Truth or myth: why Tuesday the 13th is considered a day of “bad luck”

In Mexico, when the calendar indicates Tuesday the 13th, we believe it is a day full of bad luck and bad omens that will affect our lives.

The worldview we have is so big that there are even various signs to frame “Bad luck” like a black cat, a broken mirror or walking under a ladder.

However, the question that brings us together is to know the origin of this day, which can have several meanings. It should be noted that even in Mexico there is a popular saying that goes: Tuesday, “do not get married or embark”.

It is said that the origin of Tuesday the 13th would have to do with the biblical episode of the “Last Supper”, in which Judas, the traitor, was considered the apostle 13. Regarding the connection with the day of the week, March would go out, the Roman god of war and symbol of destruction.

Another of the references which, it is believed, could be linked to this belief This is chapter 13 of Revelation, in which the “beast with seven heads” is mentioned.

In the Jewish world, there is another reference which could also be at the origin of this myth: there are thirteen evil spirits of Kabbalah, a discipline and esoteric school of thought linked to the Essenes and Hasidic Judaism.

Another historical fact relevant to trying to understand this day is the famous Fall of the Roman Empire, which was defeated on Tuesday 13 1453.

This is why many planes do not have rank 13, some buildings go from the 12th to the 14th floor, and there is the word ‘triscaidecaphobia’, which designates the pathological fear of the number 13.

Among the countries that share this belief are Cuba, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador.

On Friday October 13, 1307, King Philippe IV of France ordered the arrest of the Templars. They were tortured by the Inquisition, accused of heresy, sodomy and of having spit on the cross. That is why Friday the 13th is linked to tragic events.

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.

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 (today 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.

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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