ORLANDO, Fla. — In Western superstition, Friday the 13th is often regarded as the “unluckiest day” on the calendar. It’s a date that has spawned countless horror films, myths and legends, and flash sales. Fear of the number “13″ even has its own name (“triskaidekaphobia”).

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Although it is a superstition deeply embedded within our culture, what is it about this date that inspires such terror?

Perhaps its origins begin in the Middle Ages with the popularity of tarot card games, many of which had the card representing Death numbered as “card 13.”

The French Protestant pastor Antoine Court de Gébelin once remarked in 1781, while in the presence of the cards’ inventor, that 13 was “always considered unlucky,” perhaps due to the number often accompanying the Grim Reaper’s visage in the deck.

In Norse mythology, the number 13 is tied to a legend about twelve gods who sat down to dinner in Valhalla, only to be interrupted by the trickster god, Loki, who had not been invited.

According to myth, Loki ordered Hǫðr, the Norse god of darkness, to kill Balder, the god of joy, as recompense. Balder’s death marked the first event of Ragnarok, the Norse variation of Revelations, and great suffering found itself unleashed upon the world.

Dinner parties seem to be a popular site for stories regarding 13’s unluckiness, as Christians associate the number with Jesus’s Last Supper, wherein twelve men sat at a table in the Upper Room and Jesus, the thirteenth of them to sit down, was to be betrayed not long after.

Many unfortunate events have since taken place on Friday the 13th, from the arrest of the Knights Templar by Philip IV of France in 1307, to the sinking of the British submarine HMS K13 in 1917.

A small-scale stock market crash occurred on Wall Street in 1989, eerily echoing the events of T.W. Lawson’s 1907 novel Friday, the Thirteenth, wherein a mischievous broker leverages the superstitions surrounding the date to stir up panic at the stock exchange.

Not everyone, though, seems to fear the number. In fact, for some, it is even considered lucky. Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino played under the number for 17 seasons, and pop star Taylor Swift has often used “13″ as a personal symbol, even writing it in glitter ink on her hand during concerts.

The horror film franchise Friday the 13th, which made its debut in 1980, has grossed over $460 million in its 45-year existence, sparking a devoted cult following.

Tattoo parlors across the country have even turned the day into their own sort of holiday, offering flash sales where customers can get $13 tattoos from a provided list of designs. For those looking to participate in the sale, several shops in Orlando have already announced their deals, and are still open for appointments.

Whether you spend the day cowering in fear, reveling in the fun, or even getting a new splash of ink, Friday the 13th is a date that no doubt sparks intrigue and superstition. As for if the day really is cursed, well, that’s up for you to decide. Much like the legends that inspired its notoriety, the answer to that question is, and perhaps always will be, clouded in mystery.

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