from a Saginaw News article:
But why has this seemingly innocent number been deemed so terribly unlucky? Many buildings don't have a 13th floor, some hospitals and hotels skip room 13, and airports don't have a gate 13.
Is it possible that 13's bad luck comes from its place after popular number 12? It's easy to find references to 12 in history, almost anywhere you look: 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 days of Christmas, 12 apostles of Jesus, 12 tribes of Israel, and on and on. Though the superstition, also known as paraskavedekatriaphobia, is widespread, it's difficult to trace its true origin.
Jim Stickle, mental health therapist for the Saginaw County Community Mental Health Authority, said fear of Friday the 13th is a different kind of fear than a fear of things like spiders or heights. Functional fear, Stickle said, makes us stay away from things we're afraid — the poisonous spider or the edge of a dangerous cliff — and keeps us alive, but phobias are dysfunctional fears that stop us from participating in everyday activities. "Fear of Friday the 13th is a socialized fear where somebody, somewhere along the ling said bad things are supposed to happen on that day," Stickle said. "It's conditioning."
Wherever the phobia comes from, enjoy or tread carefully the remaining hours of this pseudo holiday, the next one doesn't come until May 2011. So, enjoy or tread carefully the remaining hours of this pseudo holiday, the next one doesn't come until May 2011.
www.mlive.com/
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