I don’t have many superstitions.

I have fears, it’s true. Superstitions, however, are defined as a fear of the unknown or the unreasonable. A fear of getting hurt when walking in front of a moving dump truck is hardly unknown and certainly

reasonable. A fear of a black cat walking in front of me doesn’t worry me, unless that cat is leading me into the path of a moving dump truck.

My sister — the smart one in the family — possesses two doctorates and her research has been published in national equine magazines. She uses words I can’t understand. Yet, she fears circus clowns. That’s not necessarily a superstition. But it’s unreasonable to me. A clown is just a normal person who wears odd makeup and peculiar clothing (Sorry Pat, the Downtown Clown). But don’t tell that to my sister. She’ll write something nasty about you in a magazine and you won’t even know it if you read it.

For many folks, today is a frightful day. Today strike fear into

paraskevidekatriaphobics — those afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th — and triskaidekaphobics — those with irrational fear of things or events associated with the number 13.

There are plenty of explanations for fearing today’s date.

The number 13 is considered especially unfavorable though it was considered a lucky number in ancient Egypt and China. And several mass murderers have 13 letters in their names: Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy.

Paul McFarlane also 13 letters in the name, but the only thing I’ve killed recently is the reader’s desire to finish these columns. I also have to wonder about the amount of time people have on their hands who count such things. Or care. Or have both the time to count these and the will to care enough to write about them for Web sites.

Paraskevidekatriaphobics, though, have it doubly tough. Those people fear the number 13 and fear Fridays.

Thirteen is significant to Christians because it is the number of people who were present at the Last Supper (Jesus and his 12 apostles). Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th member of the party to arrive.

Christians have traditionally been wary of Fridays because Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Additionally, some theologians hold that Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit on a Friday, and that the Great Flood began on a Friday. In the past, many Christians would never begin any new project or trip on a Friday, fearing they would be doomed from the start.

And then there are those at Colgate University, long considered a reputable institution until I read this cockamamie routine:

To kick off Colgate Day, celebrated every Friday the 13th, the university president along with 13 alumni ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange at 9:30 a.m. Friday, June 13.

Students at Colgate (it’s in Hamilton N.Y. I’ve been there. It snows a lot. Maybe the students should fear that, too) feel a strong connection with the number 13. In 1817, 13 men — six clergy and seven laymen — met with “13 dollars, 13 prayers and 13 articles” and formed Colgate. There’s the university’s address, 13 Oak Drive. And Colgate’s zip code, 13346. The first two numbers, standing alone, are the number 13, and the sum of the remaining three totals 13.

See above: Too much time and too much caring to write about these details.

So when it comes to dealing with superstitions, I turn to people who work with numbers. And who better to do that than gamblers.

I’m certainly not advocating placing an online bet, but odds-makers generally don’t have much heart or soul about the unknown. They predict an outcome and challenge others to refute the odds assigned to that outcome. In short, they deal with predicted outcomes as judged by numbers, not fears.

So, from BetUs.com come these odds posted this week that something unlucky will happen to you today:

The World ends: 1,000,000/1

You lose your job 100/1

You get divorced 250/1

You go bankrupt 500/1

Your flight is delayed 1/1

Airline loses your luggage 50/1

It rains outside: (NY 2/1, Boston 4/1, LA 25/1, Miami 6/4)

You get a flat tire 500/1

You misplace your license 500/1

The stock market crashes 5/1

A taxi splashes a puddle on you 1000/1 (probably a little higher in these parts)

A bird goes to the bathroom on your head 5,000/1

You get locked out of your apartment 500/1

You break a window 500/1

You break a mirror 750/1

A black cat crosses your path 1,000/1

You walk under a ladder 2,500/1

Your spouse leaves you: 500/1

You throw out your back: 250/1

You will get sick: 50/1

You will get locked out of your house/apartment: 50/1

You will get a ticket (speeding, parking, etc.): 50/1

You will lose all your hair: 250/1

You will find money: 50/1

You will slip on banana peel: 100/1

I like those odds more than I trust superstitions. I’d better watch my back, though, just to be sure.

Paul McFarlane is the Editor of The Tidewater News. His e-mail is paul.mcfarlane@tidewaternews.com.