Friday the 13th and friggatriskaidekaphobia

Next Friday it will be 13th. Are you superstitious? If not, it may be your lucky day.

Friday the 13th occurs when the thirteenth day of a month falls on a Friday, which superstition holds to be a day of bad luck. In the Gregorian calendar, this day occurs at least once, but at most three times a year. Any month's 13th day will fall on a Friday if the month starts on a Sunday.

The fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia, frigga, meaning "Friday" and triskaidekaphobia, or paraskevidekatriaphobia, a word derived from the concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (meaning "Friday"), and dekatreís (meaning "thirteen"), attached to phobía (meaning "fear"). The word was derived in 1911 and first appeared in a mainstream source in 1953.

One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and the Friday is an unlucky day.

In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve signs of the zodiac, twelve hours of the clock, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, twelve gods of Olympus, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness.

To know more about 13th Friday:
http://theunexplainedmysteries.com/friday-the-13th.html

Friday the 13th Myths:

• If you cut your hair on Friday the 13th, someone in your family will die.

• A child born on Friday the 13th will be unlucky for life.

• If a funeral procession passes you on Friday the 13th, you will be the next to die.  

Tasks:

Answer the following questions :

1. Which British superstition are similar to those in your country?

2. Which are different?