One down, two to go --- 2012 is slated to have three Friday the 13ths; the first one will be out of the way before the first half of the first month is done. In the Gregorian calendar, to which we adhere, there is always at least one Friday the 13th in any given year, and some years can sport up to three of the luckless days – and this year happens to be one of them. Any given month's 13th day will fall on a Friday if the month starts on a Sunday.

It might surprise readers to know that there was no superstition against Friday the 13th until the nineteenth century. One theory proposes that the origin of the superstition is an incorporation of two separate superstitions, one regarding the number thirteen, and one regarding Friday.

The number twelve has a long history of symbolizing completeness, as is reflected in twelve months of the year, twelve hours on the face of a clock, twelve Olympian gods, twelve tribes of Israel, and the twelve apostles of Jesus, among many others. Therefore, the number thirteen transgresses that completeness, making a given set of thirteen disproportionate and indivisible, since thirteen is also a prime number. Some cultures also hold the superstition that if thirteen people are seated at a table, one of them will die; this, too, probably derives from the story of the Last Supper.

Friday has also historically been seen as unlucky, probably because it was the day of Christ’s crucifixion, and Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s. According to some Freemasons, the Knights Templar were slaughtered on Friday the 13th.

In Spanish speaking countries, it is Tuesday the 13th which is considered bad luck, even though they are predominantly Catholic. The superstition probably has pagan roots and may be related to the association of the name for Tuesday (Mardi in French, Martes in Spanish) with the god of war, Mars. Constantinople fell to the Ottomans on a Tuesday the 13th, reinforcing the superstition.

There are an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States who are affected by a fear of Friday the 13th. Many refuse to participate in regular weekday activities and some stay home or even don’t get out of bed. Ironically, this leads to a lower rate of accidents, fires and thefts on the day because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home.

Michael Santo