Musings on: Triskaidekaphobia

I know, I know what you're thinking - Zahrah, have you lost it?   (I plead the Fifth, by the way)  What the heck is Triskaidekaphobia, and why are you writing about it?

Well, according to Merriam Webster:

Main Entry: tris·kai·deka·pho·bia 

Pronunciation: \ˌtris-ˌkī-ˌde-kə-ˈfō-bē-ə, ˌtris-kə-\

Function: noun

Etymology: New Latin, from Greek treiskaideka thirteen (from treis three + kai and + deka ten) + New Latin phobia — more at three, ten

Date: circa 1911

: fear of the number 13

Yep.  It's Friday the 13th.  -insert horror movie scream here-

Which, contrary to the belief and stigma of it being unlucky, I've always rather liked.  How many days get instant recognition of this sort?   April Fools Day, perhaps, and that's only once a year, where as Friday the 13th can occur up to nine times in a year, depending on where we are in the calendar cycle.

Aside from that, my Friday the 13ths are invariably good days.  I once won a contest for concert tickets on a Friday the 13th, and you don't get a whole lot luckier than that!

Now, for me personally, I'm not saying that I don't  follow superstitions - primarily theater ones (The Scottish Play, anyone?), but I do think that many of them are just a case of self-fulfilling prophecy.  You think that Friday the 13th is unlucky, and thus it is.  I go into it with a "hey, cool" attitude, and thus it is.

That's true of life in general though.

Oh well, back to work...

~Zahrah

P.S.  If you are weird like me, and like to read about the histories and traditions of such things, I highly recommend this article