Superstition can be unhealthy

Henry Gordon
special to the star

You woke up this morning. You went to the door and picked up your Toronto Star. You spotted the date: Friday the 13th. You immediately went back to bed and stayed there for the rest of the day. Safest place to be.

Well, maybe you followed that routine. Some superstitious people have been known to do that. Good for your health? Not really. Superstition can be bad for your health. As a matter of fact, health and superstition have been strongly linked over the years.

In ancient times, a multitude of magical charms were used to ward off disease. Some of them are probably still in use today in some societies. Feel a cold coming on? Catch a falling oak leaf before it hits the ground. Have an unsightly wart? Take a piece of steak and bury it where three roads meet. Have a headache? This one is easy: get the cast-off skin of a snake and tie it around your forehead. (Might be an idea for Halloween). Here's one that's useful if you get a toothache and your dentist is busy out on the golf course: hammer a nail into an oak tree. (But do make sure it's not part of your next-door neighbour's property). No, I'm not making these up. They're all part of our slowly developing culture.

A more up-to-date cure is the one for arthritis: a copper bracelet — still used by many people. No way does that work. Sorry about that if you're a believer, but there's absolutely no scientific evidence that such a cure exists.

So where did all this Friday the 13th nonsense begin? Well, Fridays have a bad reputation in history. The Flood started on a Friday, Solomon's Temple fell on a Friday, and Christ was crucified on a Friday. The fear of the number 13 — triskaidekaphobia — has been around for a long time. My only fear has been that I'll forget how to spell the damn word. The ancient Egyptians didn't hold this fear. Life, they believed, was symbolized by a ladder with 12 steps. Each step represented a path on the road to knowledge. The 13th step led to eternal life, an optimistic view compared to the modern one, that the tarot card of death is number 13, and a witchcraft coven consists of 13 witches or 12 witches and the devil. Scary stuff.

Thirty-two years ago, science and technology challenged superstition — and lost. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched the 13th Apollo space mission at 13:13 central time, from pad 39 (3 times 13). The three first names of the astronauts were John, Fred and James. Add up the letters of their names. On April 13, the mission was aborted because of a serious problem with the craft's oxygen supply. A coincidence?

So, if you combine the negatives of the terms Friday and 13, you've got a potent combination.

There are some who consider 13 a lucky number. Years ago, I had a since-departed friend from California by the name of Jack Walsh. He had a strange fascination for the number 13. If he had to line up anywhere he always made sure he was 13th in line. He claimed to be the 13th of 13 children. He was born on the 13th day of the month, and always regretted there were only 12 months in the year. When he offered to join an organization, he had to be the 13th member or he wouldn't join. He loved to recount this unlikely tale to me: he always attended the horse races at Del Mar racetrack in California, and one day made a fateful bet. There were 13 horses in the 13th race that day. He stood 13th in line at the 13th wicket and laid down $1,300 on horse number 13, a long shot. And, would you believe it, the horse came in 13th!

And then, there was The Thirteen Club, founded in Glasgow, Scotland in 1891. Most of the activities would break all the rules of superstition. Members would enter the clubhouse under ladders, carrying open umbrellas. They would place their hats on a bed standing nearby. They took delight in smashing a few mirrors placed in strategic positions. They dined 13 to a table, accidentally spilled some salt, and were served dinner when the ancient clock standing in a corner struck 13. Their reason for existence? To combat superstition, prejudice and fear.

As philosopher Francis Bacon observed: "There is a superstition in avoiding superstition."

Henry Gordon is an author and freelance writer