Friday The 13th, Or Reasons Why The World Is Ending

Why exactly do people think of the number 13 as bad luck? We delved into some mythology and numerology to find out. -The number 12 is considered the number of completeness. There are 12 hours on a clock, 12 months in a year, 12 zodiac signs (West), 12 zodiac animals (East), 12 apostles of Jesus, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 gods of Olympus, and we can continue, but you get the idea. Having 13 of anything means something is an aberration and defies the completeness. -In Norse myth, 12 gods were having a dinner party in Valhalla, but Loki, the god of mischief, came to the dinner uninvited. He manipulated Hodur, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Baldur, the god of light and joy, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow, which was the only thing fatal to Baldur. Baldur died and it plunged the world into darkness. The Earth and its inhabitants mourned, and the world was never the same after that. From this myth, having 13 people seated at a table means one of the diners will die. -In the Last Supper, 13 people attended. You know what happened after that. Don't make us give you a recap. Because of this phobia, for several centuries in France, a select group of socialites existed for the purpose of making themselves available at all times to accept dinner invitations when the number of guests would otherwise be thirteen; they were known as quatorziennes, or "fourteeners." So what we're trying to say is, if you're the 14th guest at a dinner party, you should ask why your friends think so little of you. [Picture via]