I’ll say it again:  Paraskevidekatriaphobia (Sheesh!  I’m glad I don’t have to say that out loud.)  If you woke up this morning in a cold sweat of terror that cannot be rationally explained, you could be suffering from this.  Don’t worry, it’s not a fatal condition, though it could make your day very stressful and make you a target of ridicule and practical jokes should it come out you have it.  Paraskevidekatriaphobia is the irrational fear of Friday the thirteenth.

Theories abound as to the origins of this particular superstition.  Some go so far back as to say that the day that Eve ate the apple in the Garden of Eden was a Friday.  We’ll never know that for sure, but we do know that Jesus was crucified on a Friday.  Friday is also the sixth day of the week.  With seven being the perfect number, six symbolises less than perfection (and use six three times in a row and you get the biblical symbol for evil personified).  According to Genesis, the sixth day is also the day God created man, which certainly makes it an unlucky day, at least for the rest of the earth… Continue reading “On Paraskevidekatriaphobia” →