Paraskevidekatriaphobia

Have you heard the word ‘Paraskevidekatriaphobia’or ‘Friggatriskaidekaphobia’? Well, if you haven't, it is a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the thirteenth. That’s today’s date. Don’t get spooked yet, an event that will occur today would do that. Let me call it Frigga for short because the full name of the phobia requires a lot of mouth muscle manipulation.

Frigga is the most popular myth of our century. Do you know that there is no real origin of this myth? According to Wikipedia, there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century. The earliest documentation occurs in an 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini:
[Rossini] was surrounded to the last by admiring and affectionate friends; and if it be true that, like so many other Italians, he regarded Friday as an unlucky day, and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that on Friday, the 13th of November, he died.

Do you know that many hospitals have no room 13 (not in Naija anyway, we don’t even have enough hospital rooms); while some tall buildings skip the 13th floor and some airline terminals omit Gate 13?

I’m sure, if we went down to the dusty and creepy libraries of old we would find something concrete about Frigga's history. What you wouldn’t find in the library is me.
That’s enough on the history (or no history) of ‘Friday the thirteenth’ superstition. If you get spooked in any way today or you witnessed any unusual occurrence – like a dog wearing sunglasses or a monkey beckoning to you - please feel free to tell us about it. Don’t get spooked, just have a great day.