It's that Friday

Triskaidekaphobia is the – how shall I put this politely? – irrational fear of the number that falls between 12 and 14. There are all sorts of theories about why 13 is considered unlucky, but as far as I can tell, there is no prevailing consensus. After all, why would there be a rational reason for an irrational belief?

Of course, some businesses cater to those of their patrons who are superstitious about that number. Hotels often do not have a room 13 and skyscrapers notoriously are supposed to skip from the 12th floor to the 14th.

There are counter-superstitions and religious traditions that believe the number 13 is lucky, on the other hand. Daniel, like most Jewish boys, made his bar mitzvah when he was 13 years old, becoming an adult in his religious culture and raking in lots of gifts from family members, which I am sure he considered great luck. There is an old Catholic devotion to St. Anthony of Padua, he of the lost items, called the Thirteen Tuesdays, a kind of super-novena in which one prays to the saint for thirteen consecutive Tuesdays. The same saint is honored by a sort of rosary in which the beads are divided into thirteen groups. There is even a small religious community in Brazil that reportedly considers 13 a God number.

Friday the Thirteenth? Don't get me started!