[Barefoot]

Whoops, sorry, a day late --

Fear of Friday the 13th has spawned a horror movies franchise, its own hard-to-pronounce term — paraskevidekatriaphobia — and a tradition of widespread paranoia when it rolls around each year.

While folklore historians say it’s tough to pinpoint exactly how the taboo came to be, many believe it originates from the Last Supper, and the 13 guests who sat at the table on the day before the Friday on which Jesus was crucified.
“When those two events come together, you are reenacting at least a portion of that terrible event,” Dr. Phil Stevens, 74, an associate professor of anthropology at the University at Buffalo, tells TIME. “You are reestablishing two things that were connected to that terrible event.”
What began as a Christian interpretation launched into a phenomenon that leads some modern Americans to avoid staying at hotel rooms with the number 13, beware of venturing up to the 13th floor of any building or try not to sit in the 13th row in airplanes, Stevens says. “The number 13 became a problematic number because of the number of people at that table during that fateful event,” he says.
Read More: 13 Things to Know About Friday the 13th
But there are many other theories of how the ominous day came to be considered the harbinger of bad luck.
Most theories may exist in an attempt to explain the unexplainable, according to Dr. Simon Bronner, a distinguished professor of American studies and folklore at Pennsylvania State University. To him, Friday the 13th is just a convenient milestone for people who are looking to trace bad luck to a certain cause—but there's nothing special about the date itself. After all, the number 13 is apparently considered lucky some countries, like Italy, he adds.
“There’s a grain of truth to [the Last Supper theory], but the problem is that there is not much of a connection to the modern belief," Bronner, 62, says. "It may be a case of religious folklore that rose to explain a belief. Psychologists treat [the fear of Friday the 13th] as real, but my sense is that...it's something to blame. I think it was a constructed belief.”
Still, regardless of whether people choose to purposefully steer clear of black cats or dodge sidewalk cracks on Friday the 13th, Stevens notes that it’s important not to mock other people’s convictions surrounding the day. “Sometimes these are frivolous things, but sometimes they are deeply rooted cultural fears,” he says. “You can insult somebody by making fun of it or you can be ignorant yourself. Some people have deep cultural taboos that you cannot change by denying them.”
For what it's worth to believers, Oct. 13, 2017, is the last Friday the 13th of the year.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Barefoot

Whoops, sorry, a day late --

Fear of Friday the 13th has spawned a horror movies franchise, its own hard-to-pronounce term — paraskevidekatriaphobia — and a tradition of widespread paranoia when it rolls around each year.

While folklore historians say it’s tough to pinpoint exactly how the taboo came to be, many believe it originates from the Last Supper, and the 13 guests who sat at the table on the day before the Friday on which Jesus was crucified.
“When those two events come together, you are reenacting at least a portion of that terrible event,” Dr. Phil Stevens, 74, an associate professor of anthropology at the University at Buffalo, tells TIME. “You are reestablishing two things that were connected to that terrible event.”
What began as a Christian interpretation launched into a phenomenon that leads some modern Americans to avoid staying at hotel rooms with the number 13, beware of venturing up to the 13th floor of any building or try not to sit in the 13th row in airplanes, Stevens says. “The number 13 became a problematic number because of the number of people at that table during that fateful event,” he says.
Read More: 13 Things to Know About Friday the 13th
But there are many other theories of how the ominous day came to be considered the harbinger of bad luck.
Most theories may exist in an attempt to explain the unexplainable, according to Dr. Simon Bronner, a distinguished professor of American studies and folklore at Pennsylvania State University. To him, Friday the 13th is just a convenient milestone for people who are looking to trace bad luck to a certain cause—but there's nothing special about the date itself. After all, the number 13 is apparently considered lucky some countries, like Italy, he adds.
“There’s a grain of truth to [the Last Supper theory], but the problem is that there is not much of a connection to the modern belief," Bronner, 62, says. "It may be a case of religious folklore that rose to explain a belief. Psychologists treat [the fear of Friday the 13th] as real, but my sense is that...it's something to blame. I think it was a constructed belief.”
Still, regardless of whether people choose to purposefully steer clear of black cats or dodge sidewalk cracks on Friday the 13th, Stevens notes that it’s important not to mock other people’s convictions surrounding the day. “Sometimes these are frivolous things, but sometimes they are deeply rooted cultural fears,” he says. “You can insult somebody by making fun of it or you can be ignorant yourself. Some people have deep cultural taboos that you cannot change by denying them.”
For what it's worth to believers, Oct. 13, 2017, is the last Friday the 13th of the year.

They are all howling over in the P Forum tonight.

[asianthree]

Friday the 13th is in the top three dates that people will not schedule surgery.

[Taltarzac725]

My Friday the 13th yesterday had a lot of problems by some of these have gone well. Put wrong shoe on foot when leaving for One Blood , long wait for donating platelets, broken handle for men's room toilet , bad needle stick after that, no peanut butter cookies, door would not shut on One Blood little fridge, etc.

[dbussone]

BF - Try doing that again in 3 word groupings. [emoji33]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[ColdNoMore]

I know someone who is otherwise totally unaffected, or believes in ANY superstitions, who was in two auto accidents in her entire 80 year life (neither her fault)...but were both on a Friday the 13th.


Needless to say, to this day she doesn't even get in a car...on a Friday the 13th.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by asianthree

Friday the 13th is in the top three dates that people will not schedule surgery.

What are the other two, Christmas Day and New Years Eve?

Originally Posted by dbussone

BF - Try doing that again in 3 word groupings.

OK, that is REALLY FUNNY. (But only if you're a three-word thread aficionado.)

I got my driving license on Friday the 13th in the rain driving a stick shift on the first try.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by ColdNoMore

I know someone who is otherwise totally unaffected, or believes in ANY superstitions, who was in two auto accidents in her entire 80 year life (neither her fault)...but were both on a Friday the 13th. Needless to say, to this day she doesn't even get in a car...on a Friday the 13th.

Originally Posted by fw102807

I got my driving license on Friday the 13th in the rain driving a stick shift on the first try.

Goes to show that both good things and bad things can happen on Friday the 13th.
I think I believe in the "constructed belief" theory explained in the OP.
But still, I wouldn't schedule any surgery on that date or buy a lottery ticket!

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by asianthree

Friday the 13th is in the top three dates that people will not schedule surgery.

I just googled dates that people won't have surgery, and found the following, which I never thought about ...

Next time you schedule a surgery, try to set the date for a Monday or Tuesday. Hospital research suggests that patients who undergo surgery on the weekend or late in the week have a higher risk of dying than those who go under the knife earlier in the week.
The difference is nothing to sneeze at, either. Patients were 44% more likely to die after having a surgery on a Friday than a Monday. That rate nearly doubles to 82% for patients who have surgery on the weekend rather than Monday.
Before freaking out, it’s important to realize that people aren’t dying left and right after weekend surgeries. In the study, less than 1% of the total patients passed away within a month after their operations. However, it’s the significant difference in the death rates between Monday and late week patients that may have would-be surgery-goers consider their calendars more carefully.