Students and teachers afraid of this mystical date
It's Friday the 13th on the calendar, and everyone has their own attitude to this mystical date. Someone is afraid to schedule important meetings and make strategic decisions, someone does not notice the mysterious numbers in the calendar at all.
We dug into the history of superstition, found out from students, teachers and staff of the medical academy what they think about it, and even asked a psychiatrist about the nature of unexplained phobias.
In the footsteps of history
Researchers attribute the sign of Friday the 13th to recent phenomena that arose at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries from the merger of two really ancient superstitions: about the inauspiciousness of Friday and the number 13. As one expert writes, "The two pointers of bad luck eventually merged to create one super bad day."
The number 13 is considered unlucky due to a combination of ancient religious, mythological, and cultural superstitions. For example, Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles were present at the Last Supper. Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Christ, is considered the 13th participant. In Norse mythology, at a feast in Valhalla, 12 gods were seated at a table when the 13th, the insidious god Loki, appeared, causing chaos.
In addition, the number 12 has long been considered a symbol of completeness and order: 12 months, 12 zodiac signs, 12 apostles. The number 13 breaks this harmony and is often referred to as the "devil's dozen". There is a superstition that the witches' coven consists of 13 participants, and the gallows contains 13 steps.
If we talk about Friday, it is believed that it was on Friday that Jesus was crucified. The arrest of the Templars also took place on Friday, October 13, 1307.
ASMA is not afraid of superstitions
At the Amur State Medical Academy, few people are afraid of an ordinary day in the calendar.
— For me, the number 13 is not associated with anything mystical. Probably, I give myself such an attitude. Friday the 13th is an ordinary day. I live in house number 13, and we consider this house to be happy," said Irina Berdyaeva, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Educational Activities.
"It's an ordinary day, many people exaggerately attribute some superstitions to it. There are many movies and TV shows about Friday the 13th. They do not make much of an impression on me," said Alexander Yakimov, a student of group 604.
"And we continue the city Spartakiad between universities, and on Friday, the 13th, there will be a laser rifle shooting competition. It will be interesting to see what will come of it. If we talk about Friday the 13th, of course, I would like the mystical component to be present in our lives. So that you can carry out a simple ritual and some grandiose and successful event happens. I really want to believe in it, but so far it has not worked," said Svetlana Valerievna Reznikov, associate professor of the Department of Physical Education with a course of physical therapy.
"I don't believe in the bad omens of Friday the 13th. And I am convinced that we ourselves are the creators of our reality, and if you think positively, no magic of numbers is scary. But, of course, no one has canceled the influence of society. Somewhere in the back of my mind: "It's Friday the 13th." And when a minor trouble happens, it is easier to throw it all off to the date and continue to think positively," says Leila Sadigova, a student of group 501.
— This is currently a fairly common type of obsessive-compulsive disorder, manifested by a superstitious phobia or superstitious fear, fear of the day that falls on Friday the 13th. In the Soviet Union, when there were no Western cultural infusions or there were much fewer of them, no one knew about this superstition, this superstition did not exist. After the release and introduction of a series of horror films called "Friday the 13th" to the masses, the population formed a negative attitude to this date. In Soviet times, watching foreign films was generally the prerogative of the elite strata of the population. It was, so to speak, fashionable, popular. With such a powerful emotional reinforcement, this phenomenon entered the consciousness of people, forming an independent specific phobia. Many of those who have this phobia do not even understand its meaning - what this number means, why Friday the 13th. We know that 13 is a number that can bring misfortune without logical evidence for it. The date itself can neither provoke nor, on the contrary, prevent any unpleasant phenomena. If Friday the 13th passes without incident for a person, he may not even notice this date in the calendar. If some trouble happens, it will definitely be transmitted through social connections and will be even more rooted in people's minds.
Alexander Alexandrovich Agarkov
Psychiatrist, assistant of the Department of Nervous Diseases, Psychiatry and Narcology, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the 4th year and coordinator of the student patriotic club "Challenge"
How many Fridays are in a week
By the way, the fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia, and the fear of Friday, the 13th, is parascavedekatriaphobia.
According to experts, on average, Friday the 13th comes every 212 days. In 2026, the 13th falls on Friday three times: in February, March and November.
