![]() “For example, no one in their right mind will pick such a date to get married,” said Gomez, who was born and raised in Havana.īut where does our anxiety about Friday the 13th originate? Thompson says that while it’s an unlucky number in Biblical tradition because it’s connected with the Last Supper, it’s also connected to women’s magic, witchcraft and time. There, it isn’t Friday the 13th that’s unlucky, says Ivette Gomez, assistant professor (teaching) of Spanish, but Tuesday the 13th. Four ( si) is a bad luck number because the sound of the word is very similar to the word for death in most Chinese dialects, including Mandarin and Cantonese, he explains.Īs in Mexico and much of Latin America, Cubans follow Spanish tradition when it comes to superstitions. In Chinese culture, it’s the number four that causes worry when scheduling big events like celebrations or business openings, says Brian Bernards, associate professor of East Asian languages and cultures and comparative literature. However, in other cultures, no one turns a hair when Friday the 13th rolls around. The fear of the number 13 is so pervasive in Western culture that many hotels and offices omit the 13th floor, he noted, while airports in Western cities don’t have a 13th gate. Things get so bad for some people that there’s even a recognized psychological disorder: triskaidekaphobia - fear of the number 13, said USC Dornsife’s Tok Thompson, associate professor (teaching) of anthropology. That’s because it’s Friday the 13th, and that has a lot of people, especially in Western cultures, feeling anxious. This Friday, some people will be so paralyzed with fear, they won’t even get out of bed. USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture Max Kade Institute for Austrian-German-Swiss Studies Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West ![]() Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American LifeĬenter for Islamic Thought, Culture and PracticeĬenter for Latinx and Latin American Studies ![]()
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