By: Rebecca Hall [Powwow Editor]

With a sense of ominous suspense and thrill, countless amounts of people wake up  today, knowing that an unlucky date like this doesn’t come around too often. (Insert spooky music here.)

Friday the Thirteenth is a date widely known by many to be more unlucky than breaking a mirror and opening an umbrella inside only after passing a black cat in order to walk under a giant metaphorical ladder. Okay, maybe not that unlucky. The point is that many find this date very disastrous, but why?

It is said that 13 is an unlucky number, that many know; so that could be part of the reason this day is considered so star-crossed. But, Fridays are often a day of the week that is celebrated by overworked students and employees anticipating the weekend. So why is it that when the calendar aligns (making that usually exciting day of the week the thirteenth of the month) does it become so unlucky that it causes people to shake in terror (not visibility, of course).

There are many whispers of conspiracy as to why this is such a rivetingly terrifying date, but none seem to be proven. Most superstitions were started around the time that being a witch was considered a real crime punishable by death (the 17th century era) and are still known today as a sort of joke. It seems that the catastrophic date of Friday the Thirteenth is just like many other “unlucky” things, just a made up idea that happened to stick around for centuries.

But just in case, on this date, be careful. And when walking, be sure of one thing: don’t step on a crack, or you’ll break your mother’s back.