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    • What is Friday the 13th? Why is it bad luck? Why are some people superstitious?
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    What is Friday the 13th? Why is it bad luck? Why are some people superstitious?

    Vaseline Posted on

    The calendar is turning to September again, which means people are gearing up for the spooky season with Halloween decorations, campfires, and all things pumpkin.

    While Halloween is a scary day in itself, many people also feel uneasy and unhappy on Friday the 13th. This year, the date will occur twice, in September and December. The next one after December will not occur until June 2025.

    Fear and anxiety about the day may have been heightened by the slasher film series starring Jason Voorhees, but where does the superstition come from? Here’s what you need to know.

    Why do some people get tattoos on Friday the 13th? How the day became a lucky day for the tattoo industry

    Why is Friday the 13th considered an unlucky day?

    According to National Geographic Kids, the exact origins of Friday the 13th being considered an unlucky day are unknown, but it “likely stems from the Christian faith.”

    “In the Bible, for example, Judas, a person who is said to have betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest at the Last Supper. Also in the Bible, many unfortunate things happened on Fridays,” according to National Geographic Kids.

    Friday the 13th combines two taboos that come from the Bible, Stevens says. Based on the story of Jesus’ Last Supper, there were 13 people at the table and it happened on a Thursday. He was arrested that night and crucified the next day, a Friday.

    “So 13 is associated with that terrible event. And Friday, the 13th, you get a double whammy. You get both elements together: the taboo on 13 and the crucifixion, which was on a Friday,” Stevens said.

    Although the taboo is tied to the Last Supper, Stevens said it didn’t become widespread until 1,000 years after Jesus’ story, when more people became interested in the Bible. Now, he thinks the taboo is waning as people embrace the number 13, and it’s only a matter of time before it disappears.

    Why ‘Magical Thinking’ Is Key to Friday the 13th Superstition

    Dr. Phil Stevens, a retired professor of anthropology at the University at Buffalo and author of the book “Rethinking the Anthropology of Magic and Witchcraft: Inherently Human,” spoke with USA TODAY last year about the holiday and why it is an example of “magical thinking.”

    Stevens said he likes to think of the superstition surrounding Friday the 13th as an example of magical thinking. He says magical thinking is when someone believes there is a causal connection between two things that are otherwise unrelated. For example, Friday and the 13th together take on a different quality when they fall on the same day.

    He also said he considers it taboo because superstition has negative connotations, even if someone uses it to describe their own beliefs.

    “The word taboo is actually appropriate for this type of superstition. Because it’s the term that means to avoid a magical connection. People can actively use magic to make things happen, by recognizing the connections between things, but if the connections between things can have an unfortunate outcome, then people avoid those connections,” Stevens said at the time.

    Some people look for positive connections between things. For example, China kicked off the 2008 Olympics at 8:08 p.m. on the eighth day of the eighth month, because the number is associated with good luck.

    Another example is when someone has a lucky charm or places a higher value on an item after it has belonged to a celebrity, Stevens said.

    Why is Friday the 13th associated with tattoos?

    Friday the 13th is a kind of Black Friday for tattoo shops.

    Many shops have specials where they will charge heavily discounted prices to get the treatment done. Often there is a flat rate that is equal to or even lower than the shop’s minimum rate (the minimum rate a shop usually charges for a tattoo to cover the cost of supplies and overhead).

    The average hourly rate that most artists charge is between $100 and $200 plus, making these flash sales a great deal. While affordable, pre-designed flash tattoos and flash sales are not uncommon during the rest of the calendar year, Friday the 13th is the one day you can count on a wealth of discounts at multiple stores near you.

    The modern paradigm for Friday the 13th as a tattoo holiday is often attributed to Oliver Peck, co-owner of Elm Street Tattoo in Dallas. You may recognize him from the TV show “Ink Master” and his short-lived marriage to Kat Von D (he has since been removed from the show due to a controversy over his blackface makeup).

    Peck previously told Vice that he was “certainly not the first to do this,” saying he took inspiration from fellow artist Dave Lum’s Halloween specials, but that he did “make an event out of it.” He threw his first major Friday the 13th event in 1995 at the now-defunct Pair O’ Dice in Dallas, a marathon session where the number “13” was tattooed on as many people as possible in 24 hours.

    His attempt to create his own tradition caught on when he and his colleagues started holding these 24-hour tattoo marathons each year. At one point, he earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records by tattooing the number 13 on 415 people in 24 hours on Friday, June 13, 2008.

    Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].

    Vaseline
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