Friday the 13th GIF

It’s Friday the 13th, the unluckiest day of the year…unless you happen to be me since good things always happen to me on Friday the 13th. Friday was considered bad luck because Jesus was crucified on a Friday, so it became a day of penance – it basically had the tone that Mondays do now. Thirteen has been considered unlucky for a multitude of reasons: 13 people were at the last supper, many believe either the Last Supper or the Crucifixion happened on the 13th, most biblical references to the number 13 involve bad things, 13 steps to the gallows from the ground, the massive roundup of the Knights Templar began on Friday, October 13 in 1307, women typically have 13 periods a year, a coven of witches supposedly used to contain exactly 13 members…you name it, it’s likely a reason why 13 is bad. Paired with Friday and Christians everywhere historically were terrified, especially on a Friday the 13th in October after 1307. Many of us have moved on from those beliefs, however. In light of today, here’s a list of things that are considered unlucky – heed as you will!

  1. Getting $6.66 in change. (Just leave a penny behind.)
  2. Giving a clock as a gift. (In Chinese culture, this is a sign that your funeral is coming.)
  3. Hanging a horseshoe with the ends facing down. (This lets the good luck “spill out.”)
  4. Having your chopsticks sticking straight up in your bowl. (In Chinese culture, it’s considered both unlucky and bad manners since it reminds diners of the incense sticks burned at funerals.)
  5. Saying “Macbeth” while inside a theater. (If you say the name of the play in the theater, disaster will strike, so you call the play The Scottish Play or The Bard’s Play and the character Scottish King, Scottish Lord, Mackers, or MacB.)
  6. Shivering in your sleep. (It’s believed a ghost as moved over your grave when this happens.)
  7. Sneezing before leaving home. (Many cultures believe your soul leaves when you sneeze, and without a soul, nothing good can happen.)
  8. Spilling salt. (Since salt used to be horrifically expensive; counteract this by throwing salt over your left shoulder, because might as well?)
  9. Spitting in public. (It can land on invisible spirits who will then curse the spitter.)
  10. Stirring tea with anything other than a spoon. (Using another utensil “stirs up trouble”)
  11. Taking lava rocks or sand from Hawaii. (The goddess Pele will curse you until you return the rock or sand.)
  12. Three on a match. (Started in WW2 – if three soldiers lit each lit a cigarette from the same match, one would be killed.)
  13. Wearing opals at your wedding. (Brings bad luck and infertility.)

Charlotte Smith is an esthetician licensed in Tennessee and Georgia. She’s married to a lumberjack version of Deadpool, is obsessed with huskies, is straight up in quarter-life crisis mode, and loves pretty much anything that could be considered creepy.

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