Legend: Friday the 13th is a day fraught with peril.
Origins: Although most of us would probably affirm that superstition's role in Western culture is now a much diminished one, more a source of amusement than anything else, there are still those who allow their trepidation over particular days or dates to prevent them from engaging in their choice of activities. We may make jokes about Friday the 13th and only kiddingly instruct loved ones to exercise greater care on that day, but those who suffer from a fear of the number thirteen (triskaidekaphobia) or a fear of Friday the 13th (paraskevidekatriaphobia) may genuinely feel limited by the rumored potential for ill luck connected with the date.
The reasons why Friday came to be regarded as a day of bad luck have been obscured by the mists of time some of the more common theories link it to a significant event in Christian tradition said to have taken place on Friday, such as the Crucifixion, Eve's offering the apple to Adam in the Garden of Eden, the beginning of the Great Flood, or the confusion at the Tower of Babel. Chaucer alluded to Friday as a day on which bad things seemed to happen in the Canterbury Tales as far back as the late 14th century ("And on a Friday fell all this mischance"), but references to Friday as a day connected with ill luck generally start to show up in Western literature around the mid-17th century:
Another Friday of 13th in this year is March and November.
The Myth About Friday 13th
Superstition: Day of Good or Bad luck?
Do I? How?
Kwa sababu umesema wengi wenu leo hii mambo kama haya hamyapi uzito katika utamaduni wenu wa Magharibi!
"...most of us would probably affirm that superstition's role in Western culture is now a much diminished one"
Ndo maana Tikerra akakupa mifano kibao ya imani za ajabu ajabu za kichawi chawi zinazoendelea mpaka leo katika utamaduni wenu wa kizungu.
Nyinyi watu wa Magharibi mna mapokeo ya kishirikina yanayotaka kukaribiana na ya kwetu Waafrika.
Wakuu kuna mahali nimeona haya maneno hapa chini kuna ukweli wowote.
And really, it's not only the superstitious people who place credence in these theories. There was even a 1993 study published in the British Medical Journal on whether Friday the 13th is bad for one's health. About.com tracked down the study, which concludes with an ominous endnote: "Friday the 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended."