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The conference was on the
14th floor of a building in downtown Chicago. As I hit the button on
the elevator, I noticed that there was no 13th floor; the numbering
of the floors went straight from 12 to 14. This is a common tactic
that building owners take because some people are superstitious and
the owners are just trying to keep their guests happy.
What was unusual was that the hotel where I was staying, the
Holiday Inn, booked me in a room on the 14th floor, so I looked at
the elevator buttons to see if they also skipped the 13th floor. I
was surprised to see that there was indeed a 13th floor. Ya got to
hand it to those folks at Holiday Inn for not giving in to a silly
superstition (pardon the obvious plug for sponsorship dollars here).
The hotel incident made me wonder how superstitions were
invented. Actually, "concocted" might be a better word than
"invented" since there's no basis for them. Trust me -- nothing bad
will happen just because you stay on the 13th floor of a hotel.
Here are the origins of a few well-known superstitions:
The number 13:
One theory says that this superstition got started because Judas
was the 13th person at the Last Supper. This explanation makes
sense, but it actually started before that. In ancient Rome, witches
usually gathered in groups of 12, and the 13th one was considered to
be an evil witch. Another theory is that the number 13 is unlucky
because the Viking hangman's noose had 13 knots.
So would Friday the 13th be the worst day of the year on which to
be born?
No, it's actually considered lucky if you were born on Friday the
13th, and every year has at least one Friday the 13th. The bottom
line here is that there are many theories of the origin of how the
number 13 came to be regarded as unlucky. My guess is that there are
exactly 13 different theories (oh, come on -- you had to see that
one coming)
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Breaking a mirror -- seven years of bad luck:
This superstition originated in ancient Europe and is based on
the belief that an image of a person contained a part of that
person. Breaking a mirror would destroy or injure the person who is
looking at it, and this is what causes the bad luck. It's a little
far-fetched for modern times, but let's play along. Then what about
the number seven?
The ancient Romans' belief that the number seven brought bad luck
was based on the Roman numerology of shadows. Pardon me for not
going into detail on this one, but I don't remember a thing from my
high school Roman numerology class.
Walking under a ladder:
A ladder leaning against a wall forms a triangle with the wall
and the ground. My research said that this triangle signifies the
Holy Trinity and to enter into the sacred enclosed area is a
punishable offense. It didn't say who will punish you, though.
Some of the world's most famous people had superstitions of their
own. President Harry S. Truman displayed a horseshoe over the door
of his White House office; Winston Churchill petted black cats to
obtain good luck; and Napoleon Bonaparte feared cats and the number
13. The scientific name for the fear of cats, in case you're keeping
score at home, is "ailurophobia."
It's apparent that superstitions are not an American invention,
but then again the United States had 13 original colonies (which
explains why the original flag had 13 stars). I doubt if all this
had anything to do with any superstition of the Founding Fathers,
though. And on what day of the week did Francis Scott Key write "The
Star-Spangled Banner"? You guessed it -- Friday the 13th.
[Paul Niemann]
Paul Niemann is the author of the "Invention Mysteries" book, which
is available through his
website and at fine
bookstores everywhere. He may be reached at
niemann7@aol.com.
© Paul Niemann 2005
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