My 8-year-old asked me the other day why people think 13 is an unlucky number. I had to tell him I really didn’t know. As today is the 13th, it seemed like a good day to find out.
According to Wikipedia, many cultures have long considered 13 unlucky. The Code of Hammurabi, dating to about 1760 BC, skips the number 13 in numbering its laws. People avoid getting married on the 13th, and planners skip number 13 in assigning house numbers on streets or floor numbers in buildings.
The origin of the superstition is not known, though there are several theories. Wikipedia suggests that “thirteen may be considered a ‘bad’ number simply because when a group of 13 objects or people is divided into two, three, four or six equal groups, there is always one leftover, or ‘unlucky’, object or person.” Another possibility involves the number of full moons in a solar year, though I have to admit I fail to see why that makes it unlucky. Some theories are based on historical events, such as Judas Iscariot being considered the thirteenth person at the Last Supper, or the Knights Templar being slaughtered on Friday, October 13, 1307 (although Wikipedia’s article on the Knights Templar says this is not the origin of considering that day unlucky). Tarot decks have Death as the 13th card of the “Major Arcana” – most likely due to the superstition already associated with that number, but also contributing to the superstition’s longevity.
In modern times we can certainly find events to “demonstrate” the unluckiness of the 13th day of the month. On April 13, 1970, Apollo 13 (doomed from the beginning by its name?) had a fault in an oxygen tank which caused an explosion, damaging another oxygen tank and aborting the mission, and making return to earth very difficult. A search through the record of significant historical events for the 13th of each month reveals numerous earthquakes, deadly storms, terrorist attacks, etc. Of course, the same could probably be found for just about any day of the year, with today’s ability to easily catalog events throughout the world (largely helped by the World Wide Web, which was inaugurated on November 13, 1990, according to Wikipedia).
So far, this April 13 has not been too bad – except for burning the cauliflower I was cooking while writing this post, because I was too absorbed in my subject to remember the pot on the stove – until I smelled something that wasn’t exactly appetizing.
April 14, 2008 at 11:56 am |
I was born on a Friday the 13th, so have always liked the number 13. Of course, someone could point to my being born with Moebius syndrome (which I mentioned on your smile post) as bad luck. But God has so blessed me that I cannot & will not see it that way.
My next door neighbor here on our little private lane has the house number 13. Then again, she considers herself a witch.
April 14, 2008 at 2:12 pm |
Interesting. I learned a few things.
April 16, 2008 at 10:46 am |
Not all cultures find 13 unlucky. As you may know from your study of Spanish, Tuesday the 7th is considered unlucky.
My son was born an Friday, the 13th, in the 13th month of 1983, as he once mentioned (actually in January, 1984).
Personally, as a Christian, I cannot see believing in “luck” when I have a sovereign God who controls all things. Whatever happens is ultimately His will.