Tuesday the 13th: origin, myths and superstitions about the day of bad luck

Today is Tuesday the 13th and many superstitious people will think twice before engaging in certain activities. There are people who are afraid when this date arrives, to the point of even delaying certain projects for fear of misfortune.

Where does the myth that Tuesday the 13th is linked to bad luck come from? The negative connotation attached to it is surrounded by superstitions. Often in the world there are people who suffer from ungovernable fear for this reason and suffer from trezidavomartiophobia, a pathology in which on days like these they suffer anxiety, fear and insecurity.

Tuesday the 13th has a bad reputation in the most diverse cultures, since time immemorial and is linked to religious beliefs, mythological and historical legends. At Spain, Greece and some of the Latin American countries, such as Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Cuba, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador and others, it is considered a day of misery. In Anglo-Saxon cultures it has been moved to Friday the 13th, while in Italy it is Friday the 17th.

An explanation for the fame of this particular date could be found in the combination of certain religious circumstances: Mars was the Roman god of war, that is why Tuesday is ruled by the red planet, the planet of destruction, blood and violence.

In addition, thirteen attended the Last Supper of Jesus: twelve apostles and him. Judas, the traitor, is considered number 13. It is also in chapter 13 of Revelation that he speaks of “the beast with seven heads”.

In Jewish Kabbalah there are also 13 evil spirits, and in Norse mythology Loki, the god of evil, is the thirteenth guest at a dinner of the gods. In the tarot, the card associated with death is numbered 13. For the Egyptians, phase 13 of the cycle of life was death.

The two convictions (that of the day and that of the figure) were combined, perhaps for the first time, on Tuesday April 13, 1204, when Constantinople fell in the Fourth Crusade. Some legends indicate that on Tuesday the 13th also, the mythical confusion of tongues took place at the Tower of Babel.

For the Spanish poet, writer and journalist Marcos Rafael Blanco Belmonte, the origin of the legend dates back to Tuesday, June 13, 1276, when the city of Játiva (present-day Valencia) was taken over by the Muslims, while in Greek tradition, it is said that it was a Tuesday when Typhon , a winged monster, was born, that he could reach for the stars.

In the Anglo-Saxon world, 13 is also considered an unlucky number, but the fatal combination comes when it falls on Friday. It happens that in the middle of the Middle Ages this day fell on October 13, 1307 when the king Felipe IV de France ordered the arrest of the Templars who were subjected to torture by the inquisitors, accused of heresy, sodomy and spitting on the cross. Therefore, the date is associated with tragic events.

The deadly Friday the 13th date has been reinforced in popular culture thanks to the horror film Friday 13, released in 1980, which told the story of a group of teenagers who died at the hands of an unknown murderer, Jason.

However, despite all these possible explanations, the truth is that the negative connotations given to Tuesday the 13th have no scientific basis. However, what we do know is that Tuesday and number 13 were and are associated with unhappiness, so in most Latin American countries the date is synonymous with something bad that can happen.

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