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Author
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Comment
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blisslessly
Registered User
(5/26/03 6:40 am)
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*SEVEN* the significance of this number?
Why does the number 7 pop up in so many religions, folklore, and fairy tales? Where does this obsession with the number stem from? We have 7 skies, 7 heavens, 7 seas, 7 climes, 7 days in the week, 7 dwarves, 7 sins... ALso, becoming 7 years old is considered to be a turning point in child development. And there's the so called 7-year-itch in marriage. There's a definite cyclicality about the number 7 and I was just wondering if anyone has any insight regarding the sociological significance of 7.
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...give me wings.........
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Jess
Unregistered User
(5/26/03 6:12 pm)
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This is a favorite topic
You might want to check the archives. I know we discussed it a bit back in April of 2002 and the before in August or September of 2001. To find the archives look for the green highlighted archive link on the main discussion page.
If you have some interesting thoughts, we would love to hear them.
Jess
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blisslessly
Registered User
(5/27/03 3:46 am)
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Re: This is a favorite topic
Thanks Jess! I'll have a look.
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...give me wings.........
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blisslessly
Registered User
(5/27/03 4:30 am)
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Re: This is a favorite topic
Cool, just went through the archives. Really interesting stuff! I liked the interpretation of 3 being a generic number for establishing a pattern. And of course, there is the 3 as beginning, middle, and end.
I noticed that there was generally more to say on the number 3 than on the number 7. Although somebody made the fabulous observation that 7 days in a week is simply a division of the lunar month into quarters. That was definitely enlightening.
If maybe we could use this post to discuss the significance of the number 7 only, it would be more helpful to me. Numbers 3 and 4 make sense somehow, but why is 7 a lucky number?
There's no stability to its like the 4 directions, no patterning behind it like the all the 3's in fairy tales. Or how even animals seems to have an awareness of 1, 2, 3, and then many. I think 7 is a purely human archetypal phenomenon. Something spiritual. 3's and 4's are somehow older, more basic, more primitive. 7 is a step above.
So whats so special about 7? I read somewhere it might have to do with astrology. Stars were the guides. Then I also read that planet earth is the 7th planet if you count from pluto inward to the sun. But that seems farfetched to me.
Anyway, these are just my rambled thoughts.
Has anyone seen the Friends episode when Monica is showing Chandler the female erogenous zones?
SEVEN! SEVEN! SEVEN!!
Heee hee, couldn't resist.
B.
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...give me wings.........
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Valkith
Registered User
(5/27/03 9:50 pm)
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Re: This is a favorite topic
Well counting backwards with the planets is a bit far-fetched.
Consider that Uranus wasn't discovered until 1781, Neptune wasn't discovered until 1846, Jean Leverrier, who helped find Neptune also tried to find Vulcan, between Mars and the Sun, but it doesn't exist. Pluto wasn't found until 1930, by found I mean actually seen with telescopes and being able to identify it as a planet. Isn't there supposed to be another planet beyond Pluto as well?
So many things have relevance that just seems to add to the romance of the number 7, and 3. The Roman Empire is established on 7 hills(If I recall correctly),The Seven Seas, I think these things and many mnay others just add to the magic of that number. The lunar phase would have played an important part in the magical aspect of it as well.
From: www.daft.com/pp12sr/steps/sevensymb1.htm
Seven corresponds to the seven days of the week, the seven planets, seven rungs of perfection, seven spheres of celestial stairs, the seven petals of the rose, the seven branches of the shaman's cosmic tree and so on. Seven denotes the fullness of the planetary orders, the fullness of the energies and principles in spiritual order. Seven was the Ancient Egyptian symbol of eternal life, and symbolizes the dynamic perfection of a completed cycle. Seven conveys the fresh start after a cycle has been completed and of positive regeneration. Seven occurs in countless Ancient Greek traditions and legends-the seven gates of Thebes, Niobe's seven sons and seven daughters, the seven strings of the lyre, the seven spheres, etc. There are seven emblems of the Buddha and seven primary chakras in the subtle energy system.
