TCU Daily Skiff Friday, February 13, 2004
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Superstition reigns on Friday the 13th
Ladders, black cats and hockey masks, oh my

COMMENTARY

Is everyone scared? If you aren’t, you should be. Today is Friday the 13th and superstition has it that bad things will come your way.

Don’t do anything stupid like walk under a ladder or open an umbrella inside. The rumors say that, if you do, you will have several years of bad luck.

For all you paraskevidekatriaphobes, those afraid of Friday the 13th or psychotic men with hockey masks, make sure to stay inside your room under the covers so nothing at all happens to you.

Christians have feared Fridays because things like Jesus being crucified, Eve eating the forbidden fruit and the Great Flood have supposedly happened on a Friday.

The fear of the number 13 came about because that’s the number of witches in a coven, months in the pagan lunar calendar and the number of people at the Last Supper.

When these two elements mix, it becomes one of the scariest days of the year.

Friday and the number 13 are related to each other in capital punishment. Britain held public hangings on Fridays and the prisoner had to walk up 13 steps to get to the noose.

We learn from a young age to fear this day, and because of this, people look for bad things to happen on this day. If you fall down a flight of stairs, get robbed or eat a bug, you attribute this flaw in your day to the curse of Friday the 13th.

So make sure you don’t let a black cat walk in front of you, make sure to bless everyone that sneezes and most definitely check behind you often, because you never know who or what may be there.
 
 
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