By Don Hite

Last Friday as many of you know was Friday the Thirteenth. (April 13, 2007) and for many this is a bad day to do anything. Most people will not travel, apply for a job, get married or even go to work because of the superstition surrounding the infamous Friday the thirteenth.

This condition actually has a name called Paraskevidekatriaphobia or the fear of Friday the 13th and it affects roughly 10 percent of the American population alone. The superstition is comprised of two fears the fear of the number 13 (Triskaidekaphobia) and the fear of Fridays.

The fears are based on Christian biblical beliefs relating to both Fridays and the number 13 such as there were 13 present at the last supper which was Jesus and his 12 disciples with Judas who betrayed Jesus being the last or the 13th one to arrive. There is also the beliefs that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit on a Friday and Noah's great flood began on a Friday. That is why some consider Friday the thirteen to be a bad day because of the rare occurrence of a Friday being the 13th day of the month.