I think 7 just got 'lucky' in being a luck number...heh, through continual use.
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AM
Registered User
(5/28/03 8:36 pm)
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interesting book on numbers
A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe by Michael S. Schneider. A friend gave me this when I was collecting sets of 7's a while back. It is really cool. You might want to check it out. There's a whole chapter devoted to '7'. -- Anna Marie
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Izzy
Unregistered User
(6/7/03 12:10 pm)
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Seven
Um, my R.E teacher told me the other day that people use the number seven in a lot of things because God was said to have made the Earth in 6 days, then he rested on the Seventh day. So it could be to do with God making the World in Seven days. But I'm probably wrong!
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RymRytr1
Registered User
(6/7/03 6:57 pm)
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6's & 7's
You are not entirely wrong. For the Christian portion of folks, 7 is the number of completion. It becomse a holy number in that respect. Six being the number of mankind, or incomplete. Along with 7, is 12. The 12 tribes of Israel.
Among some Asian areas, 7 is unlucky.
Among *some * of the First Americans, 4 was lucky; a form of completion. Four directions, winds, Sisters (for one set: Corn, Beans, Squash, Melons), stages of life, etc.
Amoung us Aliens, 8 is lucky. And when you mention counting planets, consider this: Incoming from space, your planet is 9th on all the most ancient star maps. According to a book called "The Twelveth Planet", there is one more, with an orbit so wide that it only comes in, in some thousand? years. It was responsible for the missing planet; the place in line between two planets which is now a large debirs field.
I think, all in all, that there is no magic answers, no magic numbers,
no magic existances beyond that of the conception of the human mind.
Culturally, what you call a Butterfly in France or Spain, is still
the same insect. Or as Billy Shakes Spear said, "A Skunkcabbage
by any other name, still stinks!"
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briggsw
Unregistered User
(6/9/03 5:09 pm)
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7
7 is holiness in the Bible, especially Revelation. So we get "the 7-fold spirit of God."
from Cirlot's Dictionary of Symbols: perfect order, complete cycle, corresponding to 7 directions of space (6 + center). Planets and corresponding gods; sins; virtues; sacraments; pain.
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Morgana
le fay
Registered User
(6/12/03 10:16 am)
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Re: 7
woohoo! i gottit right then? ace!
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Kendaroo
Registered User
(6/15/03 3:06 pm)
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Re: 7
What about the rainbow? ROY G BIV
But then I've always wondered why purple gets two places--indigo and violet. Since the colors fade into each other could there be an argument for more or fewer than 7 colors.
Regarding the rainbow, 7 is the number of totality and purity. The colors together make white--purity
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NavyBlue1721
Registered User
(6/16/03 10:51 am)
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Re: 7
In my Catholic theology classes we did a little on the significance of numbers. For Catholics three is the number of perfection (hence the trinity). Seven is considered near perfection. I'm not exactly sure of the reasons for any of this, though my teacher said it had something to do with Jewish numerology. Try looking it up there.
Good luck!
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Pip
Unregistered User
(6/18/03 1:33 pm)
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Number 7
You asked about the number 7. I think it stems from observation of natural events and cycles in nature. There are 4 seasons, 28 days in each moon cycle, so 4 into 28 goes 7, hence 7 is a mystical and important number. It's probably as good an explanation as any as to why it's so important! You might also like to ponder on the Plough (Ursa Major) with its 7 bright stars going round the Polar Star.
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AlisonPegg
Registered User
(6/27/03 12:50 am)
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Seven Crows in a Corbie Tree
That magical seven wouldn't leave me alone! And that strange little rhyme. So in the end I had to write a story about it..... If you're interested here's the link :
mysite.freeserve.com/snow.../crow1.htm
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crceres
Unregistered User
(7/1/03 12:46 pm)
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Significance of Seven
Any number between zero and twelve has at least fifty connections that make it significant; seven is only one of a dozen that have multiple meanings. The seventh power of any number is both a square and a cube; seven metals used in alchemic "the Work"; and seven is conveniently both 3 and 4, which allows one to include those plenary meanings.
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