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By Alex Eliseev
If you, along with more than 20 million Americans, suffer from triskaidekaphobia, then perhaps you should be extra careful on Friday.
Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th.
But most South Africans do not fear this "unlucky" day, says Professor David Coplan, head of the social anthropology department at Wits University, because most believe that bad luck or "curses" can be brought about only by another person, witch or ancestor.
| 'The superstition of Friday the 13th is imported from the West and is not important (in SA)' |
"The superstition of Friday the 13th is imported from the West and is not important (in SA)," says Coplan, who has been studying cultures for 30 years. "It may be amusing, but it's not scary."
Professors from Pretoria and Stellenbosch universities agree, saying modern man tries to portray an image of not being superstitious as it is considered old-fashioned.
 
Out on the streets, people were fearless regarding Friday the 13th, the only one this year. Connie Rogers said the day did not faze her, and despite once having a car accident on Friday 13, she generally had a "particularly good day".
Vivian Maselela and Mike Short said they were not superstitious, while Jay Harkison had never heard of any superstitions around the date.
The origin of triskaidekaphobia is unclear. Some believe it originated with Christ having been crucified on a Friday and there having been 13 guests at the Last Supper.
Others believe the superstition was created by primitive man. Once they reached 12, exhausting their fingers and both feet, they considered anything higher an evil taboo.
In 1993, a study in the British Medical Journal concluded that the risk of a transport accident on Friday the 13th may be increased by as much as 52 percent and that staying at home was recommended.
But hospitals across South Africa said they had not experienced higher volumes and had no cancellations of surgeries for Friday.
It would be business as usual at Johannesburg's Milpark Hospital, said spokesperson Trudie Naicker, who was born on a Friday the 13th.
Johannesburg metro police spokesperson chief superintendent Wayne Minnaar and the Emergency Management Services' Malcolm Midgley said their staff would not be curled up in bed on Friday but would be ready for action.
Wedding co-ordinators, on the other hand, might as well stay at home - there are few couples brave enough to tie the knot on Friday the 13th.
Superstition has it that if you wed on this day, you will have a life of fighting with your spouse like "cat and dog".
More than a dozen organisers said they had never had a wedding on that date.
Sharon Pandy, wedding co-ordinator for the Westcliff Hotel, said that in 20 years she had never come across a Friday 13 wedding.
Susan Loubser, with 10 years of co-ordinating experience, said that in 2002 she had a couple who almost married on Friday the 13th, but chickened out and moved the wedding to the next day.
In 1913, New York pastor Charles Reynolds even offered to marry couples for free if they dared to challenge the superstition.
An extreme interpretation of the superstition is that if you have 13 people who sit down to a meal together, all will die within a year.
Some of the biggest monsters in history, such as Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Charles Manson, had 13 letters in their names, an online article pointed out. - Sapa
- This article was originally published on page 7 of The Star on May 13, 2005
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