Friday, February 13 – The exact origins of when Friday the 13th became thought of as unlucky are unknown, however, one theory is that it “likely comes from the Christian religion, when Judas, one of the 13 disciples present, is said to have betrayed Jesus after the Last Supper, leading to his crucifixion said to have been held on a Friday. Also in the Bible, many unfortunate things happened on Fridays.

Another theory links the concept of bad luck to the annihilation of the Knights Templar, as on Friday 13, 1307, Grand Master Jacques de Molay and hundreds of other Templars were arrested on the orders of King Philip IV of France, with most later being executed, leading to Friday the 13th being seen as a Doom’s Day!

Author Charles Panati traces the concept of the curse back to Norse mythology, when Loki, the god of mischief, gate-crashed a banquet in Valhalla, bringing the number of gods in attendance to 13. Deceived by Loki, the blind god Hodr was tricked into shooting his brother Balder, the god of light, joy and goodness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow, killing him instantly.

However, in Greece, rather than Friday the 13^th, Tuesday the 13th is the traditional day that is seen as potentially bringing bad luck.

The main reason cited is that the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), fell to the Fourth Crusade on Tuesday, April 13, 1204, which was a bleak day for Hellenism.

To add to the superstition, on Tuesday, May 29, 1453, Constantinople fell once again, this time to the Ottomans, which led to four hundred years of Ottoman rule across Greece and its territories in Asia Minor. Although the date was not the 13^th, if you add the numbers of the year 1+4+5+3 the total comes to 13!

As Greece is a highly religious country, a further reason for Christian Greeks is that the 13^th chapter of Revelation speaks of the coming of the Antichrist.