The superstitious phobia of the number 13 has been around for a while. Friday the 13th is viewed as a day of bad fortune or bad luck. Many (or most?) buildings avoid using the number 13, and therefore there is often no 13th floor that is labeled as such, making the labeled "14th" floor actually the 13th.

That just goes to show the irrational mindset of superstitious beliefs like the unluckiness of a number, such as 13 (or for that matter how another number is "lucky" instead). There is still a 13th floor of a building with 13 floors. The only thing is that the number 13 isn't used to describe it, as if that makes any significance on the reality that there is a 13th floor.

The fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia (from treis "three" + deka "ten") + -phobia "fear." The fear of Friday the 13th is specifically called paraskevidekatriaphobia (Greek Paraskevi "Friday"), or friggatriskaidekaphobia (Norse goddess Frigg which is the source of the word Friday).

In mythologies, Jesus was the 13th member of the group with the 12 Apostles. Jesus was betrayed and killed, so that might be one reason why the symbolism with 13 is associated with bad fortune, fate or destiny. But Jesus Christ, J.C. is also the 10th and 3rd letter of the English alphabet, making 13 in total, so Jesus Christ as 13 could also be more of a positive number than negative. After all, that character is revered for goodness and righteousness, not evil or wrong.

The unlucky part of 13 can also come from the 13 week lunar calendar and a belief in it's effect on emotions, whereby chaotic, insane, mad or crazed behavior was associated with the moon. The moon is a symbol of the darkness of night as well, with black cats as another symbol of bad luck. The "Salem Witch Trials" also had 13 women executed for being "witches".

In modern times, Apollo 13 was launched at 13:13 CST on April 11th, 1970, and had oxygen issues on April 13th. A lack of oxygen results in death after all. The 2015 Paris terror attacks were also on Friday the 13th.

The number 13 is also ominous as the card of Death in the Tarot. Death in this sense is more about the cycles of the old making way for the new. It's not a bad card as one might assume. Things don't stay the same, there is change in flux. Things move into different forms and don't stay the same. There is decay in nature, where once there was something, that something ceases to be, and other things come into being. Human life works this way, as we grow and move through many changes where the old goes away and the new comes in. The new darn approaches as the old world crumbles into ruin.

Frigg (root of Friday), the Norse goddess, was also a positive symbol, associated with wisdom and foreknowledge (fortune-telling, clairvoyance), and the Earth and nature as a mother-creation goddess. Nature goes through the process and cycle of plants growing and dying each year through the seasons, just as the Death card symbolizes as a concept of new and old, life and death interchanging.

I don't view numbers as literally giving out good or bad luck, fortune, fate or destiny in people's lives. I do recognize symbolism associated with numbers to convey certain meaning that can apply in different ways. Giving numbers power just means your giving away power in your life to be at the mercy of numbers to control you and what you think will happen to you, good or bad, lucky or unlucky.

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References:

• Triskaidekaphobia
• Number 13
• What's the meaning of the Number 13?
• Frigg

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