They say that the third time’s the
charm. However, this year seems to have seen bad luck come in threes. This year
featured a trio of Friday the 13ths, the last of which is today.
In modern times, it’s taken for granted
that Friday the 13th is to be considered inauspicious, but it wasn’t always so.
Until the late 1800s, this date meant nothing special. There is, in fact, no
particular date and time stamp being attributed to the origins of horror and
ill-fate associated with the day.
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However, the earliest known tracking of
this date has much to do with superstitions surrounding the number 13 date back
to at least 1700 BC. In the ancient Babylon’s Code of Hammurabi, dating to
about 1772 BC, the number 13 is omitted in the list of laws. Then of course
comes the myth that if 13 people dine together, one will die within a year.
However, the modern day association is far more eerie.
“I can’t stand being out on that day.
I’m highly superstitious and it takes every ounce of my fibre to pretend that
everything will be fine if I see a black cat cross my path on this day. I also
avoid ladders and horseshoes in the process,” says Anisha Fernandes from Margao
(who has asked for her name to be changed, in order to not be scoffed at on a
day that she considers ‘freaky’.
This idea of ‘freakiness’ was of course
driven home courtesy the release of cultural pop-horror 1980 movie, ‘Friday the
13th’. The hockey mask-wearing villain of the series, Jason Voorhees went on to
unintentionally market the concept so well, that the franchise managed to churn
out a mammoth 12 films, apart from multiple story- and comic books.
One also can’t help but feel for people
born on the 13th day of any month. No matter how hard they try to escape it,
there is no beating the fact that they HAVE TO celebrate one birthday every
seven years on Friday the 13th. Pierre Fernandes, of the Pedro Fernandes chain
of music stores is one such individual. “Every seventh year, I’ll get a barrage
of calls from my friends, as my birthday draws near, pointing out that I better
watch out, for disaster awaits. However, I couldn’t be bothered. For me, it’s
an excuse for a horror-themed party; something that I love doing,” he says.
So whether Friday the 13th makes you
watch out for a crack that you should step on, or is something that cracks you
up; beware…the day is here. And right now, it’s only beginning.
