Friday the 13th: A Good or Cursed Day?

Tomorrow will be Friday the 13th. It is quite rare to have two Friday the 13th days in consecutive months (February and March). This post is not about the movies (Jason!), but rather the origins behind this unique day.

Some people say this is a day of bad luck. Over the generations, people would cautiously stay home on this day.

Some interesting facts about Friday the 13th:

• The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia.
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• The year 2009 has three Friday the 13th days in the months of February, March, and November. This sequence will repeat again in the years 2015 and 2016.


• During leap years, Friday the 13th occurs three times in the months of January, April, and July.

There is also an explanation from Norse mythology:

The actual origin of the superstition, though, appears also to be a tale in Norse mythology. Friday is named for Frigga, the free-spirited goddess of love and fertility. When Norse and Germanic tribes converted to Christianity, Frigga was banished in shame to a mountaintop and labeled a witch. It was believed that every Friday, the spiteful goddess convened a meeting with eleven other witches, plus the devil - a gathering of thirteen - and plotted ill turns of fate for the coming week. For many centuries in Scandinavia, Friday was known as "Witches' Sabbath."

Do you believe this day brings good or bad luck?

Check out the Snopes, About.com, and Infoplease for more information regarding Friday the 13th.