Why Tuesday the 13th is a day associated with bad luck | The origins of an ancient popular belief

“On Tuesday the 13th, do not get married, do not embark or leave your homeThe old saying goes. Many countries share the belief that Tuesday the 13th is a day of bad luck. Precautions are common in Spain, Mexico, Greece, United States, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay , among a large number of countries around the world and in particular in Latin America.

There is obviously no scientific basis to support this belief, and its origins are so old that the hypotheses on its emergence are multiple and diffuse.

However, in various parts of the world there are hotels that go from the 12th floor straight to the 14th and do not have rooms with number 13. Also, many airlines do not include row 13.

For the superstitious, Tuesday the 13th is the worst combination, since Tuesday is considered the day of the week of bad omens, while the number 13 represents bad luck in many cultures.

To trace the origin of this widespread belief we must go back to antiquity. In principle, Tuesday is a word derived from the name of the planet Mars, which in the Middle Ages was considered to regulate emotions such as aggression, energy and tension. On the other hand, Mars is the Roman god of warTherefore, Tuesday, ruled by the Red Planet, is one of destruction, blood and violence.

In addition, in ancient Greece, it was believed that Typhon, the feared god of hurricane winds, was mythologically born on a Tuesday. A Tuesday was also the day of the week on which Constantinople fell and the day on which, according to the Bible, the confusion of the languages ​​of the Babel Tower.

Meanwhile, since ancient times, 13 was considered an ominous number. It is supposed to answer that in the Last Supper of Jesus Christ there were twelve apostles accompanying him. And Judas, who betrays Jesus, is considered number 13.

In various cultures and religions, it is accepted that 13 is the number of bad luck. In the apocalypse Chapter 13 refers to the Antichrist. According to Jewish Kabbalah the evil spirits were 13. Also a Scandinavian legend tells that in a supper of the gods in the Valhalla (the paradise where fallen warriors go according to belief), Loki, the evil spirit, was the thirteenth guest.

In tarot, the card that corresponds to death is 13; his name is Arcane XIII and he is illustrated by a skeleton with a scythe that cuts off the head of a king and a child.

Without too much certainty about its veracity and origin, Tuesday the 13th continues to be associated with bad luck in various parts of the world one day. And there are many who, out of fear or folklore, neither marry nor embark.