The number 13, why are we all fascinated and disturbed by this “unlucky” number. But where does this notion come from? I understand why the Chinese don’t like the number 4. It is a simple uncomplicated answer, 4 is similar to death in the Chinese language. I don’t think the dive into researching the number 13 will be so easy though. No 13th floors in buildings, no 13th Streets in cities, no 13th gate at an airport. There is a very common notion of 13 being an unlucky number. That something ominous is afoot.
But why? There is no real explanation where the superstition came from, but these are some of the prevailing ideas.
13 is a Fibonacci number, but it isn’t of any significance in the line of Fibonacci numbers. but, there is another mathematical theory around the number 13. Apparently 12 is the perfect number and that the following perfect number, 13 is (as History.com puts it) was surely to be found lacking and unusual.
Tarot- In Camila Bryce’s article “What are the Origins of Tarot” on Storymaps.com, Tarot as we know it (as a fortune telling tool) began in France in late 1700’s, but earlier Tarot decks existed in the 1500’s. What does this have to do with the number 13? In Tarot decks the XIII card of the Major Arcana is Death. While in the Tarot, Death is not an omen predicting death, but more about an end of something, closing of a chapter to make room for the next. If you are not savvy in the Tarot, am certain that death is looming as a dark figure.
The Last Supper- Jesus’s fateful last supper in which he was betrayed by one of his disciples. There were 13 seated at the table, and maybe to push the theory of unlucky 13, it is said Judas was the 13th to sit at the table.
Norse Myth- Similar to the tale of Jesus’s fateful supper, the 12 Norse gods were having a dinner party in Valhalla when a 13th guest arrived and created mischief and turmoil. That 13th guest, Loki, of course.
Knights Templar- Wikipedia sites the fateful Friday October 13th, 1307 when King Phillip IV of France ordered the Knights Templar to be arrested as a possible reason behind the number 13 problematic history. They were charged with performing black magic, heresy against the church and other crimes. According to History.com “Why Friday the 13th Spelled Doom for the Knights Templar”, more than 600 were arrested and tortured until they confessed. Many were burned at the stake.
In modern days, it has be perpetuated by Western culture in books and cinema. According to Wikipedia, triskaidekaphobia, was coined in 1910 by Isador Coriat in Abnormal Psychology. It is the fear of the number 13. So at the beginning of the 1900’s it was already a prevalent superstition. In 1907 Thomas Lawson penned a book Friday, the Thirteenth in which a rogue broker destroys the stock market.
As you can see, there are many theories (even more than discussed here) about the origins of the fateful number 13, but none really confirm where the myth originated.
In our modern times, the number keeps being pushed into the realm of superstition and horror. With events that happened on Friday the 13th- Apollo 13 mission explosion, Tupak Shakur’s death, several plane crashes, the Costa Concordia shipwreck, etc. But the entertainment industry have transformed the number 13 into a horror and supernatural icon! With the burning 13 on Black Sabbath’s final album, Friday the 13th franchise, Warehouse 13 tv series, and many other nods to the number throughout mass media, it will continue into the American psyche as an unlucky and superstitious number.