Last week the 13th fell on a Tuesday, a combination associated with bad luck in Spain, Greece, and some countries in Latin America. There’s even a saying that goes: “On Tuesday the 13th, don’t get married, travel, or stray far from home.” But what is the superstition all about?
In Latin languages, Tuesday (martes, dimarts, mardi, martedì) gets its name from Mars, the god of war. The day’s association with destruction and violence dates back as far as the Middle Ages.
As for the number 13, it has been tied to bad luck for a number of reasons: because there were 13 people at Christ’s Last Supper and Judas was the 13th, because there are 13 evil spirits in the Kabbalah, and because the Antichrist appears in chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation, to cite just a few.
But, as we know, Tuesday the 13th isn’t bad luck for everybody. In the English-speaking world, the equivalent is Friday the 13th.
In this case, the association with bad luck has been attributed to a specific even that occurred on Friday October 13, 1307. At the time, the Knights Templar had run afoul of the Inquisition and it was on that fateful Friday the 13th that many of the Templars were arrested and ultimately burned at the stake.
Two different days with different origins, but a shared superstition: take your pick, and may Lady Luck smile upon you.
