Please allow me to introduce myself. I’m a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been around for a long, long year. Stole many a man’s soul to waste.

All italicized quotes from Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones.

666 has been known as the devil’s number, but no number in history has been vilified and condemned as much as unlucky 13. NASA’s recent suggestion that the non-science of astrology should add a 13th constellation got me thinking again about the reasons for 13’s unpopularity, at least in much of Western culture. (Source 1)

But as I researched 13, I found that the Devil’s Dozen isn’t so unpopular anymore. Don’t believe the hype.

After centuries of superstition, perhaps reason is winning the battle in how society views the number 13. And what’s so wrong with a coven of witches, anyway?

Thirteenth of a Dozen: The Rise of Triskaidekaphobia

Pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name. But what’s puzzling you is the nature of my game.

Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of 13. Most of the time, it isn’t a phobia of clinical proportions, though some people actively go out of their way to avoid 13. Friday the 13th is a notable example, being widely considered an unlucky day. Many buildings have been constructed without a 13th floor. Well, there is a 13th floor (or else the buildings would collapse), but the numbering on floors and elevators conveniently skips from 12 to 14 sometimes.

The fear is broader than any one person. It comes from society’s irrational aversion to a number that some have linked to evil or misfortune.

Where did the aversion to 13 begin and how did it become entrenched? No one can be sure, but the following influences have played major roles in the rise of triskaidekaphobia.

Okay, I promise I won’t write that word again.

Detail from Moulins Cathedral, France, Public Domain.

Judas, the 13th Guest

And I was around when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and pain. Made damn sure Pilate washed his hands and sealed his fate.

Regardless of your religious beliefs or aversion to them, Christianity has had a big impact on the world. In Western society, many notions of right and wrong can be traced to the Bible or to church interpretations of its teachings.

There is a widely held belief that 13’s unpopularity has its source in the Bible. At the very least, it has influenced attitudes towards the number. (2)

12 is a nice, clean number. Jesus Christ had 12 disciples, plus Judas Iscariot, the 13th. “One of you will betray me,” Jesus reportedly said. Sure enough, after that fateful Last Supper, Judas sold him out to the Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea.

Loki, the Uninvited 13th Guest

I watched in glee while your kings and queens fought for ten decades for the gods they made.

There is a similar story in Norse mythology. It involves Loki, a well-known trickster, who had a troubled history with the gods. Sometimes, he was friendly, and at other times, dangerous. Loki was known as a shapeshifter also, sometimes appearing as an animal. On this particular occasion, he showed up to a party unannounced and it caused some serious trouble.

“The origin appears to be the idea that 13 at a table is an unlucky number,” said psychologist Stuart Vyse, author of Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition. Quoted in a Washington Times article, Mr. Vyse explained the Norse myth: “There is a story about 12 benevolent gods having a good time and Loki crashed the party, making thirteen." (2)

In the melee that followed, one of the good gods wound up dead. Apparently, it was all Loki’s fault. Blame the number 13.

The Mayan Calendar

The Mayan calendar ended with the 13th Baktun or age. In 2012, there was much consternation over the fact that the world was ending. It did not. Perhaps this calendar did not measure the time until the apocalypse; it simply ran through its cycles. There were very few references to the 13 baktuns in Mayan inscriptions; they only referred to it historically and not in terms of apocalyptic endings. (3)

(3.1)

Friday the Thirteenth

Fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia. Write this one down, please. We’ll have a quiz later!

Just kidding; I will not speak the word again.

Statistically speaking, Friday is more likely to fall on the 13th day of the month than on any other day. The way our years, months and days are set up, we get a lot of Friday the 13ths. In a 400 year period, which is exactly how long it takes to repeat the exact same exact calendar pattern, there are 688 Friday the 13ths. (4)

This is bad news for those who won’t get out of bad that day or ride in an airplane because they fear something bad will happen to them. The fear of Friday the 13th also has a negative impact on the economy, though one could argue that those who do not like it simply are shifting their buying power to other days. According to Dr. Donald Dossey at the Phobia Institute, Friday the 13th has an annual economic impact of about $800-900 million on the economy. (5)

Other Possible Reasons (EDIT)

A couple of community members also have mentioned the Knights Templar date of the 13th. There literally are a dozen other possible key dates in history that fell on a 13th. And all of the Columbus stuff, too. Who knows what the reasons for 13's unpopularity really were? This is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Thanks for the comments!

