Why is 7 always the "magic number?"

[kribit]

Recession - Every 7 years
Divorce - 7 Years (sometimes 11)
Fashion Change - 7 Years
7 Year Itch

I'm sure there are others.

I thought 7 was a lucky number. Wonder where the notion of the "7 year thing" came into history?

 

[punkin712]

Don't forget:

7 deadly sins
7 wonders of the world
7 days of the week
pauses in conversation seem to happen every 7 minutes

 

[scottishduffy]

Because of the bible. There are many references to the number 7. Someone being rewarded or punished seven-fold. Most thing there are seven (days of the week, deadly sins). So.... seven became a lucky number for any culture influenced by the Bible.

At least this is what I was told in college.

 

[pogo791]

Seven isn't an important number only in Christianity. The Christians may in fact have inherited this attitude from the ancient Egyptians, who regarded seven as the symbol of eternal life. It may also explain why in Islamic tradition, seven symbolize infinity.

And elsewhere? Buddha was said to have walked seven steps at his birth, and there are seven sages in Hindu mythology.

Going to less spiritual things, there were seven wonders of the ancient world, all the way up to the 1800s there were seven known planets in the solar system, there are seven notes in our musical scale, and we see seven colors of the rainbow (although this isn't true of all cultures!).

Go figure!

 

[Diva of Dragons]

Recession - Every 7 years
Divorce - 7 Years (sometimes 11)
Fashion Change - 7 Years
7 Year Itch

I'm sure there are others.

I thought 7 was a lucky number. Wonder where the notion of the "7 year thing" came into history?

I thought fashion changed every 7 minutes!! LOL!

 

[megan4777]

My b-day is 4/7/77. I'm HORRIBLY unlucky. One would think with 3 "7's" in their b-day they'd be lucky.....that's not so.

 

[ITmickey]

Hello all,

I've been mostly a lurker but coming out of the closet

Seven is also considered a 'divine' or perfect number because it is the union of matter (often represented by a square) associated with number 4, and spirit (often represented by a triangle) associated with number 3. Of coarse that explaining why matter is 4 and etc could start a whole new thread in numerology. As pogo791 pointed out, this comes from ancient cultures. BTW and not totally off topic, there is a movie called 'Pi: The order of chaos' that provides some insight into numerology and its relation to ancient cultures and alphabets such as the hebrew.

 

[megan4777]

Hello all,

I've been mostly a lurker but coming out of the closet

Seven is also considered a 'divine' or perfect number because it is the union of matter (often represented by a square) associated with number 4, and spirit (often represented by a triangle) associated with number 3. Of coarse that explaining why matter is 4 and etc could start a whole new thread in numerology. As pogo791 pointed out, this comes from ancient cultures. BTW and not totally off topic, there is a movie called 'Pi: The order of chaos' that provides some insight into numerology and its relation to ancient cultures and alphabets such as the hebrew.

Not to hijack the thread but WHY am I so unlucky? It stinks to be me 99% of the time.

 

[kribit]

Hello all,

I've been mostly a lurker but coming out of the closet

Seven is also considered a 'divine' or perfect number because it is the union of matter (often represented by a square) associated with number 4, and spirit (often represented by a triangle) associated with number 3. Of coarse that explaining why matter is 4 and etc could start a whole new thread in numerology. As pogo791 pointed out, this comes from ancient cultures. BTW and not totally off topic, there is a movie called 'Pi: The order of chaos' that provides some insight into numerology and its relation to ancient cultures and alphabets such as the hebrew.

What a great explanation.

 

[DISUNC]

My b-day is 4/7/77. I'm HORRIBLY unlucky. One would think with 3 "7's" in their b-day they'd be lucky.....that's not so.

HERE IS 7 FOR YOU!


You also have totally new skin every 7 years!

 

[Mean Queen]

I always thought 9 was the magic number because all multiples of nine equal nine. But maybe that's just the Schoolhouse Rock coming out in me.

 

[ITmickey]

Not to hijack the thread but WHY am I so unlucky? It stinks to be me 99% of the time.

Well, APPARENTLY, there's more to a man's (woman's) destiny than just the numerology of his(her) birthdate

Seriously speaking, if you want I can suggest you some books, not associated with any particular religion, so you can answer yourself, that question PM me and will gladly share the titles with you.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

My b-day is 4/7/77. I'm HORRIBLY unlucky. One would think with 3 "7's" in their b-day they'd be lucky.....that's not so.

My friend's B-day is 7/7/77, and she's not particularly lucky either. Meanwhile, my birthday falls on Friday 13th every few years and, though I wouldn't call myself particularly lucky, I think I probably have an easier time of it than most people.

Just goes to show you the dates really don't mean anything.

 

[sandramaac]

In the bible, 7 is a divine number ofrthe number of of perfection, i.e. god created the world in 6 day, but really 7 cause he rested that day, god's army's always numbered in the 7's or a multiple of seven like 14,000. That is why 6 is considered evil, because it isn't 7, or a divine/perfect number. I had a class in high school (yes high school, it was a prep school with very interesting offerings for classes) on apocalyptic literature. There are many more examples to support the 7, but since its been 25 or so years since the class I don't remember them all.

 

[C.Ann]

For some reason I have never liked the number "7".. Don't know why, I just don't.. I also don't like the numbers "3" or "9"..

Maybe I should start playing the lottery with all of the numbers I don't
like..

 

[tevagirl]

It was a pretty important number on a 'Friends' episode too.

 

[Disneyland1084]

Speaking of numbers, you know how 666 is suppose to be a sign of Satan? One time when I was playing Mario Party on Nintendo gamecube I got to hit three dice blocks and it was 6 6 6. I won 20 coins!!!

 

[Piecey]

My b-day is 4/7/77. I'm HORRIBLY unlucky. One would think with 3 "7's" in their b-day they'd be lucky.....that's not so.

Mine is 4/7/87!

I'm not very lucky either..

 

[ITmickey]

It was a pretty important number on a 'Friends' episode too.

 

[pppiglet]

Thank goodness the bible says 7 is the number of completion. I just got my 7th cat. I can stop now!