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Sssh, It’s Friday The 13th

By Njideka Agbo
13 July 2018   |   5:01 am
It's the dreadful day of the year. What is it about the day that makes everyone cringe? The number, no matter how much one tries to dismiss it still brings fear whenever it is mentioned. Could it be a coincidence that Pope John Paul was shot, Judas Iscariot (the 13th man on the table during…

It’s the dreadful day of the year.

What is it about the day that makes everyone cringe? The number, no matter how much one tries to dismiss it still brings fear whenever it is mentioned.

Could it be a coincidence that

  • Pope John Paul was shot,
  • Judas Iscariot (the 13th man on the table during the Last Supper) betrayed Jesus
  • Tupac Shakur died
  • The 1993 film Alive is based on a plane crash in South America mountains where fourteen survivors were found two months later
  • it took 13 steps to go up to the gallows on the public execution day, Fridays
  • In the month of April in 2029, an asteroid large enough to be seen without a telescope will come close to Earth, NASA (United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has said

All on Friday the 13th.

As if we are not scared enough, the classic 1980 ‘Friday The 13th’ film lingers in our minds.

It is said that Friday the 13th sprung out of the Christian ‘last supper meal’ where Judas Iscariot broke bread with Jesus before betraying him with a kiss to the chief priests and Pharisees. Since then, it has come to be known as an unlucky day.

Friday the 13th. Photo credit: The Inquisitr

We want to think that the 13th is not as bad as the rest of the world see it:

  • Taylor Swift was born on the 13 and turned 13 on Friday.
  • The Thirteen Club of New York throw Friday the 13th odds-defying parties. The club boasts of sceptics such as Theodore Roosevelt.

Despite all of these, Italians regard this day as a lucky day and are filled with dread on Friday the 17th.

The fact that there is no universal acceptance of the belief behind today means that we might just take the side of Science and settle with the idea that we have Triskaidekaphobia (the fear of the number 13) or worse, Paraskevidekatriaphobia/ Friggatriskaidekaphobia (the fear of Friday the 13th).

By the way, it’s TGIF, remember?

That said, we take no responsibility for what happens to you today.

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