Friday, October 13, 2006

Paraskavedekatriaphobia

The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a phobia (fear) of the number thirteen.
It's almost 11:00 pm here in the United States Eastern Time Zone, and it appears that my family and I have made it safely through Friday the 13th. Not that I'm prone to superstition. In fact, I didn't realize it was Friday the 13th today until I started writing this post just a few moments ago.

In preparing to write this entry, I read up a little about the history of para-..... parask-..... parasi-..... the fear of Friday the 13th. There are nearly as many supposed reasons for this irrational fear as there are websites that discuss it. From having religious roots (though the Bible nowhere describes 13 as an unlucky number, and the Friday on which Christ was crucified is called "Good Friday), to ties to Norse mythology, to just about everything else in between, you could probably take your pick at any one of the supposed roots to this ridiculous fear.

The bottom line is, Friday the 13th is just another day on the calendar. There really is nothing to fear about it. Well, I guess there is one logical fear you could have: the fear of yet another Friday the 13th movie sequel.

But if you actually want to have a little fun with this baseless fear that reportedly afflicts from nine to ten percent of the American population, try taking the Phobia Quiz at Infoplease.com. It's quick, and it, too, is meaningless, but I scored ten out of eleven. If you take it, drop me a note and let me know which question you think I answered incorrectly.

Joe

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