Martes Trece- Bad Luck Tuesday!

People in Anglo-Saxon cultures tend to watch their backs and think of bad luck on Friday the 13th. Meanwhile, in Spain, Latin America, and Greece Tuesday is the day to look out for. (Friday the 13th is a day I am a fan of actually!)

Martes (Tuesday) is linguistically linked with Mars, the god of war and violence. (The same is true for Greece and a number of other cultures.) Amongst bad Tuesday events are the Fall of Constantinople (not a good thing from the Greek and Western European perspective.) The biblical confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel is also supposed to have happened on a Tuesday, the 13th.  This means that even your typical Tuesday isn’t considered to be the best of days from a folkloric point of view.

There are even a number of dichos (sayings) associated with the bad luck associated with Tuesday. One that comes to mind is, “En martes, ni te cases ni te embarques.” (“On Tuesday, neither marry nor embark.”) On martes trece you can expect this mala suerte (bad luck) to be doubled.

The combination of Tuesday with trece (the number 13), a número that has long had negative connotations, pushes Tuesday the 13th into the same territory that Friday the 13th has for some.

So, this Tuesday the 13th I wish you, “¡Buena suerte!” Good Luck!

Have a great day! Remember you learned something new today, so it’s not all bad!