Full moon and Friday the 13th collide this week

Calling all werewolves.

Not only does Friday land on the 13th, there will be a full moon in the night sky.

As the moon pulls the tides, some say full moons can also influence human behavior, potentially inciting violence and chaos. The History Channel notes the words “lunacy” and “lunatic” come from Luna, the Roman goddess of the moon. The full moon is also synonymous with shapeshifting, in the case of werewolves, who change from human to beast at the dawn of the full moon.

Many say the fear of Friday the 13th stems from two separate fears, the unluckiness of Fridays, which some say was rooted in Christian tradition – Jesus was crucified on a Friday – and common fears of the apparently unlucky number 13. “Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown also popularized a theory based on the fourteenth century execution of a leader of the Knights Templar that reportedly took place on Friday the 13th.

Certainly, the “Friday the 13th” film series really cemented the date’s creepy factor, as hockey mask clad Jason Voorhees began his infamous killing sprees at Camp Crystal Lake in the 1980s.

However you feel personally about these two events, the Weather Network says the combination of a full moon and Friday the 13th is so rare it won’t happen again until 2049, and considering all the factors that had to come together to make this rare occurrence, perhaps we should see it as lucky rather than unlucky.