Friday the 13th & a full moon?  In the words of Stevie Wonder "very superstitious."

Harvest Moon Rises Over Somerset
Matt Cardy
loading...

There's many superstitions that surround full moons and Friday the 13th.  I personally am not very superstitious so Friday the 13th and full moons typically don't bother me. However with them falling on the same day both have definitely caught my attention this time around. It's also pretty cool because the next time we will get Friday the 13th and a full moon at the same time isn't until August 13th,  2049!

So why are we superstitious around full moons and Fridays that fall on the 13th?

According to the Farmers Almanac there's no scientific reason behind the full moon causing chaos. There have been many scientific studies, and they've all been inconclusive. However some scientists hypothesize that the lack of sleep due to the moon being so bright could have something to do with strange behavior.

Here's what the Farmers Almanac says:

One hypothesis, posed in a 1999 issue of the Journal of Affective Disorders, suggested that sleep deprivation, caused by the brightness of the full Moon, might have worsened existing mental disorders. Once electric lights were invented, the authors said, the effect was negated, which is why modern studies have found no correlation.

Others say the belief has remained strong due to “confirmation bias,” the idea that people favor information that supports their preconceived notions. In other words, if you expect people to act strangely during a full Moon, every strange behavior you encounter during a full Moon reinforces that belief.

What about Friday the 13th?  This superstition has several deep seeded roots (trust me it's a whole rabbit hole you can go down), but here's the main one I keep coming across in my super expert research (AKA Google university).  According to History.com (you know, like the history channel, so it's legit) the reason Friday the 13th is especially unlucky has biblical roots.

According to biblical tradition, 13 guests attended the Last Supper, held on Maundy Thursday, including Jesus and his 12 apostles (one of whom, Judas, betrayed him). The next day, of course, was Good Friday, the day of Jesus’ crucifixion.

The seating arrangement at the Last Supper is believed to have given rise to a longstanding Christian superstition that having 13 guests at a table was a bad omen—specifically, that it was courting death.

So that's the reason we started associating Friday and 13 together to make one super spooky day, Friday the 13th.

More From WGBF-FM