13 Rising

Attitudes towards thirteen have been changing. Or maybe they never were as bad as all the hype. Whatever happened in the past, there is less superstition today than ever before. Most people are more likely to smile than cry when a black cat crosses their path. Similarly, most people are not deterred by a flight on the 13th day of a month or of living or staying on the 13th floor of a building.

Lucky 13?

Tell me baby, what’s my name? Tell me sweetie, what’s my name?

Source: Pixabay

Would you believe that 13 is a lucky number in some lotteries? Though the odds of any number being selected should be the same, there are more instances of certain numbers being selected than others. The image below shows the numbers chosen in the popular Powerball lottery in the United States in any draw since 2012.

It shows number 13 appearing in the Top 10 on two different lists.

(6)

The moral of the story? If you win the lottery playing number 13, it won’t seem so unlucky any more.

13 is Lucky in Many Cultures and Traditions

Tell me baby, what’s my name. I tell you one time, you’re to blame.

In Judaism, 13 is very common number and there is nothing unlucky about it. 13 is the year of one’s coming-of-age ceremony known as the bar mitzvah or bat bitzvah. From that age, young people gain responsibility for following the commandments. By the way, Judaism has 13 principles of faith and Abraham originally entered into 13 covenants with God in the Old Testament. So if the Bible is a source of negativity toward the number 13, it is most definitely from the New Testament portion and not the old. (7)

In Chinese culture, the number 13 has never been unlucky. While other numbers like 8 and 7 may bring more good fortune, 13 is pretty good, too. When the numbers are associated with similar sounding words in both Mandarin and Cantonese, the one and three have a lucky ring to them. The one means that something is certain or definite, while the number three can be associated with the character for life, living, or birth. (8)

So in Chinese culture, there is a lot to like about 13.

And let’s not forget mooncakes. 13 is the typical number of mooncakes, a baker’s dozen. Why? Because there are closer to 13 lunar cycles than 12 in a given year.

Baker’s Dozen

So if you meet me, have some courtesy, have some sympathy, and some taste.

Now for the tasty part. Buy a dozen baked items and you’ll get one for free. That’s known as a baker’s dozen. Long ago, during lean times, bakers were known to cheat people, and so the Baker’s Dozen arose as a way to make sure there were at least 12 baked items (or so the legend goes).

(8.1)

Today, most places that sell cookies donuts, muffins, or pastries will honor the Baker’s Dozen and throw in that extra item. Strangely enough, the people who do not get out of bed on Friday the 13th do not appear to be refusing an extra muffin. It’s funny how selective our pseudoscientific minds can be.

Only 13?

Just as every cop is a criminal and all the sinners saints. As heads is tails just call me Lucifer. Cause I’m in need of some restraint.

A few years ago, USA Today published the results of a Gallup poll of Americans, asking if they would feel uncomfortable if they were assigned to a hotel room on the 13th floor of a building.

Most people (87% of them) didn’t mind at all. Those who would feel uncomfortable were a small minority of the population: only 13%. (9)

Woo woo. Woo woo. Woo woo.

Sources:

Thumbnail cat photo: Pixabay (public domain)

(1) http://www.sciencealert.com/stop-freaking-out-nasa-did-not-just-change-your-zodiac-sign

(2) http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/31/fear-of-13-traced-to-judas-myths/

(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_(number)

(3.1) Creative Commons via Flickr.com. Courtesy of Art Jonak.

(4) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/donna-henes/friday-13th_b_1418812.html

(5) http://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/trends/friday-the-13th-costs-small-businesses-nearly-1-billion/

(6) http://bgr.com/2016/01/13/powerball-jackpot-frequent-numbers/

(7) https://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=226

(8) http://chineseonthego.com/culture/numbers.html

(8.1) Creative Commons via Flickr.com. Courtesy of Elaine Ross Baylon

(9) https://www.orbitz.com/blog/2015/02/friday-13th-truth-behind-hotels-missing-13th-floors/

(10) Woo woo, Woo woo, Woo woo