Today I woke up after a hard night. I got the flu..."La monga" and didn't have much sleep. So, my perfect remedy for insomnia? My beloved computer. I turned it on and just figure it out...It's Friday October the 13th! Of Course! That's what I feel so terrible...Then the question popped...Am I a Triskaidekaphobic or Paraskevidekatriaphobic? "What the heck is that?" You may ask...Well, like every phobia is an irrational fear but guess of what?...Yes, you got it...fear of Friday the 13th.
No, I'm neither Triskaidekaphobic nor Paraskevidekatriaphobic, but have you ever wonder where this phobia or myth come from?
The reasons why Friday come to be regarded as a day of bad luck have been obscured by the mists of time some of the more common theories link it to a significant event in Christian tradition said to have taken place on Friday, such as the Crucifixion, Eve's offering the apple to Adam, the beginning of the Great Flood, or the confusion at the Tower of Babel
.One of my favorites is the story of
Loki, the Norse god : "Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla. Loki, the Evil One, god of mischief, had been left off the guest list but crashed the party, bringing the total number of attendees to 13. True to character, Loki raised hell by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to attack Balder the Good, who was a favorite of the gods. Hod took a spear of mistletoe offered by Loki and obediently hurled it at Balder, killing him instantly. All Valhalla grieved. And although one might take the moral of this story to be "Beware of uninvited guests bearing mistletoe," the Norse themselves apparently concluded that 13 people at a dinner party is just plain bad luck."
Although most people think, the belief that Friday 13 is an unlucky day is not that old. It more like a 20th century invention. No matter what they say, the phobia is real and present in our daily lives. Go to every hotel in the States and there is almost never a floor with the number 13 in it. Or ask them about why the Apollo 13 mission went wrong.
Myth or not, Friday the 13th is cool ad-on to our modern culture. It makes people look for a little history or learn new words ( like Triskaidekaphobia). I learned I'm not trikaidekaphobic. But if you are... What if the love of your life is waiting for you today on the 13th street's cafe? What if it's a myth after all? How could you miss the opportunity of enjoying another day of your live because of an irrational fear? I mean, It's irrational! So, get up you there and do something fun this Friday the 13th and you'll find is not that unlucky after all.
