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 the number 13 is actually a lucky number? What if the number 13 is the luckiest of all 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 13 with the highest orders of reality, such as heaven and eternity. This association was made for different reasons in different cultures, but its prominence in the lunar calendar may be the most common.

The number 13 is a central number in the lunar calendar as there are 13 lunar cycles in a solar year. The ancient world largely saw the Moon as the giver of life, almost always as a divine feminine symbol of fertility and menstruation. The Moon regulated planting and harvesting cycles, governed the tides, and was thought to have protective powers—all tied to the number 13.

In ancient Egypt, 13 symbolized the final stage of spiritual ascension—death not as an end, but as a passage to eternal life. To the ancient Mayans, the number 13 was a profoundly sacred and foundational number in their cosmology, calendars, and understanding of the universe. The number 13 was particularly divine to the Mayans because they believed that heaven was made up of 13 layers ruled over by 13 gods. The ancient Aztecs, as well, associated the number 13 with cosmic balance and divine order—the cycle of 13 was essential to divination, ritual timing, and astrology.

The list of examples of the number 13's deification in human history is long; what I have shared with you is but a portion of it. It can, therefore, be said, without a shadow of a doubt, that the number 13 was a sacred number throughout the ancient world. It can perhaps even be said that it is impossible to find such a civilization that feared it, certainly to the extent that we do today. Any exception, however, would only prove the rule.

So, what happened?

It is hard to know for sure, but it appears that the rise of the West was the beginning of the end for the number 13. 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, sealing 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 number would not be spared from further attack.

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, which came out 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 that really what happened? Was there anything intentional at play? We may never know, but the table was certainly set for it.

The rise of Western Civilization coincided with the end of the Ancient World. And when new power structures are built, particularly in replacement of others, powerful truths of the past are usually the first things to go. It is certainly in the realm of probability that this is what happened to the number 13. Perhaps it was demonized intentionally because of its power, allowing the new ruling class to keep it for themselves. Instead of trying to erase knowledge, maybe they just made people afraid of it. If 13 is actually the symbol of eternal life—seemingly the one thing every ruler has sought to attain—then this number would be the most coveted, most protected, and also most obfuscated.

Why were we taken off the lunar calendar for one that needs a leap year to keep it from unraveling? Why was synchronicity replaced with superstition? Why is death to be feared when it is, paradoxically, the ultimate rebirth? When symbols are stripped of their meaning, they become empty vessels that are filled with whatever narrative the new wizards can conjure.

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.