Why is Friday the 13th unlucky? The fascinating true story behind the superstition that dates all the way back to Judas Iscariot

Not walking under ladders and avoiding black cats are just some of the superstitions people take part in to keep luck on their side on Friday the 13th.

Many believe that good fortune will elude them as the day has long been associated with incidents of misfortune.

But why exactly is Friday the 13th associated with bad luck and misfortune?

Read below for everything you need to know about the supposed bad luck many people associate with the day.

Why is Friday the 13th ‘bad luck’?

The association with bad luck begins with the number 13 itself. In Abrahamic religions, 12 is seen as a number that represents perfection and completion; there are 12 disciples of Jesus Christ, Abraham has 12 sons, there are 12 tribes of Israel.

Therefore, the number 13 is considered symbolically imperfect. At the Last Supper of Jesus Christ, Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Christ, was the 13th guest.

The concept of a 13th guest being associated with evil or treachery extends beyond Christianity, with Norse mythology as well showing a similar story. At a Valhalla dinner for the god Baldur, Loki arrived as the 13th guest and killed the god.

The connection between Friday and the number 13 may also date back to Christian lore, where Judas Iscariot was the 13th guest and betrayed Christ on Maundy Thursday, leading to his execution on Good Friday.

These ideas spread for hundreds of years, becoming stronger and more influential in the Dark Ages exaggerated accounts of how the French King Philip IV arrested several Knights Templar on Friday the 13th in 1307.

In the 19th century, the myth seemed to be popular enough to inspire a counter-movement. The Thirteenth Club was ESTABLISHED in the late 19th century to disprove the superstition.

Founded by Civil War soldier Captain William Fowler, the first meeting of the Thirteenth Club was held on Friday, January 13, at 8:13 pm in room 13 of the Knickerbocker Villa at Sixth and 28th Avenue. There appeared to be no availability at Street 13.

However, the myth of Friday the 13th really crystallized during the 20th century, when direct links between the date and the disaster began to emerge.

In 1907, businessman Thomas W. Lawson published a novel called Friday the Thirteenth, in which a young stockbroker decides to wreak financial havoc on Wall Street that day.

News page Vox states that the first known mention of Friday the 13th in the media came on March 14, 1908. An announcement in New York Times describes a senator’s bill entering the Senate on the day: “Friday the 13th holds no horrors for Senator Owen,” the announcement read.

Cut to 1980 and Paramount Pictures’ slasher film Friday The 13th comes out to consolidate the myth and add a strong horror element to it.

The villain of the film franchise, Jason Voorhees, was born on Friday the 13th, and the main murders at the start of the first film take place on Friday the 13th.

However, we are only one short film from the franchise living up to its name as there are only 12 Friday The 13th films as of July 2018.

Superstitions surprisingly had a very real life EFFECTS. Thomas W Lawson may have been pleased to hear that financial markets and companies occasionally experience moments of panic on Friday the 13th.

On Friday, July 13, 2012, China’s GDP fell by 7.6 percent. In 1989, Friday, October 13 had become known as Black Friday after a deal to buy United Airlines fell through and sent global markets tumbling.

According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute of North Carolina, companies lose nearly $1 billion when the 13th falls on a Friday. Travel site Kayak said Friday, June 13, 2014 was the cheapest day to fly that year.

How often does Friday the 13th happen?

There are usually two Friday the 13ths every year. Today’s Friday, October 13 is the second of 2023, with the first returning to January.

This will be the last Friday the 13th of the year, with the date occurring again in September and December 2024.

Famous Friday the 13th events in history

In 1307, King Philip IV of France arrested several Knights Templar on Friday the 13th.

Buckingham Palace was bombed by the Germans during World War II in 1940 in September.

Kitty Genovese was murdered in New York in March 1965; her death led to the coining of the term ‘chance effect’.

Rapper Tupac Shakur was murdered in September 1996.

What is Triskaidekaphobia?

Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13.

However, there is a specific term for the fear of Friday the 13th: Friggatriskaidekaphobia, sometimes also called paraskevidekatriaphobia.

The first term refers to the queen of the Norse gods, Frigga, who was also Baldur’s mother.