Friday the 13th is considered to be the most widespread superstition. The origin of Friday the 13th isn’t clear, but the number 13 and the day Friday have been thought to bring bad fortune since the nineteenth century.
There is even a name for the fear of Friday the 13th – paraskevidekatriaphobia (pronounced: pa/ ruh/ skay/ vee/ day/ car/ fo /bee/ uh). It is estimated that up to 60-billion people worldwide suffer from this phobia. Some people refuse to go to work on Friday the 13th, while many people will avoid doing anything significant such as business meetings, social gatherings, or getting married due to the day and its source of misfortune.
If you are superstitious when it comes to this freaky Friday, here are 13 ways to turn your luck around on this Friday the 13th:
- Keep your fingers crossed – Making the sign of the Christian faith with your fingers is believed to prevent evil spirits from ruining your good fortune.
- Knock on wood – It was once believed that good spirits lived in trees and that by knocking on anything made of wood, will call upon these spirits for protection against misfortune.
- Find a four-leaf clover – Ancient druids believed shamrocks helped them to see evil spirits, providing the opportunity to avoid them.
- Put your clothes on inside out – Wearing clothes backwards or inside out is known to bring good luck.
- Look at the new moon over your right shoulder – The New Moon is seen as a good time for new enterprises. Whether those enterprises are successful or not depends on whether the New Moon is first seen over the right shoulder (good) or the left (bad).
- Sleep facing south – The belief that sleeping with your head facing south promotes good health and fortune persists to this day, even among some doctors.
- Break a clear, uncoloured glass – Breaking a clear glass has traditionally been seen as a sign that you’ve averted some grave misfortune. The glass takes on the ill fortune in your place.
- Walk in the rain – Rain has always been considered good luck.
- Sleep on un-ironed sheets.
- Avoid cracks in the sidewalk – Most of us know the old rhyme “Step on a crack, break your mother’s back.” Whether the rhyme is the cause of, or a result of, this superstition is uncertain, though belief in it persists in many people today, even if subconsciously.
- Carry an acorn in your pocket – Acorns, the fruit of the sturdy oak tree, are an ancient symbol of fertility and long life.
- Sneeze three times before breakfast – The number three has been seen as a lucky number in many cultures and religions throughout history.
- Pick up a pencil, a pin, a penny, or a piece of coal in the street – Finding, and claiming, any of these items has long been believed to portend good fortune.
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