I hope there are no repercussions from this confluence of cats and calendar!

I predict that our cats will remain blissfully unaware of our superstitious beliefs.

And speaking of those beliefs, where did this Friday the 13th stuff come from?

I asked ChatGPT what it thought.

Friday the 13th is considered unlucky in Western superstition because of the confluence of two separate fears: the fear of the number 13, which is called triskaidekaphobia, and the fear of Fridays.

The number 13 is considered unlucky because it has been associated with death and destruction in many cultures throughout history. For example, in Christianity, there were 13 people present at the Last Supper, one of whom was Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus.

Fridays, meanwhile, have been associated with the execution of criminals in many cultures, and thus have come to be seen as an unlucky day.

The combination of the two fears—the fear of the number 13 and the fear of Fridays—is thought to have led to the superstition that Friday the 13th is particularly unlucky.

I followed up by asking whether it is silly to be afraid of Friday the 13th.

It is a personal opinion whether or not it is silly to be afraid of Friday the 13th. Some people may view it as a harmless superstition, while others may take it more seriously.

Being afraid of a certain date or number due to superstition can be considered as a form of specific phobia, which is an excessive or irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity. It can be treated by cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which can help an individual identify and change the irrational thoughts and beliefs that are causing the fear.

If the fear of Friday the 13th is causing significant distress or disruption in one’s daily life, it might be helpful to seek professional help.

So how does that compare with other journalistic takes on the question?

CNN:

Like crossing paths with a black cat and breaking a mirror, the notion of a day that can bring misfortune is deeply embedded — even if believers can’t quite explain why.

There’s even a name to describe the irrational dread of the date: paraskevidekatriaphobia — a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a fear of the number 13.

History.com

While Western cultures have historically associated the number 12 with completeness (there are 12 days of Christmas, 12 months and zodiac signs, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 gods of Olympus and 12 tribes of Israel, just to name a few examples), its successor 13 has a long history as a sign of bad luck.

The ancient Code of Hammurabi, for example, reportedly omitted a 13th law from its list of legal rules. Though this was probably a clerical error, superstitious people sometimes point to this as proof of 13’s longstanding negative associations.

National Geographic Kids

It’s hard to know exactly when Friday the 13th became thought of as unlucky, but it likely comes from the Christian religion. For example, in the Bible, Judas—a person who is said to have betrayed Jesus—was the 13th guest at the Last Supper. Also in the Bible, many unfortunate things happened on Fridays. So it made sense that people who read the Bible got nervous around Friday the 13th.

It’s also possible that 13 is considered “cursed” because it’s the number after 12, which many people see as a number that completes things. Think about it—12 months are in a year, 12 inches in a foot, 12 pairs of ribs in a body, etc. So it’s possible the number 13 makes people uneasy because it causes them to think about the unknown—beyond the number 12.

BBC

The combination of Friday and the number 13 as a day of particularly bad luck seems to be a relatively recent tradition – perhaps only about 100 years old.

There’s even a special word for the fear of Friday 13th – paraskevidekatriaphobia. We’ve got a fear of trying to pronounce that word…!

Okay, enough of that.

Here come the cats!