Good morning, Utah County, and welcome to Friday the 13th. The forecast for this most superstitious of days is cloudy; Murphy's Law predicts you will stub your toe on the way to the bathroom, step on the cat's tail while hopping on one foot in pain, run out of hot water before you make it to the shower and spill your coffee, tea or orange juice on your last clean white dress shirt. And that's all before 8 a.m.

Maybe it's better to just stay in bed.

Or, you can shove the superstitions, don't look at the calendar, stop waiting for Murphy's pessimism to descend in force and enjoy the balmy October weather and the fact that it's almost the weekend, much like Brigham Young University student Rachel Terribilini.

"I didn't really think about it," she said of past Fridays, and saw no reason why today should be different. "It's really built up a lot, but nothing ever happens. It's just a regular day."

The history of Friday the 13th is, perhaps surprisingly, Christian. According to the urban legends Web site snopes.com, Friday is considered unlucky because of the link to historical events like the Crucifixion, Eve offering the apple to Adam, the beginning of the flood in Noah's time and the confusion at the Tower of Babel. A number of pieces of literature, including Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," refer to unlucky Friday. It was not, for instance, advisable to start a journey, start harvesting a field or get married on a Friday. Good Friday is the exception.

The bad luck associated with 13 also comes from Jesus Christ's Crucifixion, according to snopes. At the Last Supper, Judas Iscariot was the 13th person to sit down at the table. The rest, as they say, is history, including the superstition associated with 13.

Sometime in the last century or two, the two superstitious omens were wedded, resulting in paranoia, paraskavedekatriaphobia (fear of Friday the 13th) and other irrational fears of bellicose spirits making mischief.

OK, for rapper Tupac Shakur, who died on Sept. 13, 1996 -- a Friday -- it could arguably be unlucky. But for everybody elsefi

"Thirteen's my favorite number," BYU student Ryan Zylstra said. "I think it's lucky."

His reasoning is simple; Mike Piazza, his favorite baseball player, was No. 31. But No. 31 was already taken, so Zylstra swapped the numbers and became No. 13, with the added bonus that no one else he played with ever wanted that number. Then he passed the legacy on.

"Everybody thinks it's lucky in my family," he said.

The couple having a wedding reception at the White Willow Reception Center in Provo today wasn't too concerned either. Becky Miller, owner of the reception center, said they called and wanted the next available date.

"Nobody ever wants to book an event on Friday the 13th," Miller said.

So the date was open, the couple wasn't superstitious and they took it. Most people aren't too worried about it, judging by local reception centers. At Thanksgiving Point, no weddings are planned for today, but the two biggest weddings in its history have been on Friday the 13th.

Emily Nielsen, a bridal consultant with the Bridal Center, said she doesn't know of many people who really consider it much; generally people who want a specific date are thinking Valentine's Day or April Fools' Day. Usually, though, if people do think about it, they skirt that date.

"You might find that women would rather not have it on Friday the 13th because of the whole factor of bad luck, that kind of thing," she said.

Crime rates don't change much on the day either, according to local law enforcement. Provo police Lt. John Geyerman said police would be busier today than yesterday, but that's normal.

"Friday's historically a busy day because it starts the weekend," he said, adding he didn't think the superstitions surrounding the 13th had anything to do with the amount of crime.

For many, today will be just another day. Stephanie Barton of Fillmore said she's not superstitious and she's never been around people who are, so there's never been any shadow surrounding the usually twice-yearly calendar occurrence.

"My bad experiences happen just sporadically throughout my life on any given day," she said.

Same with Tyler Eliason of Delta, who actually thinks the day is fun and a reason to celebrate, not to hole up and worry about what might go wrong. He couldn't think of any bad experiences he attributed to bad luck, "not unless I was really looking for it."

Heidi Toth can be reached at 344-2543 or htoth@heraldextra.com.

People born on Friday the 13th

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actress, best known as Elaine from "Seinfeld" -- Jan. 13, 1961

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, actresses -- June 13, 1986

Horatio Alger Jr., rags-to-riches author -- Jan. 13, 1832

Fidel Castro, dictator of Cuba -- Aug. 13, 1926

Nathan Bedford Forrest, founder of the Ku Klux Klan -- July 13, 1821

Samuel Beckett, novelist and poet -- April 13, 1906

Jessica Eyre, news editor at the Daily Herald -- July 13, 1979

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.