Tuesday the 13th?

I forgot what day it was (been doing a lot of that lately) until I checked FB and noticed that several posts talked about Tuesday the 13th. For superstitious people in this country, as well as in Greece and Latin America, today is unlucky. I've asked people why, but most don't know and some quote a saying that means something like don't get married or board a ship on this day.

So I checked Internet and it turns out that this goes all the way back to Tuesday 13, 1453 during the fall of the city of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks marking the end of the Byzantine Empire which for Christians caused a big trauma and symbolized a war with paganism. Of course there are others that associate the word for Tuesday in Spanish (martes) to the Roman god of war, Mars.

It strikes me that most Spanish people are very religious (Catholic religion is taught in public schools) yet very superstitious. There are some TV channels that around midnight show people calling for fortune telling and Tarot readings. In the town where I live, people will tell you with a straight face that someone has given them the evil eye, a belief that people can bestow a curse on you by staring. Some will wear protective talismans and others will go to a shaman to get it cleaned. Also a cat here has only 7 lives, so does that mean it's less lucky than American cats?