The number seven is
considered lucky and magical. What
history of the number gives it such controversial terms? It mostly started with
religion. According to Dahloan Hembree, author of the article Lucky Seven? History
of the Superstitions of the Number Seven,
The ancient Greeks considered the number seven to be lucky. They
believed it to be the perfect number. The Arabs carried on this belief and
built seven holy temples. The Goths made
sure they worshiped the seven deities.
The Japanese also had seven gods. Even the Scottish Masons made sure the
number seven had relevance in their rites, and their aprons were made with
seven tassels on them. (Dahloan)
The Bible also has numerous times when the
number seven is mentioned. Some people
consider the number seven the luckiest and most powerful number in the Bible.
(Astle) In the Bible the world was created
in seven days and in the battle of Jericho, the Israelite army was told to march
around the city seven times.  |
Many
other facts and happenings contribute to the number seven being revered as
lucky. For instance there are the Seven
Seas, The Seven Sisters, The Seven Ancient Planets, Seventh Inning Stretch, The
Seven virtues, The Seven Deadly Sins, and The Seven Wonders of the Ancient
World. (Seven) All have the number seven
and all have it for a purpose. It goes
back to the culture and religious teachings of the time. Everyone believed in the extraordinary and
seven was considered to be holy, lucky, and magical. For if something had seven associated with
it, it was bound to be a good sign.
Seven has been considered unique and lucky since B.C. times. The strangest part is that most of the
ancient ideas and facts about the number seven still hold to be true
today. To the Greeks there were only
seven planets. This reinforced their
thinking that somehow seven was special.
In modern times we have seven days in a week. The U.S. declared its independence from
Britain on the seventh month. The
Constitution itself has seven articles, planned or not, no one knows. These are all examples of the number seven
considered being lucky. If good things
happen when the number seven is involved wouldn’t you believe it too?
Generally
speaking seven has always been a lucky number for people. It has also had very negative effects on
people. It all depends on your
perspective and how you wish to view the number seven. There are many other lucky numbers, such as 3
and 4, which make up the number seven.
Is it coincidence or not? I don’t
necessarily believe in “luck” or “magical” numbers however it’s usually more
fun to go along with the superstitions.
You never know, it could be your lucky day.
Works
cited:
Astle,
Cynthia. “The Number 7 in the Bible Is a Source of Good Luck.” Glossary Defines Spiritual Meaning of Numbers in the Bible Dennis, Rabbi Geoffrey W., The
Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic and Mysticism Minnesota, Llewllyn Publications, 2007. Web.
October 14 2012.
Hembree,
Dahloan. “Lucky Seven? History of the Superstitions
of the Number Seven.” Yahoo 2007. Web. 15 October 2012.
“LUCKY
NUMBER SEVEN.” Lucky Mojo Curio Co. Yronwode
1995. Web. 14 October 2012.
"Seven."
Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. London: Chambers Harrap, 2007.
Credo Reference. Web. 14 October 2012.
"Seven."
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London: Chambers Harrap,
2009. Credo Reference. Web. 15 October 2012.
Links for further
research:
Lucky Numbers
Information on lucky
numbers with a list of references.
Facts about the Number
Seven
This site gives more
facts concerning the number seven in math and religion.
The Biblical meaning of
the Number Seven
A very in depth article
explain the number seven in the Bible.
No comments:
Post a Comment