How 13 Is Unlucky For Some, but Not for Others (and What This Tell Us)
To many around the world, 13 is considered an unlucky number. It’s unsure why, but the most popular theory is that it’s because of Judas Iscariot. The 13th and final disciple to take his seat at the Last Supper, he then went on to betray Jesus.
This isn’t the only theory, however.
It may have something to do with the moon. Monks in charge of calendars used to be particularly troubled when the lunar cycle threw up 13 full moons which didn’t fit nicely into their 12-month system. It was also a reminder of the old lunar calendar with its thirteen cycles, seen as pagan as it corresponded to the menstrual cycle, and women were often blamed for The Fall in Genesis.
13 strikes such fear into some that it has a name: Triskaidekaphobia.
It’s so prevalent marketers have acted accordingly — you won’t see it numbering doors, floors in buildings, or seat rows on planes, because people won’t use them. Events often won’t be scheduled on Friday 13th (the day King Philip IV ordered the Knights templar tortured and killed). Superstitious Scots will even spend that whole day in bed.
But for some, it’s the opposite, 13 is lucky!
In Italy it’s a lucky gambling number — the expression ‘fare tredici’ (make thirteen) means hit the jackpot. In Western tattoo culture, many believe that 13 becomes lucky for you once you’re tattooed. Many tattooists offer tattoos of the number 13 for 13 dollars every Friday 13th for good luck.
This is a great way to see what Semiotics seeks to explain.
Ferdinand de Saussure argued that ‘the linguistic sign is arbitrary’ — the connection between the signifier (13 in this example) and the signified (lucky? Or unlucky?) is only agreed by consensus — they have no intrinsic connection. And that this applies to all signs and symbols, visual or linguistic.
With numbers though, it seems they must represent something intrinsic — after all, everyday mathematics depends on it. But here’s a question for you to consider — are numbers nouns, or adjectives?
