Just like walking under a ladder, crossing paths with a black cat or breaking a mirror, many people hold fast to the belief that Friday the 13th brings bad luck. Though it's uncertain exactly when this particular tradition began, negative superstitions have swirled around the number 13 for centuries.
While Western cultures have historically associated the number 12 with completeness (there are 12 days of , 12 months and zodiac signs, 12 labors of , 12 gods of Olympus and 12 tribes of , just to name a few examples), its successor .
The ancient , for example, reportedly omitted a 13th law from its list of legal rules. Though this was probably a clerical error, superstitious people sometimes point to this as proof of 13's longstanding negative associations.
Fear of the number 13 has even earned a psychological term: triskaidekaphobia
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Friday 13th myths, legends and origins.
Non-Fictionits the fright full truth about why Friday 13th and the number 13 is such a haunted number and date.
