For as long as you have been alive (and then even longer than that), Friday the 13th has always been a really big deal — a day that could potentially be full of bad luck if you are not careful. It has led people of Western New York to latch onto a few superstitions. 

 

You may have heard some of the most shared superstitions, including crossing paths with a black cat or breaking a mirror, but even the date “Friday the 13th” can make someone superstitious. The number “13” itself just seems unlucky, but why?

 

It is difficult to exactly pinpoint the origin of Friday the 13th and what makes it so spooky, especially when other cultures have a different superstitious date. For example, in Italy, it is Friday the 17th that people get a little nervous about, and in Greece, it is Tuesday the 13th. 

 

What we do know is that both the number 13 and Friday have historically been regarded as unlucky. If you pay even the slightest attention to Marvel or Nordic mythology, you may remember Loki, “The God of Mischief,” unexpectedly showed up to a dinner, making the total number of gods in attendance to 13. 

 

And traditionally, in the Bible, Fridays have been viewed as unlucky. Even if you are not religious, I’m sure you have heard the infamous story of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit. What day of the week do you think that happened? I’ll let you guess…..did you guess? Yep! It was a Friday. 

 

However, it was until the early 1900s when Friday the 13th began to be associated with bad luck and misfortune. In 1907, a novel by the name of “Friday the Thirteenth” by Thomas W. Lawson grew in popularity, and people became wrapped up in the plot — a broker who took advantage of all the superstitions about the date to intentionally crash the stock market. 

 

Yeah, we may be a little superstitious after all of that, but what are some of WNY’s superstitions?

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