You may have heard of triskaidekaphobia, or fear of the number 13, but there is also paraskevidekatriaphobia — the fear of Friday the 13th.
The name was invented by Dr. Donald Dorsey, a clinical psychologist who was on the faculty of Pepperdine University in California. He invented the name in the early 1990s. Dorsey was considered to be a phobia folklore specialist, and spoke widely on the topic of Friday the 13th phobia to Oprah Winfrey and major media outlets.
Phobias are a subset of anxiety disorders and are defined by the National Alliance for Mental Illness as follows:
. . . phobias are irrational, involuntary, and inappropriate fears of (or responses to) ordinary situations or things. The fear is persistent and out of proportion to the actual danger the object or situation poses. People who have phobias can experience panic attacks when confronted with the situation or object about which they feel phobic.
Friday the 13th cannot occur more than three times and always occurs one time in every year, owing to the idiosyncrasies of the Gregorian Calendar. This year (2026), we have Friday the 13th in February, March, and November.
The origin of the Friday the 13th phobia is often thought to be the execution of the Knights Templar, arrested on Friday, October 13, 1307. Their arrest was triggered by gossip from King Phillip of France, who then ordered their capture by Pope Clement based on rumors of their heresy. Thereafter, Friday the 13th was considered unlucky.
Interestingly, the opposite is true in Mayan society, where 13 is considered a lucky number. That is a bit of an oversimplification, but for those who are close to nature, the 13 moons of the year and 13-year cycles have sacred meaning.
But are there any laws that address the societal and individual fear of Friday the 13th?
A city, French Lick Springs, Indiana, reportedly passed an ordinance in 1939 (during World War II), that required everyone with a black cat to hang a bell on its neck on Friday the 13th. The reason? To make sure no one would be “tempting fate” by crossing paths with a black cat on Friday the 13th. It was a combination of two deeply embedded superstitions that converged on one day at a time of heightened anxiety during World War II.
While a look at the current list of ordinances does not own up to passing such an ordinance, the New York Times reported on it on November 11, 1942 (from a UP story on Nov. 10). They reported that the ordinance had not been enforced in 1941, resulting in a number of “minor mishaps”!
The Virginia House of Delegates in 2014 signed a resolution recognizing the execution of Jacques de Molay, the last grand master of the Templar Knights. The purpose of this resolution was to recognize how our acts can affect generations and be impacted by these actions even seven hundred years later.
The Americans with Disabilities Act
Phobias can be accommodated under the Americans with Disabilities Act,⁸ if they can prevent the individual from doing their job. Each case has to be individually considered.
A fear of Friday the 13th falls within the scope of Anxiety Disorders and could be considered under the Americans with Disabilities Act if “it substantially limits a major life activity.”⁹ “Major life activities” include “working”.
There are indications that employers are likely to allow employees to take the day off for Friday the 13th, but it is unclear whether that is a sick day or a vacation day. The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute (founded by Donald Dossy) has estimated that the decrease in activity on Friday the 13th costs around $900 million in lost revenue.
While there are no laws limiting activity on Friday the 13th due to its reputation as a day of bad luck; it is clear that society is profoundly impacted by the choice to avoid it, whether you believe the superstition that surrounds it or not. Fewer people go to work, take on important tasks, or go to surgery on that day, according to those who study this phobia. Few laws have that kind of influence. This is one societal tradition or superstition that can be more limiting, controlling, and applied equally to all, than even the power of the Rule of Law.
Professor Victoria Sutton (Lumbee) is a law professor on the faculty of Texas Tech University. In 2005, Sutton became a founding member of the National Congress of American Indians, Policy Advisory Board to the NCAI Policy Center, positioning the Native American community to act and lead on policy issues affecting Indigenous communities in the United States.
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