Say what?
Paraskevidekatriaphobia.
If you thought twice about leaving the house this morning, if you changed your
plans and decided not to go to the salon or get that manicure, not to go out
with that hot guy you’ve been fantasizing about for weeks, then that’s what you
suffer from: paraskevidekatriaphobia. It’s one of two official names for
the fear of Friday the 13th (Paraskevi
and dekatreis being the Greek words for Friday and thirteen, attached to good
ole phobia meaning fear), the other being friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga
being the Norse goddess after whom Friday is named and triskaidekaphobia for
fear of the number thirteen).
Who knew?
Well, my Master of Useless Information husband
did (never play Trivial Pursuit against him!), but for me, discovering this took pulling
together a Friday the 13th-oriented blog for the UK release of
Shattered Dreams! Actually, my research led me to all sorts of fascinating
tidbits, such as the discovery that nothing especially horrible ever happened on
Friday the 13th. It seems all our trepidation stems from a simple
arithmetic equation:
Bad Friday + Unlucky 13 = Terrible Friday the 13th
Yes, historically
speaking Friday is an unlucky day (beginning with Eve and the Apple one fateful
afternoon) and 13 is an unlucky number (how many were gathered for the Last
Supper….which just happened to be on a Friday?)
So there you have it.
The truth about Friday the 13th.
But while doing my
research, I ran across a whole bunch of other superstitions, some I was familiar
with (rabbits foot brings good luck, an apple a day keeps the doctor away),
some that were totally new to me (clothes worn inside out bring good luck). I had
so much fun with them, I thought I’d share a more comprehensive list here!
▪
Friday the
thirteenth is an unlucky day
▪
A rabbit's
foot brings good luck
▪
An apple a
day keeps the doctor away
▪
To find a
four-leaf clover is to find good luck
▪
If you walk
under a ladder, you will have bad luck
▪
If a black
cat crosses your path you will have bad luck
▪
To break a
mirror will bring you seven years bad luck
▪
To open an
umbrella in the house is to bring bad luck
▪
To find a
horseshoe brings good luck
▪
Step on a
crack, break your mother's back
▪
You can break
a bad luck spell by turning seven times in a clockwise circle
▪
Garlic
protects from evil spirits and vampires
▪
Our fate is
written in the stars
▪
At the end of
a rainbow is a pot of gold
▪
Clothes worn
inside out will bring good luck
▪
Wearing your
birthstone will bring you good luck
▪
If you blow
out all of the candles on your birthday cake with the first breath you will get
whatever you wish for
▪
To have a
wish come true using a wishbone, two people make a wish, then take hold of each
end of the bone and pull it until it separates. The person with the longer end
gets his or her wish
▪
An itchy palm
means money will come your way
▪
A beginner
will always have good luck: beginner's luck
▪
A cat has
nine lives
▪
Eating fish
makes you smart
▪
Toads cause
warts
▪
A cricket in
the house brings good luck
▪
Crossing your
fingers helps to avoid bad luck and helps a wish come true
▪
It is bad
luck to sing at the table
▪
It is bad
luck to sleep on a table
▪
After
receiving a container of food, the container should never be returned empty
▪
A lock of
hair from a baby's first haircut should be kept for good luck
▪
A bird that
comes in your window brings bad luck
▪
To refuse a
kiss under mistletoe causes bad luck
▪
Goldfish in
the pond bring good luck
▪
Goldfish in
the house bring bad luck
▪
For good
luck, wear new clothes on Easter
▪
An acorn at
the window can keep lightning out of the house
▪
If the bottom
of your feet itch, you will make a trip
▪
When a dog
howls, death is near
▪
It is bad
luck to chase someone with a broom
▪
A sailor
wearing an earring cannot drown
▪
To find a
penny heads up, brings good luck
▪
A drowned
woman floats face up, a drowned man floats face down
▪
A person
cannot drown before going under three times
▪
To drop a
fork means a woman will visit
▪
To drop a
knife means a man will visit
▪
To drop a
spoon means a child will visit
▪
To drop a
dishcloth means bad luck is coming
▪
If you
shiver, someone is casting a shadow on your grave
▪
To make a
happy marriage, the bride must wear: something old, something new, something
borrowed, something blue
▪
The wedding
veil protects the bride from the evil eye
▪
Washing a car
will bring rain
▪
You must get
out of bed on the same side you got in on or you will have bad luck
▪
Evil spirits
cannot harm you when you are standing in a circle
▪
A cat will
try to take the breath from a baby
▪
Warm hands,
cold heart
▪
Cold hands,
warm heart
▪
It is unlucky
to rock an empty rocking chair
▪
To kill an
albatross is to cause bad luck to the ship and all upon it
▪
Wearing an
opal when it is not your birthstone is bad luck
▪
Smell
dandelions, wet the bed
▪
To give someone
a purse or wallet without money in it will bring that person bad luck
LOL! Yes. I used to do this but not anymore. When I asked to pass the salt, I always made the person put it down on the table first before I grabbed it. It's said that if you pass the salt without putting it down on the table, the person passing it to you will give you bad luck.
ReplyDeleteThat's great, Savannah! I've never heard that one. I think my favorites are all the ones by athletes, such as baseball players who won't shave or wash their hat while on a winning streak. Personally, I'm a big New Orleans Saints fangirl, but I'm here to tell you, whenever I wear my Drew Brees jersey, the team plays like Little Leaguers. A few years back it go so bad I stopped wearing my jersey altogether. That year they made it to the Super Bowl. I was so excited I couldn't help but wear my jersey, and sure enough, the first half we played awful. Sullenly, I yanked off the jersey and put on one of my husband's Chicago Bears t-shirts, and sure enough, they came out with a killer player to open the second half and never looked back. To this day, I don't wear Saints gear on gamedays!
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