Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Travel guide - Why do Filipinos taboo the number 13? Is it a symbol of bad luck in the Philippines?

Why do Filipinos taboo the number 13? Is it a symbol of bad luck in the Philippines?

The number 13 is taboo among Filipinos. The reason is that they believe in Catholicism. The number 13 is a symbol of bad luck in the Philippines, and everyone will try to avoid 13.

In the Philippines, the vast majority of people believe in Roman Catholicism, and only a few people believe in Islam. Due to the influence of religious beliefs, Filipinos are very taboo about the number 13. In their minds, 13 is actually the god of evil, which indicates that bad luck and disaster will soon come. It is a number that everyone avoids.

To what extent do Filipinos taboo the number 13? Even if they reach this number, they will avoid it. For example, the local house number, after 12, becomes 14. There is no number 13, and there is no room number 13 in the hotel room. If there are 13 guests at the party, then the 13th person will choose not to attend. , because they feel that 13 will bring bad luck to them.

Why do Filipinos hate the number 13 so much? That’s because Jesus and his disciples had a meal together before he was killed, and the 13th person who sat down was Judas, a disciple of Jesus. Judas betrayed Jesus for financial gain. In the end, the Jewish believers made Jesus suffer all kinds of torture. Because of their Catholic beliefs, Filipinos hate 13. In addition, in Greek mythology, 12 gods were invited to the Khafra banquet. While everyone was having a dinner, Loki suddenly broke into the banquet hall and killed Bert, whom the gods liked very much. And Hafula is the 13th person.

To sum up, if you travel to the Philippines, you should try not to mention the number 13, and don’t be surprised that there is no local number 13. You should respect the local customs.