From the desk of Miss Know-All: Triskaidekaphobia

(Published on 24 October 2006 in 'Women at Work' - W @ W - a supplement of the Daily Mirror, Colombo, Sri Lanka)

My grandmother organised a family do on 13th September. Everyone graced the occasion except for an aunt who refused to turn up even though she lives just two houses down the lane. No amount of cajoling helped her change her mind. You see this aunt is a triskaidekaphobic and nothing in the world will make her step out of her house on the 13th day of any month. Besides, this September – 13th fell on a Friday… I wonder whether she got out of bed at all, that day.

Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13 as over a period of time this number has been associated with bad luck. The word ‘triskaidekaphobia’ has Greek origins: ‘tris’ means three; ‘kai’ means and; ‘deka’ means ten – thus adding up to the number thirteen. Phobia of course denotes fear. This superstition leads some people to fear or avoid anything involving the number 13 and leads to interesting practices such as omitting the number 13 when numbering floors in high-rise buildings.

The association of bad luck with the number 13 has been attributed to the fact there were 13 people at the Last Supper. The association has also been linked to that fact that luni-solar calendars such as the Hebrew and the Chinese calendars have to have 13 months in some years in order to synchronise the solar and lunar cycles. Triskaidekaphobia is also related to Norse mythology. God Odin invited eleven of his closest friends to a dinner party, only to have his party ruined by Loki, the god of evil. The total number of people added to 13. The legend further recounts how Balder, one of the most dearly loved gods, tried to throw Loki out of the party. A scuffle ensued and Balder was killed with a mistletoe-tipped arrow.

Fear of the number 13 also leads to fear of Friday the thirteenth. While the number 13 is associated with the number of people at the Last Supper, the crucifixion took place on a Friday. Thus, bad luck is associated with the combination of this number with this day. The year 1998 was a bad one for triskaidekaphobics. That year was one of the rare years in which Friday the 13th appeared thrice. Every year has at least one Friday the 13th. In a 28-year cycle, there are four years that have three ‘Friday the thirteenths’. The next being in: 2009, 2012 and 2015.

The only consolation I can offer triskaidekaphobics is that they are not alone and share their fears with other famous people. Napoleon, Richard Wagner, Franklin Roosevelt and Mark Twain were known to suffer with triskaidekaphobia. While there does not appear to be any hard evidence to support that the number thirteen is unlucky, it has been noted that a lot of money is lost each Friday the 13th as a result of people avoiding to start a new venture, begin a journey, get married, move and start a new job. Very rightly - Voltaire, one of the greatest French writers and philosophers observed that, "Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy; the mad daughter of a wise mother"

Miss Know-All
wow@dailymirror.wnl.lk