You think you have fears? Here’s a list from the web site The Phobia List that will give you the real name of everything you are most afraid of. There is a reverse index that lists the fears and gives you the name of the phobia. The author of the list has the disclaimer, “Don’t ask me about how to cure the phobia. I don’t know anything about them, I just am interested in the names.”

My personal favorite is Gephyrophobia, the fear of bridges or of crossing them (see my earlier post about the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.) Of course, mine is not truly a phobia, because I can, in fact, cross many bridges without incident. Just keep me away from the long ones.

The composer Arnold Schoenberg was afflicted with Triskadekaphobia, the irrational fear of the number 13. Supposedly, that is why his opera is named “Moses und Aron” rather than “Moses und Aaron,” the more typical way to spell the second biblical character’s name. If it had been spelled with two “a’s”, the opera title would have had thirteen characters.

As a church musician I hope that I don’t ever develop Homilophobia.