Well, given the inanity in Washington, I thought today would be a good day to discuss one of the craziest delusions of the bunch-paraskevidekatriaphobia and it’s related delusion- triskadekaphobia. What are these? Fear of Friday the 13th and of the number 13, in general.
I still laugh when I enter an elevator and recognize that some nutso designed the building- one who can’t count. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15…. Yup. This building has no 13th floor. (Of course it does- but they call it 14 to satisfy the phobics.)
You know what’s really amazing? This craziness is relatively new. There is no known record of folks running for the hills when it’s Friday the 13th before the dawn of modern science in the late 19th century. (See? It’s not just the current crop of adults who fear the exploding volume of knowledge, think that vaccines are dangerous, or that climate change is a political trick. Back in the 19th century, science was blooming too- and folks were complaining that things were changing too quickly.)
Believe it or not, this fear is attributed to the 13 folks who watched Jesus crucified- and that this occurred on a Friday. (Now, wake up folks. Because that’s another malarkey- Jesus wasn’t born in 0 CE, and which calendar do you think Jesus used? Because he WAS Jewish and there was no Gregorian calendar. [Now may be a good time to tell you that my calendar says today is 15 Kislev, a full moon, and 10 days- and 9 nights- away from Chanuka.]) And, Friday was considered a bad day for travel or to start new projects since the 14th century. Why? No one knows. I’m sure it was something in Chaucer’s brain, since he used this device in his Canterbury Tales.
But, it seems paraskevidekatriaphobia really took off in the 20th Century.
Wake up, folks. We are now in the 21st Century. It’s time to put childish things to bed. Especially since this is the last month of this decade. In 19 days, we will start the 2nd decade of the 21st century!
I have always considered number 7 and 13 my lucky numbers. We too see elevators without 13th floor but I’ve never been one to be superstitious. WOW, a new decade in the 21st century coming soon, I’m hoping for more exciting things to happen!
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Me, too, Martha. Hope those days arrive for you soon.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on triskadekaphobia. Regards
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I think, as long as there are humans, there will be lucky and unlucky numbers, and superstitions about unlucky days. It’s built into us, for some reason. Our culture, also, has a “thing” about numbering things in threes. You give three examples if you are teaching. There is a beginning, a middle, and end. Jokes have three people – one example is ” A rabbi, minister and priest walk into a bar…..” It exists in other cultures, not just our Western culture, just in different ways.
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Well, your three example- at least when it comes to pedagogy- is based on scientific data. We retain information when we learn it three different ways. But, I doubt that would help the rabbi, minister, or priest at all…
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