December 13, 2016

Many people are familiar with the superstitions surrounding Friday the 13^th, a day feared by many who believe in the supernatural, the unexplained, or the just plain weird. But did you know that Tuesday the 13^th—today!—is also a potentially troubling day? In many Latin American countries (and in Spain and Greece), today—Tuesday the 13th, or martes 13 (or trece) in Spanish—is un día de la mala suerte, or a bad luck day.

Some superstitious people think that cuddly black cats should be avoided on martes 13—Tuesday the 13th. Credit: © Shutterstock Credit: © Shutterstock

On martes 13, people might want to avoid black cats, walking beneath ladders, breaking mirrors, or other supposed omens of bad luck. In fact, some superstitious Spanish-speaking people may not leave home at all on martes 13. A common saying goes: martes 13, ni te cases, ni te embarques—Tuesday the 13^th, neither marry, nor embark (leave on a trip). In Chile, a third warning is often added to this expression: ni tu puerco mates—don’t kill your pig (save it for a better day). The number 13 has long been an “unlucky” number, but you may wonder why some cultures pair 13 with Tuesday instead of Friday.

Well, one possibility is that martes is named for the fearsome ancient Roman god of war, Mars (Marte in Spanish)—not a character to be taken lightly. And, of course, war is associated with such bad things as death and destruction. Also, one of the most significant events in world history, the Fall of Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), occurred on a Tuesday in 1453. If you were a citizen of the East Roman (or Byzantine) Empire at the time, this was truly a bad luck day. Furthermore, Biblical tradition has it that the confusion of different languages at the Tower of Babel began on a Tuesday—or was it martes, martedi, mardi, Dienstag, or Вторник???

In some East Asian cultures, the number 4 is considered bad luck, largely because of the similarity of the words four and death in Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and several Chinese dialects. It is common for buildings to be without a fourth floor, or for the number 4 to be excluded from the names of airplanes, cars, or ships. It is extremely uncommon to receive a gift of four of anything, and the number 4 is often missing in hospitals, hotels, and license plates.