Common Superstitions Regarding Numbers And Dates

Human Beings are odd creatures sometimes.  For some reason, every culture on Earth has its own sets of superstitions.  In every culture around the world there is a set of beliefs held by the people that have nothing do to with reason or knowledge but are based on luck, prophecy or folklore that will influence future events.  For example, some sports stars believe that if they eat a certain meal before a game they will perform well.  Others believe that wearing a certain shirt or other piece of clothing will make them perform well.

Many of these superstitions have universal appeal and many are based on numbers and dates.  The following are some of the most common superstitions based on numbers and dates.

In many cultures around the world, any Friday that lands on the 13^th of the month is considered to be an unlucky day.  Many believe in this superstition but do not know its roots.  Most people believe that Friday the 13^this rooted in the story of the Knights Templar and how on October 13, 1307 King Philip of France secretly ordered that mass arrest secret arrest of the Templars.  This was the story told in the 2003 movie The Da Vinci Code.  However, not all historians believe this story tells the true story of Friday the 13^th.

Some historians argue that the actual origin of the Friday the 13^th superstition comes from Norse mythology.  They claim the day Friday is named after the Norse God Frigga, who was a free spirited goddess of love and fertility.  When the Norse became Christians, Frigga was banished and labeled a witch who then held a meeting every Friday with eleven other witches and the devil, totaling 13, and plotted evil deeds for the next week. 

No matter which story is true, many around the world believe in the Friday the 13^th story and it is one of the best known universal superstitions. 

Around the world, the number 13 is considered an unlucky number.  Many buildings do not claim to have 13^th floors and many airlines do not number the 13^th row.  So widespread is the superstitions fear of the number 13 that it has its own scientific name: triskaidekaphobia.

The origins of the number 13 being unlucky are many and diverse.  Some come from religious references such as the last supper which had 13 attendees.  Many today believe it is unlucky to have 13 people to sit down for dinner.  Historically, Napoleon would not allow any dinner seating with only 13 guests and there were people designated to sit in seats to ensure that there was either 12 or 14 people at the table.

Some of the origins are simply historical. For example, many believe that the Code of Hammurabi had no 13^th law because the ancients believed it was an unlucky number as well.  Despite most historians discrediting this theory due to bad translation, many still keep the superstition alive.

The Number 7 is considered a lucky number in many societies.  This may have many different origins.  There are religious origins as in the seventh day is considered the Sabbath. There were seven golden candlesticks in Solomon’s temple.  Among the ancients, seven represented the seventh son of a seventh son would be born with special powers.  The seventh daughter of a seventh daughter would be born with the gift of healing. 

Of course today, the number 7 represents luck in virtually every casino in the world.  7 is a winning roll in Craps when there is no number chosen.  777 also stands for a winning spin on many slot machines. 

While the number 4 does not strike fear to many in the West, the Chinese and Japanese have a superstitious fear of the number 4.  The reason is fairly simple: the word for death, shi, sounds just like the number for 4.  In China and Japan, buildings do not have a 4^th floor and cartoon characters that have only four fingers are considered bad luck.  The superstition runs so deep in these cultures that cardiac deaths for Chinese and Japanese Americans are said to increase by 7 percent on the fourth of each month.