morning.
He wrote: “Some say #Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day, but not for me. I’m a happy go lucky guy here watching the #northernlights dance tonight.
Love was in the air for this Twitter user, who wrote: “Friday the 13th – met my husband on Friday the 13th – lucky day for me.”
Another recalled: “Met a girl on our first date on a Friday the 13th. We got married on a Friday the 13th. Married for almost 20 years now. 2 children. All the bullshit in the world aside, I’m a very happy man! ‘
One person on Twitter is so confident in the number that they were counting on a big win, writing: “Friday the 13th, my favorite day, my lucky number! I’m buying a lottery ticket today.
Another fan reported that a trip to the dentist saw them walk away unscathed, as they wrote: “Just out to the dentist and no work to do… so now let’s celebrate with some candy.” #Friday 13. lucky for some perhaps.
One birthday girl had no choice but to embrace the date, writing: “As someone born on Friday the 13th, today will be my lucky day.”
Another fan of the date wrote: “Unlucky for some BUT strangely (unsurprisingly) 13 seems like lucky for me and has been the case throughout my life. Happy Friday the 13th everyone.
Bring it down: Highest and lowest property valuations by door number, according to Rightmove
A survey released this week found that houses numbered 13 have the lowest average value among all door numbers ranging from one to 100.
Properties with the number 13 on their door have an average value of £354,793, around £5,000 less than the average of the 10 million homes analyzed numbered one to 100.
In contrast, properties with the number one on their front door have the highest average value of £393,690, or £40,000, or around 11% more than number 13 properties, according to Rightmove.
