- Friday, June 13, 2003
Paraskevidekatriaphobia
(hm?)
Yeah. Paraskevidekatriaphobia. Did your eyebrows raise a bit?
I woke up this morning around 7ish, and when I was driving to work, a question pops up in my mind, "Today is Friday the 13th." simply because we had been talking about it last night. We were discussing this one korean movie called Sorum, played by the guy who played in Hotelier as the GM *serem banget posternya, and horror movies were never my cup of tea*
So then, I was curious to find out anything I could find in the internet about Friday the 13th and all this superstition issue.
Paraskevidekatriaphobia: simply means "Fear of the number 13"
Apparently, according to British Medical Journal in 1993, an author made a research to examine "the relation between health, behaviour, and superstition surrounding Friday 13th in the United Kingdom," its authors compared the ratios of traffic volume to vehicular accidents on two different days, Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th, over a period of years. "Surprisingly, they found that in the region sampled, while consistently fewer people chose to drive on Friday the 13th, the number of hospital admissions due to accident was significantly higher than on "normal" Fridays.
Their conclusion: "Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended."
And how is it any different now? How many people at the turn of the millennium still suffer from this phobia? According to Dr. Donald Dossey, a therapist specializing in the treatment of phobias and credited with coining the term "paraskevidekatriaphobia," as many as 21 million do in the United States alone.
If that figure is correct, something like eight percent of Americans are still in the grips of an old superstition.
Wow. Talk about some 'good' ol' superstition!
Well, what do you believe?
Do you believe that Friday the 13th associated with horror stuffs, you know, ghosts, evil deeds, bad luck, etc. ?
For me, I'd never believe that the number 13 associates with bad luck and such. To me, 13 is just like any other number. Odd number, yes. Bad number, no. Well, depend on how you define 'bad' ;) he he. Hm, I guess superstition is just like old-wive tales, and never really put it into my dictionary. It's interesting to see, here in U.S., even though more than 80% of the population is Christians, but superstition like this is still around for years. But after reading couple of articles, I see how people came up with the idea. Not to mention, why friday the 13th is unlucky. The Bible tells us there were exactly 13 disciples present at the Last Supper, and one of them betrayed Jesus. And not to mention also, Cruxifixion took place on Friday.
"In ancient Rome, Friday was execution day (later Hangman's Day in Britain). In other pagan cultures it was the sabbath, a day of worship, so those who indulged in secular or self-interested activities on that day could not expect to receive blessings from the gods � which may explain the lingering taboo on embarking on journeys or starting important projects on Fridays."
In conclusion, to read more about Paraskevidekatriaphobia, Click Here
Happy Friday the 13th everybody!! :)
Drive safely and have a blessed weekend
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