Friday the 13th: Bad for Paraskevidekatriaphobics or Friggatriskaidekaphobics

Summary: Friday the 13th is not the day for those with Friday the 13th phobias, known as paraskevidekatriaphobics or Friggatriskaidekaphobics.

Silent film actress Rose Cade as the Queen of Lemons; image by George Grantham "G.G." Bain  (January 7, 1865 – April 20, 1944): George Grantham Bain Collection, Public Domain, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Triskaidekaphobia, “fear of the number 13,” appears in an early list of such common phobias, or abnormal fears, as agoraphobia (“fear of open places”) and claustrophobia (“fear of narrow places”), on page 281 of Religion and Medicine: The Moral Control of Nervous Disorders, authored by Elwood Worcester, Samuel McComb, and Isador H. Coriat and published by Moffat, Yard and Company in 1908. The term for the fear-filled numeric fixation disorder combines two Greek words (τρεισκαίδεκα, treiskaídeka, “thirteen,” literally “3 and 10” and φόβος, phóbos, “fear”).

Paraskevidekatriaphobia further situates the phobia within the context of a specific day of the week, Friday. The 11-syllable term is formed by prefacing the phobia for the number 13 with paraskevi (Παρασκευή, "preparation”), Greek for Friday, the day of preparation for the Sabbath day. Friggatriskaidekaphobia, an alternative term for the phobia, spotlights Frigga, the Norse goddess for whom Friday is named.

Every calendar year features at least one Friday the 13th. The maximum number of Friday the 13ths possible for a leap year or for a non-leap year, is three.

The day on which a non-leap year begins indicates not only how many Friday the 13ths will occur in that year but also in which months. When January the 1st falls on a Sunday in a leap year, there will be three Friday the 13ths. The first appearance occurs in January. Subsequent appearances occur in April and July.

When a non-leap year opens on a Thursday, the year will feature three Friday the 13ths. The first appearance occurs in February, with the second occurrence taking place one month later, in March. Then eight months later, in November, the year’s third and final appearance of the phobic date happens.

The year 2015 is a banner year for Friday the 13ths, with three appearances set to occur. The signal of a trio of Friday the 13ths is the year’s start on a Thursday. When New Year’s Day occurs on a Thursday, the months of February, March and November all open on Sundays. Any month that opens on a Sunday always features the duet of the 13th day falling on the second Friday of that month.

The Friday the 13th trio of February, March and November will show up 15 times in the 21st century. The first appearance of the trio of February, March and November in the 21st century occurred in 2004. The second appearance occurred five year later in 2009. After the trio’s occurrence in 2015, the next appearance will take place in 11 years, in 2026.

In addition to 2004, 2009, 2015 and 2026, the years affected by the Friday the 13th trio of February, March and November encompass 2032, 2037, 2043, 2054, 2060, 2065, 2071, 2082, 2088, 2093 and 2099. In the 20th century, the trio made 14 appearances: 1903, 1914, 1920, 1925, 1931, 1942, 1948, 1953, 1959, 1970, 1976, 1981, 1987 and 1998.

The year 2015 and the century to which the year belongs offer a plentiful bounty of Friday the 13ths. Those who are fearful of the date have many opportunities in which to confirm or confront their phobia. Those who are not fearful of Friday the 13th are likewise afforded opportunities in which to enjoy or test their fearless view of the date.

Designating a Friday the 13th phobia as Friggatriskaidekaphobia spotlights Norse cloud goddess Frigga, the weekday's namesake: Frigga spins the clouds by J.C. Dollman; H.A. Guerber's The Myths of the Norsemen (1909), opposite page 43: Public Domain, via Internet Archive

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Silent film actress Rose Cade as the Queen of Lemons; image by George Grantham "G.G." Bain  (January 7, 1865 – April 20, 1944): George Grantham Bain Collection, Public Domain, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division @ http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ggb2006005533/

Designating a Friday the 13th phobia as Friggatriskaidekaphobia spotlights Norse cloud goddess Frigga, the weekday's namesake: Frigga spins the clouds by J.C. Dollman; H.A. Guerber's The Myths of the Norsemen (1909), opposite page 43: Public Domain, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/mythsofthenorsem00gueruoft#page/n80/mode/1up

For further information:

Guerber, H.A. (Hélène Adeline). The Myths of the Norsemen From the Eddas and Sagas. London, England: George G. Harrap & Company, 1909.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/mythsofthenorsem00gueruoft/