It's Friday the 13th—Again

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It's your unlucky day—or so some of us believe.

By some estimates, 17 million to 21 million people are afraid of this day, making it one of the most feared days in history. According to Smithsonian Magazine, “fear of the #13 costs American a billion dollars per year in absenteeism, train and plane cancellations, and reduced commerce on the 13th of the month.”

I, Clare Kennedy, am not one of them. Perhaps being in the news business has made me jaded, but it seems to me that bad things happen every day of the year. Only believers looking for a good Friday the 13th story or, recently, a zombie apocalypse can selectively edit the messy day-to-day of mankind into a grand, coherent narrative (believe it or not, the infamous face-eating incident is probably not the most bizarre incident in the history of Miami).

At the same time, given the overwhelming influence of this superstition it would seem dangerous to tempt fate by scheduling a wedding on Friday the 13th, as one person I interviewed did (He reported nothing untoward, but to be fair, I didn't get a chance to speak to his wife). If even a stolid statesman like Winston Churchill assiduously avoided the number 13, perhaps the root of this strange anti-holiday is worth looking into.

So why does Friday the 13th resonate so strongly in the Western psyche? Here are some theories floating about on the Internet:

1. Twelve is considered the "number of completeness" — considering the 12 months of the year, 12 hours of the clock, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 Tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles of Jesus, and so on. Thus, 13 is considered an irregular number.
2. On Friday, October 13, 1307 the Knights of Templar were arrested in France. The knights were considered the most skilled fighters in the Crusades. When they were arrested many were tortured and burned at the stake.
3. In Nordic mythology, most of their 13th gods faced violent deaths, including Loki the "trickster." 

All intriguing ideas, though none are completely satisfying. So what do you think? Is it true? Got any good Friday the 13th stories to share?