A Friday for folklore: This month a full moon falls on Friday the 13th for the first time since 2000

If someone had to pick the most common phobia in the U.S., they might guess fear of today -- Friday the 13th. And teraskevidekatriaphobics have more to look forward to this year because the night will feature a full moon, something that hasn't happened since October 2000.

Additionally, Fridays are fraught with folklore.

Christy Mershon, assistant director of extended and continuing education at Southeast Missouri State University, conducts haunted history tours of downtown Cape Girardeau with Tom Neumeyer. Mershon said there are many legends associated with the number 13: If 13 people sit together at dinner, one will die within the year; many cities don't have a 13th Street or 13th Avenue; and many buildings don't include a 13th floor; mass killers Charles Manson, Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler, had 13 letters in their names; there are also 13 witches in a coven.

"There's a ton of theories as to why people have been afraid of 13," Mershon said. Ancient man counted on 10 fingers and two feet, which was only 12.

"But having said that, the Chinese think that 13 is a lucky number. Egyptians thought life had 12 stages and the 13th was ascension," she said. The number also had a big role in pagan religions, and some sociologists think when Christianity became more widespread, they, there was an attempt made to wipe the number out.

And there are numerous other examples of the 13th or Friday not going so well -- Jacques de Molay, the last grand master of the Knights Templar, was burned at the stake in 1314 and the HMS Friday, which was christened on a Friday, helmed by a captain named Friday and set sail on a Friday, was never seen again.

Some may look to the Last Supper, the last meal Jesus shared with his apostles, as a sign of bad things since 13 attended and Judas was the first to leave.

The flip side is that Friday was a holy day in the Pagan religion.

Several people informally polled at West Park Mall said Friday the 13th did not prompt superstition in them. "Everybody loves Friday and everybody hates Monday," said Santo Sharma, who mans a purse and accessory booth at the mall.

On the other hand, Alexis Williams, saleswoman at the Kor hair booth, tends to avoid going out if possible. "I actually stay home that day. I don't leave my house because a lot of bad things happen on Friday the 13th," Williams said.

Black cats and dogs also get short shrift -- not just on Friday the 13th, but most of the year. Black canines and kitties are offered at discounted prices on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

Alice Wybert, director of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary in Jackson, said black cats and dogs are the last to be adopted and first to be turned in. Superstition of black cats has been around since the days of the Salem witch trials, but some people think black dogs are ordinary.

"Then there are people that prefer black dogs and black cats, but they are few and far between," Wybert said. She added that black Labrador retrievers are popular, though.