SEVEN—A MYSTIC NUMBER

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 28 May 1915, Page 2

SEVEN—A MYSTIC NUMBER

The Romans had no week, but reckoned by months, counting forward and backward from the ides and nones, until the fourth century, when 'they adopted the Jewish-Christian week. Because of its relation to the creation, the number seven has always been invested with an occult and mystic significance. There were seven Avise men in antiquity, and seven wonders of the world. The seventh son of a seventh son, or seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, was supposed to possess powers of prophecy or divination. For seven days seven priests with seven trumpets invested Jericho, and on the seventh day they encompassed it t;ev.en times. The ancients knew of seven planets and seven metals. There were Sevan heavens and seven hierarchies of angels. Seven had a mystical significanse among peoples who had no tradition of a seven day creation, and this was due to its being indivisible by r,ny number but itself, and to its being a combination of 3 (called by Pythagoras the perfect number, representing beginning, middle, and end) and 4. the square number. #The Pythagorean idea about 3 received confirmation when the doctrine of trinity in unity was promulgated by the early Christians. For 3 is itself at once trinity and unity. The number 9 was endowed with mysterious properties because it is the product of three times three—perfection multiolied by perfection. To see nine magpies was remarkably lucky. N'we grains of wheat laid on a fourc-lcafed clover enabled one to see the fairies.