CERTAIN NUMBERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18754, 6 January 1923, Page 7

CERTAIN NUMBERS

*•’ SOME CURIOUS BELIEFS. THE MYSTIC SEVEN. Certain numbers have, from the beginning of things, been regarded as either lucky : or unlucky, perfect or imperfect; and ripen studying what might be called the psychology of numbers, it would appear that there is af least a certain pretence of justification, for such suppositions, writes Eonald Good' child, in John o’ London’s Weekly. The numbers which appear to stand out) as either lucky or unlucky are Two, Three. . Seven, and Nine. Out of these numbers only ono is even, and it is about that) number that there seems to have .hovered* calamity and trouble. In history we eea this particularly. In the first instance, tho number two was regarded by Pythagoras a* the evil principle. The second day of tho second month was sacred to Pluto, the god of the grave, and was, therefore, considered unlucky. UNLUCKY KINGS. In English history the following all met with tragic ends, or had bad luck:—Harold, 11, William 11, Edward 11, Richard 11, Charles' 11, James IX, George 11. There' i« a long list of unlucky kings of the same numeral in their title, in. French and German history-—the latest being the ex-Kaiser , Wilhelm 11. Leaving -that most unlucky number two, we find that Pythagoras called three tha perfect number, symbolic of the beginning, the middle, and the end, and therefore he makes it expressive of Deity. J® TO I ® re " presented with three-forked lightning, Ncpr tune with a trident, and Pluto with a threeheaded dog. Tho Fates are three, the Furies three. There ore three Graces, and the number of the Muses is three time* three. HOIiIN esS in- SEVEN. Seven is regarded as a holy number.* Thera were seven days in creation; seven spirits before tho throne of God; the week contain* seven days; there are seven graces and seven divisions in the Lord’s Prayer. The life of man has seven ages, while in the old day* . every seventh year was Sabbatical, seven, times seven the jubilee. The three great Jewish feasts lasted seven days, and between the first and second of these feasts there were seven weeks. We have seven churches in Asia. . _ There are seven bodies in alchemy, a* Chaucer says in the Chanounes Yemanea .Tale:—' . ■ . .ri 'T The bodies seven,' eek, lo hem hefef Anon H Sol gold ■ is, and Luna, silver, we; -threpe;, Mars yren, Mercuric quyksilver wo plepe; Saturnus leed, lind Jubitur is tyn, _ ; ; And Venus copjr, by my fader kyn. ■ ■. Tho seven Sages of Greece are known by) their seven wise sayings:— L-.-(1) Solon of Athens, whose rwa* “Know thyself.” (2) Chile of Spaita—• “ Consider the end.” (3) Thales of Miletos ■ “Who hateth suretyship is sure.” ' (4) Bis* of ' Prienc—“ Moat men are bad.” (5) -Cleobulos of Lindos—“ The golden mean,'or.<avoid, extremes.” (6) Pittacos of Mitylebe-p Seize time by the forelock.” (7) Periander of Corinth—“ Nothing is impossible to industry.” Tho champions of Christendom* are savent! St. George of England, St. Denis of-France, St. Janies of Spain, St., Anthony pT*.ltaly, St. Andrew of Scotland, St. Patrick, or Ire- 1 land, and St. David of Wales. : , Students of the Bible will discover,* greaf ■ many references to the number sevens "*' J THE SEVEN PROPERTIES.* ' According to very old teaching, the soul of man, or his inward holy body, is pounded. of ihe seven properties. which are under*, the .influence.,.of the semen. ~l»»neta. Fire animates. Earth gives the Aeoso-of feeling, water gives speech; air gives taste, mist gives sight; flowers give the eenasf of smell and the south wind gives hearing. Hence the seven senses are; Animation, Feeling, Speech, Taste, Sight, Smell, and Hearing. The Seven Wonders of Antiquity are familiar. The Seven Wonders of the . Middle Ages were: (1) The Coliseum a* Rome. (2) The Catacombs of Alexandria. (3) The Great Wall of China. (4) Stonehenge. (5) The Leaning Tower of Pisa. (6) , The Porcelain Tower of Nanking. (7) The , Mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople. Nine is tho mystical figure, the Diapason of the Greeks. We notice :;he mystical figure m, many proverbs and thus: A cat na** nine lives. A nine days’ wonder. Possession ■ is nine points of tho law. All these refer to r , the perfection of the things mentioned; at, in some oases, nine is meant to represent » long tinge. . , . There ore rune crowns recognised inheraldry. In music there are nine mark* of cadence. The Abracadabra, which was a charm need by tho ancient Assyrians, wa* worn nine days and then thrown into tha rUCr ' CAT AND NINE TRAILS. , The old cat and nine tails which, wa* . used, and sto.ll is used on occasion, for flogging evildoers was invented from the superstition that a flogging by the trinity of trinities would be more sacred end more efficacious. In the ordeal by five, nine _hot ploughshares were placed on the ground a** <-qual distances from each other, and the person undergoing the trial had to walk oyer them barefoot. It used to be a popular superstition that on finding a peaa-cod with nine peas in it a maiden had only to place the cod on the lintel in the kitchen and tho first man to enter the room would ba her husband. This is still believed in certain rural parts of England. In China nino buttons are the sign of official rank. In Scotland the nine of Diamonds is. generally reckoned a bad thing to give anyone, as it is known as the Curse of Scotland, though I cannot find the origin of mark.According to Dryden, in his poem entitled'“The Flower and the Leaf”: Nine worthies were they called, of different rights ; Three Jews, threo Pagans, and three Christian knights. , , The men ho referred to were; Joshua, Da rid, and Judas Miaccabacus —Jews; Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon—Christian knights; Hector, Alexander, and Julius Cresan—Pagans.