Why Friday 13th and other superstitions are providing Taylor Swift and Serena Williams with comfort

Friday the 13th, viewed by some as ominous and by others as good luck. There's a name to describe the irrational dread of the date...

Paraskevidekatriaphobia: a specialised form of triskaidekaphobia, a fear of the number 13.

Truly bonkers, but we all have our quirks and no-one is immune from the trap of superstition. Celebrities, such as Taylor Swift, Serena Williams, Victoria Beckham and Jennifer Aniston have all adopted behaviours to match their beliefs.

Friday the 13th is not unusual. Our Gregorian calendar means that the 13th of any month is slightly more likely to fall on a Friday than any other day of the week.

It is not, however, a universal superstition. In Greece and Spanish-speaking countries, it is Tuesday the 13th that is considered a day of bad luck, while in Italy, it is Friday the 17th that is met with fear.

Taylor Swift is drawn to the number 13, and it's seemingly drawn to her too. "I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first No. 1 song had a 13-second intro," she reported to MTV in 2009. "Every time I've won an award I've been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter."

Serena may have hung up her professional tennis playing shoes, for now, but she did exhibit a few superstitions before 'retiring' (we can predict a possible return, knowing Serena).

Per her interview with the Daily Mail, Serena Williams is extremely superstitious when it comes to her career. The tennis star brings shower sandals to the court, wears the same pair of socks throughout a tournament run, ties her shoes in a specific way, and bounces the ball exactly five times before her first serve.

Serena feels the need to tie her shoes in exactly the same way. This seems like such a trivial detail for a dominant player to be concerned with, but she doesn't seem to think so. In fact, she commonly blamed losses in big matches on not following this specific routine.

Victoria Beckham, former Spice Girl and current global fashion designer, believes in the power and energy of crystals. Let's hear her out...

"I'm a very spiritual person. I travel with my crystals. I've got all different colours. It's just something that I'm into," she told Us Weekly in 2011. Okay then.

Beckham went as far as to incorporate crystals into her pre-fall fashion line, designing pants with special pockets for crystal-carrying.

Moving on...

At an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 1998, Heidi Klum, the supermodel, admitted that she keeps a bag of her own baby teeth with her at all times. "I carry around a little bag of my teeth," she told the host. "We don't have a tooth fairy (in Germany), so I put them in a little bag. Little ones, big ones. Those were like, wisdom ones."I don't know if it's good luck, it's just a crazy thing that I do."

It is a crazy thing to do, Heidi, yes.

Jennifer Anniston has a pre-flight ritual that she follows before jet setting anywhere. "If I walk on to an airplane, I always have to go on with my right foot first and tap the outside of the plane," the Daily Mail reports. "I have always done it for luck."

There are many other superstitions: walking under ladders, black cats crossing your path, seeing one magpie, breaking a mirror, failing to respond to a chain letter (my advice is never to respond to a chain letter), rain on your wedding day and so the list goes on.

As these celebrities prove, being rich does not exempt you from bizarre beliefs. Friday the 13th is the day you make it. Make it a good one.