Are you (even a little bit) superstitious about Friday the 13th?
YOU MAY HAVE noticed that today is Friday the 13th. For some, it's just another Friday. For others, it's a date steeped in superstition and approached with extra caution.
Today's date earned its unlucky reputation for several reasons, including the belief that Jesus died on a Friday after 13 people attended the Last Supper.
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The good news is that after today, Friday the 13th won't occur again until 13 February 2026.
So today, we want to know:
Are you (even a little bit) superstitious about Friday the 13th?
Poll Results:
Not at all
(1411)
A little bit
(581)
Yes, you can never be too careful
(233)
Usually I'm not, but today is an exception
(52)
Yes, you can never be too careful
A little bit
Not at all
Usually I'm not, but today is an exception
Vote
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The Journal
a day ago
- The Journal
Are you (even a little bit) superstitious about Friday the 13th?
YOU MAY HAVE noticed that today is Friday the 13th. For some, it's just another Friday. For others, it's a date steeped in superstition and approached with extra caution. Today's date earned its unlucky reputation for several reasons, including the belief that Jesus died on a Friday after 13 people attended the Last Supper. Advertisement The good news is that after today, Friday the 13th won't occur again until 13 February 2026. So today, we want to know: Are you (even a little bit) superstitious about Friday the 13th? Poll Results: Not at all (1411) A little bit (581) Yes, you can never be too careful (233) Usually I'm not, but today is an exception (52) Yes, you can never be too careful A little bit Not at all Usually I'm not, but today is an exception Vote
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
It's Friday the 13th, what can possibly go wrong?
It is Friday the 13th, a day considered by some to be the unluckiest day of the year. Its arrival surely brings with it an element of relief for those who experience friggatriskaidekaphobia, also known as fear of Friday the 13th, as this is the first and only one in 2025. Sometimes there can be as many as three in a year. Hotels are known to skip 13 when numbering rooms or floors, while some airlines don't feature a 13th row owing to superstition surrounding the number 13. But are there any grounds for the dread the date imposes every time it rolls around? Well, some historic events support the theory. Here are five: At Jesus's last supper there were 13 people around the table: 12 disciples and him. Allegedly, Judas Iscariot was the 13th person to arrive. Then, in the early hours of Friday morning, he betrayed Jesus by kissing him on the cheek and calling him Master to identify him to the large crowd, before he was arrested and crucified on what is known as Good Friday to Christians. On Friday the 13th in 1307, King Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of Catholic crusaders known as the Knights Templar. The knights were charged with moral and financial corruption and heresy for worshipping false idols. After being tortured into making false confessions, many of the men were imprisoned or burned at the stake. In Norse mythology, a banquet was held for 12 gods in Valhalla, which Loki, the god of mischief, gatecrashed, making him the 13th person at the feast. Mayhem ensued when Loki tricked the blind god, Hod, into killing his own brother Balder, the god of happiness and joy. On December 13th, 1916, during the first World War, avalanches killed thousands of Italian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers based in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy. As a result, the day became known as White Friday. On Friday, October 13th in 1972, a plane carrying 45 passengers and crew crashed into the Andes Mountains in Argentina. On board were 19 members of the Uruguayan Old Christians rugby union team, with families, supporters and friends. Eighteen people died and the remaining 27 who lived resorted to eating the dead passengers to survive. An avalanche killed eight more people some weeks later. The 16 survivors were not rescued until December. The film, Alive, retelling the story of their survival was made in 1993. How does the rest of the world feel about Friday the 13th? In Spanish-speaking countries, people feel superstitious about Tuesday the 13th; in Italy, Friday the 17th is seen as a day of misfortune. Are there some who consider it lucky? For many, it is just another day. In fact pop artist Taylor Swift celebrates the number 13 and considers it to be lucky, having been born on December 13th, 1989, and turned 13 on Friday the 13th. Swift's first album went gold in 13 weeks and her first number one song had a 13-second introduction. READ MORE She is known for writing the number 13 on the back of her hand before her live shows – an action that many Swifties copied when she performed the global Eras Tour last year. [ A buried jar of honey, a sheaf of straw set on fire and witch windows: House-building superstitions from around the world Opens in new window ] Wishing you all an uneventful Friday the 13th – and for those of you who suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia, don't worry, there won't be another until February 2026.
