Spotlight: Friday the 13th

Superstitions surrounding Friday the 13th arise out of a combination of two longstanding trepidations – the fear of the number 13 and a belief that Friday is an unlucky day. Beginning with early civilizations, the number 12 has been associated with completeness, harmony, and order, for example 12 months in a year, 12 zodiac signs, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles of Christ. In contrast, the number 13 came to represent imbalance or disorder.

Triskaidekaphobia is the psychological term for the fear of the number 13. Experts debate whether triskaidekaphobia rises to the level of an actual phobia, which psychologists define as an irrational, persistent fear that can cause anxiety or lead someone to avoid certain situations. For some people, triskaidekaphobia fits this definition given that an intense fear of the number 13 can influence behavior even when no real danger exists, causing extreme anxiety and a desire to avoid certain hotel rooms, addresses, dates, or other things involving the number 13. However, most people experience triskaidekaphobia more on the level of a superstition. Christian religious traditions contribute to the superstition. For example, some people avoid seating 13 people around a table based on a correlation with the Last Supper, where Jesus and his 12 Apostles gathered around a table to partake in the Passover meal just before his betrayal and crucifixion.

Friday’s negative reputation also stems from Christian tradition where Friday is believed to be the day of Christ’s crucifixion. During the Middle Ages, Friday became a day associated with bad luck and misfortune. The two ideas began to merge, leading to a belief that when the 13th day of the month falls on a Friday, it becomes a day especially prone to bad outcomes. This was further reinforced when, on Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrest of hundreds of Knights Templar. The Knights Templar were a Catholic military organization originally designed to protect European pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land during the Crusades. Over the years, the order increased in power and wealth. King Philip was deeply in debt to the Templars at the time of the arrests. Many of the Knights who were arrested were tortured and executed. This is the first major tragedy linked directly to Friday the 13th.

While there is no scientific evidence that Friday the 13th brings more misfortune than other days, tragedies which occur on a Friday the 13th feed the superstition.  For example, on Friday, October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Flight 571 flight, carrying a Uruguayan rugby team, their friends, and family members, crashed in the Andes Mountains. Twelve people died instantly. Survivors were left stranded in remote, insolated mountainous terrain and freezing conditions. Over the next several weeks, they endured unimaginable hardship, eventually resorting to cannibalism to stay alive.  The ordeal lasted for more than two months, ending only when two of the survivors hiked through the mountains for several days to find help. This extraordinary story of human survival has been memorialized in several books and movies, including the 1993 film “Alive,” starring Ethan Hawke, and the more recent film “Society of the Snow,” which premiered in 2023.

Friday the 13th occurs fairly often. Every year will have at least one Friday the 13th, and most years have two. Given the calendar cycle, the maximum number of Friday the 13ths that can occur in a single year is three. The year 2026 is one of those years, with February 13th, March 13th, and November 13th all falling on Friday.

Not everyone avoids the number 13. Superstar Taylor Swift considers 13 to be her lucky number because it has shown up repeatedly at major positive moments in her life. Swift was born on December 13, 1989, she turned 13 on Friday, December 13, 2002, her first album went gold in 13 weeks, and her first #1 song had a 13‑second intro. She has also noted in interviews that when she wins awards, she often ends up in the 13th seat or the 13th row or in row M, the 13th letter of the alphabet. Swift has embraced the number 13 as a personal good‑luck charm and has incorporated the number into her performances, drawing 13 on her hand before shows during her “Fearless” tour, and including references to it in her lyrics. Swift has been quoted as saying “Basically, whenever a 13 comes up in my life, it’s a good thing.”