You’ve been told your entire life that the number 13 is unlucky. You've seen it everywhere—tall buildings that leave out the 13th floor, airplanes that leave out the 13th row, always being reminded when Friday lands on the 13th. You might have even developed triskaidekaphobia—fear of the number 13. But what if you've been lied to? What if the number 13 isn't unlucky? What if 13 is actually a lucky number? What if 13 is the luckiest of numbers? Let's take a closer look at unlucky number 13.

The Ancient World, completely unlike the world we live in today, revered the number 13. In fact, much of the Ancient World associated it with the highest orders of reality, namely heaven and eternity. This association was made for different reasons in different cultures, but a closer examination reveals curious patterns.

Of all these reasons, its prominence in the lunar calendar may be the most universal. Because the length of the solar year necessitates the periodic addition of a 13th lunar cycle (or month) to keep the seasons aligned, the number naturally took on cosmological significance as the sacred corrective. Across ancient cultures, the Moon was regarded as the giver of life—almost always a feminine divinity associated with fertility, renewal, and the rhythms of menstruation. It governed planting and harvest cycles, shaped the tides, and was believed to exert protective powers. All of these attributes, bound to the Moon’s cycle, elevated the number 13 to a sacred status.

Beyond the lunar cycle, many civilizations wove the number 13 directly into their spiritual frameworks. In ancient Egypt, it signified the final stage of spiritual ascension—death not as an end, but as a passage to eternal life. For the Maya, 13 formed the backbone of their cosmology and calendar systems; heaven itself was believed to consist of 13 ascending layers, ruled over by 13 gods. The Aztecs likewise regarded the number as a pillar of cosmic balance and divine order, using cycles of 13 to structure divination, ritual timing, and astrological interpretation.

Across the Ancient World, the number 13 stood as a symbol of the sacred, appearing again and again in cosmology, ritual, and mythology. Fear of the number, at least anything like what we see today, is virtually absent from the historical record. If any culture treated it with suspicion, such cases were so uncommon that they only highlight how overwhelmingly positive its associations once were.

Yet despite this long legacy of reverence, the modern world regards 13 very differently.

So, what happened?

It's hard to know for sure, but it appears that the rise of Western Civilization was the beginning of the end for the once lucky number. And the first domino to fall may have been at the Last Supper, the final meal Jesus shared with his disciples before his crucifixion. At the Last Supper, there were 13 people present, Jesus and his 12 apostles. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus and ultimately sealed his fate on the cross, was the 13th guest—the superstition that "13 at a table means one will die within the year" stems directly from this.

Centuries later, a similar event would take place, this time in Norse Mythology, at a banquet in Valhalla. There, 12 gods were invited to feast, and Loki, the trickster god, arrived uninvited as the 13th guest. His presence led to a tragic chain of events, including the death of Baldur, the god of light and joy. These two events on their own might have been enough to flip the script on 13, but the story doesn't end here.

The number 12, curiously, may have played a pivotal role in the downfall of 13. The number 12 was revered in many Western traditions for its practical divisibility and symbolic associations with completeness—12 months in a year, 12 hours on the clock, 12 inches to a foot, 12 jurors in a trial, 12 in the beloved dozen. Perhaps the number 13 was looked at as the disrupter, the first number to break the perfect 12. It is also perhaps why the 13th card in the Tarot deck, born of Western culture, was assigned to Death.

And what about Friday the 13th? The superstition tied to this day likely came from a combination of the fear of Friday with the growing distaste for the number 13. Friday was not only the day of Jesus' crucifixion—as it is largely accepted, anyway—but the traditional day for public executions. The superstition might have been bolstered by Friday, October 13, 1307, when the Knights Templar were arrested and tortured by King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V. And when the lore of Friday the 13th was later canonized in Western film and literature, its association with bad luck was cemented.

It appears then that the number 13's fall from grace was at the hands of mere consequence. But is there more to the story?

The rise of Western Civilization coincided with the end of the Ancient World. When new power structures are built, particularly in replacement of others, powerful truths of the past are often twisted or buried to serve the new order. Perhaps the number 13 was not discarded but deliberately recast—its power inverted so that the new ruling class could guard its significance for themselves. For if 13 truly symbolizes eternal life—the very prize sought by kings, priests, and empires alike—then it would be the kind of knowledge not only coveted and protected, but carefully hidden beneath layers of superstition.

If the sacred power of 13 was hidden behind fear, it's no surprise that so much of our ancient wisdom was obscured. Why were we taken off the lunar calendar for one that requires leap years just to stay in sync? Why was natural synchronicity replaced with superstition? Why is death feared, when in truth it represents the ultimate rebirth? When symbols are stripped of their original meaning, they become hollow vessels—ready to be filled with whatever story the new keepers of power choose to tell.

So the next time you come across 13—on a receipt, a clock, a street address—don't flinch, smile. The next time you're in an elevator and see the missing 13-button, realize it's not the floor that's missing, it's the truth. Schedule your most important events on the 13th and see how they play out. Look for seats in the 13th row and see how your trips go. Fear is the oldest of illusions—powerful not because it is real, but because we believe it is.