FRIDAY 13. The 2022 calendar hides one and only Friday the 13th and it falls on Friday May 13, 2022. Everything you need to know about this superstition that comes from the Catholic religion.
[Mis à jour le 11 mai 2022 à 08h47] Friday the 13th is indicative of a real social phenomenon with regard to the exceptional Loto and Euromillions draws organized on these occasions, proof of a deep-rooted superstition among the French since they are taken by storm each time! Especially since the Loto offers to win this Friday, May 13, 2022 a super jackpot of 13 million euros. And to mark the occasion of the only Friday 13 of the year, the Super Loto also offers a tombola to win 20,000 euros for 50 winners.
But where does this superstition come from in France, which is also synonymous with luck or bad luck? The superstition linked to Friday the 13th first comes from the superstition around the number 13. With origins to be found mainly in the Bible: during the Last Supper, the last meal taken together before the arrest and crucifixion of Christ, Jesus and his apostles are 13. But why Friday? It is also the Catholic religion that came to attach the number 13 to it, in reference to Good Friday, the day of the Stations of the Cross and of penance. At the same time, certain legends imply that Eve crunched the famous apple from the Garden of Eden on a Friday.
The year 2022 has only one Friday the 13th, this month of may. Not all years have a “double Friday the 13th”, as will be the case for example in 2023 (which will have two “black cat days”, one in January and one in October).
This superstition, sometimes ridiculed, has its origins in the Bible: according to the set of texts considered sacred by believers, Christ was crucified on Good Friday, after a last meal, the Last Supper, taken at 13 around the table. with his apostles… including the traitor Judas. In Greco-Roman and Nordic mythologies, the number 13 was also already frowned upon, but it is Catholic tradition that associated the number 13 with Good Friday, the day of penance and the Stations of the Cross. Some legends even suggest that Eve bit into the apple from the Garden of Eden on a Friday…
Nothing special has happened on Friday the 13th in the past. The association that connects the day of Friday, the number 13 and misfortune would draw its source from the Bible. According to the New Testament, during the Last Supper (Christ’s last meal), 13 participants sat around the table: Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles. The Gospel of Matthew quotes all those present: “Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother; James, son of Zebedee, and John, his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew, the publican; James, son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon the Zealot (or the Cananite), and Judas the Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus”. Judas is often presented as the 13th guest, the one who changed everything. Judas the traitor and Friday the 13th are therefore inseparable. The fear of Friday the 13th is also based on the fact that Christ was crucified on a Friday, which will become “Good Friday” during Easter week.
The fear of Friday the 13th would also have its origins in ancient Norse myths. As with the episode of the death of the God Balder. Odin, god of warriors, had once, according to legend, gathered eleven of his god friends for a dinner party at his home in Valhalla. Loki, god of war and evil, annoyed at not being part of the party, decided to invite himself anyway. Only, this thirteenth surprise guest was not welcome. Odin’s son, the handsome Balder, god of love and light, tried to chase the intruder away. A battle broke out between the two gods who had always hated each other. Loki, jealous and malevolent god, fired a poisoned arrow at him in the heart, killing Balder the “beloved”. Since this legend, in Scandinavian countries, the number 13 is considered cursed and being 13 at the table would bring bad luck.
Frigga, or the demonization of pagan beliefs, is another precursor to the fear of Friday the 13th. In Norse mythology, Frigga (or Freya) was the queen of the gods, goddess of love and fertility. She was celebrated by her worshipers on Fridays. Word “Friday”, Friday in English, would come from elsewhere of this celebration and would mean “Freya’s Day”. But in the 10th and 11th centuries, the northern countries were gradually converted to Christianity. We then start to tell that Frigga is actually a witch and that she has been banished to the top of a mountain. In revenge, she would invite, every Friday, the devil and 11 witches to curse men and cast bad spells on them.
Is 13 a destroyer of harmony? The Greeks and Romans also give this number a negative connotation in the Greco-Roman mythologies of Friday the 13th. These two mythologies, which have great similarities, both associate the number 12 with regularity and perfection. Thus, there are 12 Olympian gods, 12 constellations, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 hours of day and night. The number 13, which involves adding one unit to the perfect 12, breaks this regular cycle and introduces disorder. Destroying harmony, it is synonymous with misfortune. As for Friday, it is associated with unfortunate events since it is on this day, in ancient Rome, that the executions of those sentenced to death generally take place.
As Friday January 13, 2017 approached, the Lastminute.com site had fun probing the superstitions of Europeans. Result: they were 15% to fear on this particular day on the Old Continent. Almost as much as those who feared “breaking a mirror” (21%), “passing under a ladder” (20%) or “opening an umbrella indoors” (17%). And more than the fearful of the salt shaker, since Europeans are still 15% to be superstitious about spilling salt. However, the French remain a little less superstitious than the European average, established at 55%: 52% of us attach importance to superstitions, against 60% for the Spaniards or 58% for the Italians. .
Friday the 13th generated its own phobia and it has an amazing name: the paraskevidekatriaphobia, a form of triskaidekaphobia or irrational fear of the number 13. Certain practices such as marriages, births or navigation are avoided in the West on the 13th of the month. In many cities, there are no dwellings bearing the number 13. Large buildings also avoid naming the 13th floor (which becomes 12 bis or 14 a) and some hotels do not have rooms 13 to avoid accommodating a superstitious client there.
On Friday the 13th, the paraskevidékatriaphobes do not go to work, do not go on a trip, do not do their shopping, in short, do not leave their homes. An American economist has also noted the economic impact of Friday the 13th: these days indeed experience a significant drop in consumption. Formula 1 pilots in particular have been afraid of the number 13 since the death of 2 pilots bearing this number in 1926. This number is never worn in this discipline unless the pilot requests it. Stephen King also confessed to this phobia which prevents him from reading the 13 pages of the books.
The year 2023 has two Friday the 13th: Friday January 13 and Friday October 13, 2022. Each year between one and three Friday the 13th are observed. In 2024, same thing, there will be a double Friday the 13th: Friday September 13 and December 13, 2024.