Welcome to Day 4 of the October Frights Blog Hop!
Today is the 13th of October. It
is also #FolkloreThursday over on Twitter, so it seemed a perfect time for a
post on the myth and folklore of the number thirteen.
We all know the superstition, the ominous
unlucky number thirteen, scourge of digits and integers, and striking trepidation
in many. And of course, should the dreaded date of the 13th fall
(gasp!) on a Friday, well...
This belief in the unlucky quality of
thirteen is quite pervasive from the aforementioned Friday the 13th to high rise buildings actually lacking a thirteenth floor. So what are the
origins of this belief? How did thirteen come to symbolize bad luck? What
heinous crime did it perpetrate to be labelled Bad Luck King of the number world?
Nobody’s quite certain.
One of the most popular theories as to its ill-fated
origins is the Christian one regarding Judas Iscariot being the 13th
member to arrive at the Last Supper. While this idea may have spread the fateful
notion of a bad luck thirteen, it was probably not its origin. However, the superstition
of 13 being an unlucky number at a dinner party has some validity, and goes
back to Norse mythology. In some versions of the story of the Death of Baldr,
the trickster god Loki is the thirteenth (and uninvited) guest at a celebration
feast. It is at this celebration Loki tricks the god Höðr into killing Baldr with mistletoe. So one could see how thirteen
guests might now seem unlucky at a dinner party, and perhaps spill over into
other areas.
But this idea of “bad luck thirteen” doesn’t
translate well past Western culture.
Ancient Egyptians and Aztecs considered
the number fortuitous, and in some Asian culture, the number four is the
unlucky one. Perhaps it is simply a matter of poor thirteen being in the wrong
place and the wrong time, and labelled bad for eternity.
Some Tidbits:
- In folklore tradition, thirteen turns make a traditional hangman's noose (In actual practice not so much)
- Some airplanes have no 13th row and some airports skip the 13th gate
- Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue
- Friday the 13th can only occur in months starting with Sunday
- The actual fear of the number thirteen is called triskaidekaphobia
- Triskaidekaphilia is the love of the number 13
- Thirteen at Dinner is a US title of an Agatha Christie mystery novel
Further reading:
And now for the Giveaways!
You can check out my Halloween Horror Haiku Giveaway! (live until October 31st) by clicking on the Giveaway Tab at the top of the blog or this link: Halloween Horror Haiku Giveaway!
And here's my October Frights Book Giveaway!
