Feeling Lucky? Well are Ya, Punk?

Leslie here, and I used to dread Friday the 13th. I had my first car accident on Friday the 13th when I was 17. It was winter, and I hit a patch of ice and spun out. There was quite a lot of damage to my mother’s car, and my parents were really angry with me.

Ever since then, I’ve been gathering evidence for why Friday the 13th is unlucky, and lo and behold, I can always find something that has gone wrong.

But, can’t we always find something that has gone wrong? If you take a look at how the world was yesterday, can’t you find something that happened that you would consider unlucky?

Friday the 13th is only considered unlucky in Western cultures. So where does the myth come from?

One theory is Norse mythology. 12 gods were having a dinner party in Valhalla and the trickster god Loki crashed the party. Darn that Loki!

Another source could be The Last Supper. There were 13 people at that meal, and of course we commemorate the death of Jesus on a Friday.

However, there is no evidence that Friday + the 13th was considered unlucky before the 19th century. In fact, in other cultures it’s not.

Tuesday the 13th is considered unlucky in many Spanish-speaking countries, as well as in Greece., and Italians consider Friday the 17th to be unlucky.

But since this Friday the 13th falls in October, maybe watch even more carefully for black cats. By the way, black cats are considered to actually be lucky in many cultures, especially in my house. Just ask my black cat, Luna.

Do you consider Friday the 13th to be unlucky, have you had bad experiences on that day? Let me know in the Facebook comments.