It’s a mouthful for such a small fear. Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13.

While the number 13 is regarded as a pretty much the epitome of bad luck number in Western society, triskaidekaphobes often go out of their way to avoid the number 13 and numbers associated with it altogether. In some people the fear runs so deep that even numbers whose sum equals 13 are feared and avoided. Try telling a major triskaidekaphobe to go out on 06/07 or 09/04 and see what happens.

Fear of the number 13 in modern society

Triskaidekaphobia in modern society is more common than you may think.

If you’ve ever been to a high rise in the city you may have noticed on your elevator ride up you jump from floor 12 to floor 14. Why? Some building owners believe people would not want to live, rent or otherwise do business on the 13th floor of a building.

Many high rise buildings won’t recognize a 13th floor in its floor plan, meaning the actual 13th floor of a building is labeled the as 14th. Other buildings leave the 13th floor uninhabited or use it for some other purpose. Sometimes 13th floor of a building is marked as 12a or M, the 13th letter of the English alphabet.

In some commercial aircrafts the 13th seating row is missing. The thought behind this is much the same as superstitious building owners: no one would buy tickets in a row with an unlucky number.

Some airports are also lacking a gate number 13 or have it otherwise labeled.

There is a superstition that if thirteen people get together for dinner, one of them will die within the next year. This led to the creation of the Thirteen Club which was formed to debunk this superstition.

This fear of thirteen people dining together may pull from Last Supper, where after dining with his twelve disciples Jesus was soon after crucified. It may also have origins from Norse mythology and the Valhalla Banquet. The story goes that twelve of the gods were invited to a banquet. Loki, who was not invited, intrudes and Balder, the favourite of the gods, is killed.

Even Microsoft, the seemingly unshakable corporate giant, proves it suffers from a bit of triskaidekaphobia when it announced it will be skipping the release of Office 13 and going straight to Office 14.

How to overcome triskaidekaphobia

Rationalizing your fear is probably the best way to overcome triskaidekaphobia. Take a deep breath and think about what makes the 13th floor of a building any different than the 12th or the 14th. How is April 13th different than April 16th? Why would sitting in the 13th row of an aircraft be any more unlucky that sitting in the 9th? If the plane goes down, everyone else is going down with you.

Think about it.

–Magdalena

Do you know any other examples of triskaidekaphobia in modern society? Comment and tell us about it!

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