“Where knowledge ends, superstition begins.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
Where across the course of your day today, could you consider where it might be that you are responding to fear without first examining the facts?
Paraskevidekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th.
Paraskeví is Greek for Friday: Dekatria means thirteen: Phobia means fear.
This fear is surprisingly widespread. Some people avoid travel, major decisions, or even leaving the house on Friday the 13th.
It’s a specific form of triskaidekaphobia, which is the fear of the number 13 in general.
Friday the 13th is supposedly unlucky, yet statistically, it is just like any other Friday.
For centuries, the number 13 was associated with disruption. Friday carried weight too, often linked to suffering and punishment in religious tradition.
Eventually, the two ideas fused.
And once an idea is repeated enough, it stops feeling like a story and starts feeling like the truth.
We are all superstitious until we understand the cause.
A noise in the dark is frightening until you switch on the light.
A symptom is terrifying until you understand the physiology.
A market dip feels catastrophic until you understand cycles.
Ignorance creates superstition; understanding creates agency.
Friday the 13th is simply a mirror. It reflects how readily the human mind assigns meaning to coincidence when clarity is lacking.
The same thing happens in business, relationships, and health.
When results dip, we look for patterns. We blame luck, timing, fate, and other people, and we invent invisible forces rather than investigate underlying causes.
In Christian tradition, 13 people were at the table at the Last Supper. The thirteenth guest is commonly identified as Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed Jesus Christ.
Over time, this helped cement the idea that 13 at a table invites misfortune, a belief that persisted across Europe for centuries.
In Norse legend, 12 gods were dining peacefully in Valhalla when Loki arrived uninvited as the 13th guest. His presence led to chaos and the death of the beloved god Balder.
Many ancient systems treated 12 as a complete number:
12 months in a year, 12 zodiac signs, 12 Olympian gods and 12 hours on a clock face
Psychologically, 13 represents the unknown spilling past structure, which humans instinctively resist.
Friday gained a darker reputation because it’s traditionally believed that Jesus was crucified on a Friday. In medieval Europe, Friday became associated with punishment, execution, and penance.
Some traditions also held that:
Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden on a Friday
Cain killed Abel on a Friday
Whether factual or not, repetition embedded the belief.
In medieval England and parts of Europe, executions were commonly carried out on Fridays, reinforcing the emotional link between the day and danger or loss.
From a performance and mindset perspective, this fear is a clear example of how:
Meaning is inherited, not chosen
Symbols shape behaviour without evidence
Awareness dissolves superstition
Here’s the thing: Once you understand the mechanism, fear dissolves.
Knowledge replaces narrative, calm replaces caution, and action replaces avoidance.
So, rather than avoiding ladders or scanning the streets for black cats, understand the cause, and the superstition loses its grip.
And when that happens, Friday the 13th becomes just another Friday.
While you’re thinking about that, think about this and have a Gr8 day!
Be well,
DL
“We are all superstitious until we understand the cause.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
Where across the course of your day today, could you consider where it might be that you are responding to fear without first examining the facts?
Paraskevidekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th.
Paraskeví is Greek for Friday: Dekatria means thirteen: Phobia means fear.