The Unluckiest Day

Has anyone else ever wondered what makes a certain day less lucky than any other day? Well I have. The day I am talking about is, of course, Friday the 13th.
Why is this day any different than say...Monday the 22nd, or Thursday the 3rd, or any other day for that matter. Well, I decided to look into that for my superstition research paper. The reasons behind why "Friday the13th" is the most popular superstition of all.
The number 13. Two digits that look innocent, but have been shunned as being unlucky, or just plain bad, for many years by many cultures. One reason that this could be is that many cultures believe the number 12 to be the sign of completeness. Our year has twelve months, there were twelve gods and goddesses on the Grecian pantheon of deities, twelve hours on a clock, twelve signs of the Zodiac. The list goes on and on.
Now Friday. The unlucky day. There are many reasons for this claim that Friday is unlucky. One is that in many cultures Friday is considered unlucky for the sole reason that it is the sixth day in the week. And the number 6 is considered an "evil" number by some cultures because 7 is considered the perfect and complete number, and 6 is just...almost complete.
This makes me wonder...what about calendars that put Sunday at the end of the week instead of the first of the week, thus making Saturday the "6th" day...should we also watch out for Saturday the 13th?
There are other days that are considered unlucky as well. Tuesday the 13th was considered unlucky by the Ancient Grecians because Tuesday was dominated by the influence of Ares, god of war. And in Italy the number 13 is actually lucky, but the number 17 is unlucky. So, at least in older generations, Friday the 17th was the day to watch out for.
So...due to paraskevidekatriaphobia (the fear of Friday the 13th) many people stay in terror in their houses, or change their normal day schedule. And this can actually make things a bit safer on this cursed day. In some areas it is reported that there are less fires, thefts, and car accidents due to the fact that people are being more careful solely because it is Friday the 13th. But in other regions hospitalizations due to car accidents increased on Friday the 13th.
So is this day really unlucky? Or just people's imaginations getting away with them? Who knows...but watch out for black cats crossing your path if you believe......................

Best of Luck,
Jon Wixom

Sources:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th
About.com - Urban Legends: http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/friday_the_13th.htm

A Superstitious Journal

So, for those of you who stumbled, or purposefully, strode across this blog I bid you welcome. If you came here from the link I posted on my main blog, "Above Average Nerdiness" then you should know who I am. If you popped up on this one without said link, then let me introduce myself. I am Jon Wixom.
This blog is for my English 2010 class I am taking now, and is meant to be a journal of things I have researched for the final paper.
The topic I have decided to write on is the mysterious topic of "Superstitions." If this interests you, feel free to continue reading my blog posts as I create them. If you find the topic of superstitions boring, feel free to leave this blog.
Happy reading!