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The Number Seven in Folklore

© Virginia Marin

The study of numbers is interesting. Take amicable numbers, for example--that is, any two numbers, either of which is the sum of the aliquots of the other, e.g., 220 and 284. The aliquots of 220 are 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 20, 22, 44, 55 and 110--the sum of which is 284; and the aliquots of 284 are 1, 2, 4, 71 and 142--the sum of which is 220. But numbers that have to do with the number seven are even more interesting...

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Seven is considered a mystical or sacred number. It is composed of 4 and 3 which, as far back as the Pythagoreans, was considered lucky. The Babylonians and Egyptians of old noted seven planets and the Hebrew verb to swear means literally "to come under the influence of seven things".

There are seven ages in the life of man, and the seventh son of a seventh son is though to possess special mystical powers.

Then consider that there are seven orders of architecture and seven seas. And don't forget the House of Seven Gables.

The Arabians have seven holy temples and in Persian legends there are seven caverns through which aspirants have to pass along their seventy earthly years.

In Egyptian legend, seven is sacred to Osiris and there are the Seven Hothors who serve as fairy godmothers and predict a newborn's fate or bestow certain aspects of that fate upon them. Also, in the Middle East, a whirling dervish turns seven times toward heaven before the center of gravity send him spinning like a top.

In Greco-Roman myth, seven is sacred to Apollo whose harp shows seven strings, and to Pan who has seven reeds in his pipe. In Buddhism seven represents ascent or travel toward the spiritual center which occurs in seven stages.

Among the Hebrews, every seventh year is a Sabbatical and 7x7 years is the Jubilee. The three great Jewish feasts last seven days and between the first and second feasts are seven weeks.

In the Apocalypse, there are seven Churches of Asia, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven trumpets, seven spirits, seven vials, seven plagues and a seven-headed monster. The Bible records seven deadly sins, seven years of famine and seven years of plenty, seven days in creation. There are seven days to a week, seven virtues and seven divisions in the Lord's Prayer.

The astrologers and alchemists of old recognized seven planets each having its own heaven:

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