by Norman W Wilson, PhD
Once upon a time, long, long ago there were seven— what? You can just about name whatever you want when it comes to the number seven. Remember the Seven Dwarfs? And the seven rings of Saturn? The Ancient Mayans believed the sky had seven layers. Throwers of dice hope for a roll that would turn up sevens.
For many, the number seven is very special. It is a symbol of good fortune, of power, of magic and holds significance in religion.
In religion, Dr. Joan Borysenko lists seven paths to God. The Lord's Prayer contains seven petitions. In the Old Testament, seven is used as the number for wisdom. Noah had seven days to prepare before the Flood. Likewise, he was commanded to take seven pair of clean beasts and birds. There are the 7 Virtues and 7 Deadly Sins. And of course the Biblical on the seventh day, God rested.
Robert Graves, the mythologist, suggests the menorah has cosmic significance. He says the seven flames may be compared to the seven planets. Other examples of the relevance of the number of seven in Biblical history could be mentioned but that would evolve into a book. But the number seven has other significant associations.
Can you name the seven colors in a rainbow? They are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet..
And seven is one of the main astrological numbers. There are four lunar phases which make a complete lunar cycle every 28 days. Each phase has 7 days. There are seven stars in the Pleiades. There are seven stars in the Big Dipper, and in Ancient literature there were 7 planets, all of which were aligned with the seven days of the week.
In Medieval alchemy there are seven metals: gold, silver, iron, mercury, tin, copper, and lead.
A lady bug has seven spots while most mammals have seven bones in their neck.
In baseball, seven represents the left fielder's position on a scorecard. If you are at a baseball game and enjoy a cold brew, get it before the seventh inning stretch; sales end in many stadiums around the country.
According to Shakespeare's As You Like It, there are seven stages to a man's life: infant, child, lover, soldier, justice, old man a return to childishness.
And if all of this isn't enough, if you were the seventh son, you were a werewolf. And if you were the seventh son of the seventh son, you are empowered with the gift of healing.
PS
Note there are 427 words in this article and the date it was written contains a 7.
June 27, 2010
Norman W Wison and his wife Suzanne are Camano Island residents. This essay used by permission from the author. His website is http://www.shamanicmysteries.com
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