Irish Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
'Greatest religious discovery since Dead Sea Scrolls' rewrites religious history
An ancient inscription unearthed beneath an Israeli prison floor is creating waves, being dubbed "the greatest discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls" and as the earliest known proclamation of Jesus as divine. The mosaic, which dates back 1,800 years and was found by a jailbird at Megiddo prison, features the Greek inscription: "The god-loving Akeptous has offered the table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial." This colossal 581-square-foot artwork was part of the globe's oldest prayer hall around 230 AD, cementing the fact that early Christians recognised Jesus as the son of God. The stunning Megiddo Mosaic also showcases some of the first imagery of fish, with scholars suggesting it refers to the New Testament tale where Jesus miraculously feeds 5,000 with two fish. Although initially discovered back in 2005, the mosaic had been hidden under the penitentiary floors until recently; it's currently on loan to a Washington DC museum until next month. As Carlos Campo, head honcho of the museum, hailed the find as "the greatest discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls," his fellow experts claimed it to be "the most important archaeological find for understanding early Christianity.", reports the Mirror US. "We truly are among the first people to ever see this, to experience what almost 2,000 years ago was put together by a man named Brutius, the incredible craftsman who laid the flooring here," remarked Campo at the exhibit's launch. For the time being, the Megiddo Mosaic takes pride of place at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, up until July 2025. Alegre Savariego, the exhibition's curator, said: "The mosaic presents groundbreaking physical evidence of the practices and beliefs of early Christians, including the first archaeological instance of the phrase, 'God Jesus Christ.'". The Megiddo Mosaic came to light in the historically significant Jezreel Valley, believed by Christians as the site where the apocalyptic battle of Armageddon described in the Book of Revelations will unfold. After four years of digs, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) revealed a 581-square-foot mosaic flooring. The remarkable aspect of this mosaic is that it carries the name of the Roman officer who commissioned it during the time Judea was under Roman rule. The find has prompted scholars to propose the possibility of some level of peaceful coexistence between Romans and Christians, which goes against the common narrative of conflict and turmoil of the era. The mosaic contains an inscription that reads: "Gaianus, a Roman officer, having sought honor, from his own money, has made the mosaic." Bolstering this notion of potential harmony, excavators found a Roman encampment in close proximity. It appears that the place of worship, or church, was deserted and hidden as a result of the relocation of the Roman Empire's Sixth Legion to the region modern-day known as Transjordan, to the east of the Jordan River. In addition to Akeptous, who was acknowledged for her gift of a table to the prayer hall, the mosaic's inscription also requests remembrance for four other women: Primilla, Cyriaca, Dorothea, and Chreste. However, the identity of these women remains a mystery. Bobby Duke, director of the Scholars Initiative at the Museum of the Bible, highlighted the significance of the discovery, stating, "This is arguably one of the most important archaeological discoveries for understanding the early Christian church." The mosaic features some of the earliest known depictions of fish as a symbol of Christianity, echoing the biblical account in Luke 9:16, where Jesus multiplied two fish to feed a crowd of 5,000 people. Duke further said: "For example, the mosaic underscores the crucial role of women in the early church by the fact that five women are mentioned in it by name." He added: "Truly, the mosaic presents a wealth of new data for church historians, like the Dead Sea Scrolls did for Bible scholars." The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) pointed out that there is no information available to explain why these women were singled out, which is unusual since it was not common for individuals to be specifically remembered by God. "While they were clearly important to the community, the inscription does not tell us whether they were patrons of the community (like Akeptous), or martyrs, or honored for some other reason." Following the significant archaeological find, the IAA meticulously cleaned and restored the mosaic. The floor was then carefully disassembled into 11 crates that were shipped to the US earlier this year for an exhibition titled The Megiddo Mosaic: Foundations of Faith. "You couldn't just lift the whole floor up," Duke clarified. "So ... they very intricately cut different pieces of the mosaic so that they didn't destroy any of the artwork. So, not all the pieces were the same size. So, even one of the crates that came into this gallery was about a thousand pounds." Once the exhibition concludes, the Megiddo mosaic will be returned to Israel and displayed permanently at the exact location where it was unearthed. Upon the mosaic's return, the inmates at Megiddo will be moved to another prison. The museum also had to admit that several of the Dead Sea Scroll fragments displayed in its collection were modern fakes. "While some of the founders and actions of the museum are questionable, and the museum clearly has a very ideological agenda, I don't think a 'purist' agenda is very helpful here," Prof. Aren Maeir, an archaeologist at Bar-Ilan University, told "As long as everything is done by the letter of the law, I see no problem. ".
