well i'll start this one i think it may be a fun topic.

a couple of years ago on friday the 13th i was in my office with the bosses new chair, as always i leaned back and then it happened....

the chair snapped off i ended up on the floor with half a cup of tea burning my lower regions. Needless to say i shot up and ran to cool the area down in the nearby toilets.

Boss wasnt happy either....i've killed 3 of his chairs now lol.

Personally I'm too sane to believe in it. I can get crap thrown at me any date in any month so don't need the added pressure in believing in Friday the 13th, plus for Italians, it's Friday the 17th anyway

well i could get into mishaps on everyday life but then i'd have to explain my nickname of Captain Scarlett and that would take ages (but to phrase it quick accident prone). hehehehe

Just a fallacy.

my mishap is bein born on friday the 13th no1 likes goin out with me on my birthday if it falls on a friday lol

According to Dr. Thomas Fernsler of the Mansfield University, Pennsylvania, arguably the world's expert on the subject - part of the explanation may lie in the arithmetical awkwardness of the number 13.

"Numerologists have designed 12 as a 'complete number,' as in the 12 months of the year, the 12 signs of the zodiac, the 12 gods of Olympus, the 12 labours of Hercules, the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 apostles of Jesus, the 12 days of Christmas and the 12 eggs in a dozen," says Dr. Fernsler.

Read my next post if you have time, its a bit long winded but worth the read

Dossey, also a folklore historian and author of Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun, said fear of Friday the 13th is rooted in ancient, separate bad-luck associations with the number 13 and the day Friday. The two unlucky entities ultimately combined to make one super unlucky day.

Dossey traces the fear of 13 to a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow.

"Balder died and the whole Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned. It was a bad, unlucky day," said Dossey. From that moment on, the number 13 has been considered ominous and foreboding.

There is also a biblical reference to the unlucky number 13. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest to the Last Supper.

Meanwhile, in ancient Rome, witches reportedly gathered in groups of 12. The 13th was believed to be the devil.

Thomas Fernsler, an associate policy scientist in the Mathematics and Science Education Resource Center at the University of Delaware in Newark, said the number 13 suffers because of its position after 12.

According to Fernsler, numerologists consider 12 a "complete" number. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus.

In exceeding 12 by 1, Fernsler said 13's association with bad luck "has to do with just being a little beyond completeness. The number becomes restless or squirmy."

This fear of 13 is strong in today's world. According to Dossey, more than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor. Many airports skip the 13th gate. Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.

On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half. In France socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.

Many triskaidekaphobes, as those who fear the unlucky integer are known, point to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13.

As for Friday, it is well known among Christians as the day Jesus was crucified. Some biblical scholars believe Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit on Friday. Perhaps most significant is a belief that Abel was slain by Cain on Friday the 13th.

Phobia Cures

So, what are triskaidekaphobes to do?

Dossey said "practical" cures are as simple as learning to refocus one's thoughts from negative feelings to positive. His mantra: "What you think about, you begin to feel. What you feel generates what you do. And what you do creates how you will become."

In other words, those stricken with negative thoughts about Friday the 13th need to learn how to focus on pleasant thoughts. Those, in turn, will create pleasant feelings that make one's fears less overwhelming, according to Dossey.

"They haven't lost their mind. They've lost control of their mind," Dossey said of triskaidekaphobes. "They are focused in the wrong direction. In their mind they have a big, large, looming picture of something horrible that could happen."

Wiseman, the University of Hertfordshire psychologist, offers similar advice to those stricken with the fear of Friday the 13th.

"They need to realize that they have the ability to create much of their own good and bad luck," he said. "And they should concentrate on being lucky by, for example, looking on the bright side of events in their lives, remembering the good things that have happened, and, most of all, be[ing] prepared to take control of their future."

Folklore offers other remedies, however. One recommendation is to climb to the top of a mountain or skyscraper and burn all the socks you own that have holes in them. Another is to stand on your head and eat a piece of gristle.

So if you fear the 13th, take your pick of remedies and let tomorrow bring its luck—good or bad.

Thanks, thanks a lot...I didn't even realise it was Friday the 13th till I saw this...I'm doomed, this date is bound to bring me bad luck!

I'd not noticed either. If my train crashs on the way to York I'm blaming you lot.

lol i think friday the 13th is the only day i don't have disasters