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October 13, 2006
Double-13 Friday Gives Crazies Pause
Paraskevidekatriaphobics think on numbers too much.
The phenomenon hasn't happened in 476 years, said Heinrich Hemme, a physicist at Germany's University of Aachen who crunched the numbers to find that the double-whammy last occurred Jan. 13, 1520.
"Pure chance," the good professor told the press yesterday.
But it's not exactly TGIF for the 21 million Americans who fear the day. Some may not travel or even get out of bed, said Donald Dossey, a North Carolina psychologist who coined the term "paraskevidekatriaphobia" 20 years ago. He estimates that the nation is out $900 million in lost productivity because of Friday the 13th sick-outs.
"It's just ingrained in our culture -- one of those collective, unconscious fears stretching back about 2,800 years," Mr. Dossey said. "But it will be all gone tomorrow. By the time you learn to pronounce 'paraskevidekatriaphobia,' you're cured."
Friday the 13th has had unlucky baggage for centuries, with references to "bad" Fridays cited in the Bible, Norse mythology, Chaucer, French and British history, numerology and folklore sources, Mr. Dossey said.
Presidential hopeful John Edwards must be phobia-free. The former Democratic senator from North Carolina begins his 13th campaign trip to Iowa today, according to the Des Moines Register.
(via 7d and the washington times)
Posted by Groonk at October 13, 2006 08:32 PM | Ministry of Grammar, Holiday, Myth
