Triskaidekaphobia Haunts The Superstitious On Friday The 13th

August 13th, 2010 - 7:02 pm ICT by GD  

By Gina Gomez
13Aug 13, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Today is the much dreaded ‘Friday the 13th’ and if that has send shivers down your spine while making you feel really jittery then chances are high that you might be suffering from Triskaidekaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia. Call it by any name, it basically means the fear or the dread of the 13th day of any month falling on a Friday and the fear is back to haunt the superstitious ones across the world today.

‘Friday the 13th’ is a day that has many myths and superstitious beliefs associated with it. According to the western superstition, when the 13th day of a month falls on a Friday, the day is believed to be extremely unlucky while as per the Christian ideology Friday is in itself considered to be a bad omen as Jesus Christ was crucified on this day of the week. At the same time, the number 13 is considered to have negative connotations, one of the reasons of which is the belief that Judas, the disciple of Jesus who is known to have betrayed him, was the 13th person to sit on the table of the Last Supper. Therefore, it is quite understandable that when the 13th day of a month and Friday coincide with each other, it is thought to be the epitome of doom.

One can imagine that ‘Friday the 13th’ has such misgivings that a scientific term has been coined for the fear of it. On this day, many people across the world refrain from starting a new work and prefer not to schedule any auspicious occasion owing to the taboo associated with ‘Friday the 13th.’

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