Why is Thirteen Unlucky?

Why is Thirteen Unlucky?

Thirteen may be a normal number for some but others perceive thirteen as an unlucky number. There are a lot of folklores about the number thirteen and mostly this is associated to bad luck. Situations like 13 people eating together, buildings with 13th floor, names with 13 letters shall be avoided because these are all unlucky.

People have created fear out of number 13. If we try to recall history, it’s quite difficult to trace the origin of the unlucky thirteen. Chinese and Egyptians even considered 13 as lucky long time before. In Egypt, 13 symbolizes the end of something and the beginning of a transformation. But then others see it that 13 is the ending and the death.

Thirteen is also the number of people who ate supper with Jesus before he was crucified. One of the disciples (Judas) betrayed Jesus which caused his death. The number thirteen is also associated with misfortunes such as the 13th psalm which talks about corruption, Apollo 13 which had an unsuccessful mission, witches may gather in groups of twelve and the thirteenth member will be the devil.

Because of these situations, people already alleged that 13 is indeed an unlucky number. It is commonly associated with witches, evils, bad luck, and misfortunes. Another reason is the Friday the 13th although it can be a coincidence. Long before, the King of France Phillip IV arrested the Knights Templar exactly on October 13, 1307, a Friday. From then on, people became afraid of Friday the 13th because executions may happen during that exact date.

In numerology, thirteen is also considered unlucky because it interrupts the balance. Twelve symbolizes harmony. A dozen is considered as perfect number and thirteen becomes the next number which turns the harmony into chaos.

The story of unlucky thirteen may be untrue but then it already created an impact to our lives. It will just depend on us whether we consider 13 as unlucky or just an ordinary number.