Post by aidan on Jan 26, 2014 10:40:29 GMT
In almost every system for antiquity there are frequent references to the number seven; its catalogue is exhaustible.
The number 7 (the septenary) belongs especially to sacred things, according to Pythagoras. The Pythagoreans called it the perfect number, 3 and 4, the triangle and the square, the perfect figures.
Biblical quotes
God blessed the seventh day.
Balaam demanded 7 altars, 7 oxen and 7 rams.
Elisha required Naaman to wash in the Jordan 7 times.
Elijah sent his servant out 7 times in search of rain.
Jericho fell when this city was compassed 7 times.
There were 7 devils and 7 mortal sins, 7 sacraments, 7 joys and sorrows of Mary, the book with 7 seals of the Apocalypse, Jacob laboured twice 7 years for Rachael.
Joseph interpreted his dream for the 7 years of plenty and 7 of famine.
Jonah remained in a whale’s belly for 7 days.
The hair of Samson was tied in 7 plaits.
7 descendants of Saul were done to death.
Christ on the cross pronounced 7 words.
The Lord’s Prayer contains 7 petitions.
Revelation 1:16: "and He had in His right hand seven stars," alluding to the seven churches of Asia.
For Masons, King Solomon was seven years building the Temple. It was dedicated to the glory of God in the seventh month and the festival lasted seven days.
In Masonic symbolism, to place seven tassels on each side of the apron.
Long before Christianity, the mysticism for the number 7 had played a conspicuous role in human faith. Astrology may hold the key to number 7’s origin.
There are 7 planets seen by the naked eye.
The sun, the greatest planet of the ancient seven and next to the sun, our moon, changing in all its splendour every seventh day.
There are 7 days of the week.
There were also seven horcruxes.
The seven seas.
The seven orders of architecture.
Our seven liberal arts and sciences.
We require seven Brethren to make a Lodge perfect and we have our seven steps on the winding staircase.
The Arabians had seven Holy Temples.
Greece noted for it’s 7 sages.
Rome for it’s 7 hills, 7 kings and 77 emperors.
The Goths had seven deities, as did the Romans, from whose names are derived our days of the week and reign lasted 77 years.
The Holy Empire, Germanic-Roman lasted 777 years.
In Persian mysteries there were seven spacious caverns through which the aspirants had to pass, they believed in 7 good and 7 bad spirits, and set up a Council of 7 to regulate their affairs of state.
For the god Apollo, sacrifices were made on the 7th day after the new moon.
The "shichi-fukujin," translated either as the "Seven Gods of Happiness" or "Seven Gods of Luck" are personifications of earthly happiness in Japanese folk religion/folklore (HOTEI, BISHAMONTEN, FUKUROKUJU, JUROJIN, DAIKOKU, EBISU and BENZAITEN).
We pass through 7 ages and examine 7 races of mankind.
We see seven colours of the rainbow; seven letters for the word Rainbow.
We hear 7 tones in the musical scale (octave).
We marvel 7 wonders of our world.
7 sabbatical years.
Sevenfold rhythms which have filled the life of mankind.
The very ecstasy of happiness is said to be felt when one reaches the seventh heaven.
In African-American Hoodoo: there are several formulas for anointing oil and a relatively modern line of products marketed under the name Seven African Powers became identified with seven Catholic saints. Images for the Seven African Powers are shown on Santeria votive candles.
The character called Lady Luck (Lady Fortuna), in her Irish-American World War Two incarnation, wears dice for earrings, which always show 7.
The 7 lucky artefacts: wishbone, rabbit's foot, white elephant charm, key with heart-lock, four-leaf clover, swastika (pre-Hitlerian) and horseshoe.
The 3 (spirit, mind, soul) descend into the 4 (the world), the sum being 7, or the mystic nature of mankind, comprising our threefold spiritual body and fourfold material form. These are symbolised by the cube, which has six surfaces and a mysterious seventh point within.
When Inanna the Queen of Heaven (the major love, fertility, and war goddess of the Sumerians) descended into Hell, she was forced to pass through seven gates.
According to the Tarot, this number 7 (represented by the Chariot symbol) implies progress and victory.
The number 7 (the septenary) belongs especially to sacred things, according to Pythagoras. The Pythagoreans called it the perfect number, 3 and 4, the triangle and the square, the perfect figures.
Biblical quotes
God blessed the seventh day.
Balaam demanded 7 altars, 7 oxen and 7 rams.
Elisha required Naaman to wash in the Jordan 7 times.
Elijah sent his servant out 7 times in search of rain.
Jericho fell when this city was compassed 7 times.
There were 7 devils and 7 mortal sins, 7 sacraments, 7 joys and sorrows of Mary, the book with 7 seals of the Apocalypse, Jacob laboured twice 7 years for Rachael.
Joseph interpreted his dream for the 7 years of plenty and 7 of famine.
Jonah remained in a whale’s belly for 7 days.
The hair of Samson was tied in 7 plaits.
7 descendants of Saul were done to death.
Christ on the cross pronounced 7 words.
The Lord’s Prayer contains 7 petitions.
Revelation 1:16: "and He had in His right hand seven stars," alluding to the seven churches of Asia.
For Masons, King Solomon was seven years building the Temple. It was dedicated to the glory of God in the seventh month and the festival lasted seven days.
In Masonic symbolism, to place seven tassels on each side of the apron.
Long before Christianity, the mysticism for the number 7 had played a conspicuous role in human faith. Astrology may hold the key to number 7’s origin.
There are 7 planets seen by the naked eye.
The sun, the greatest planet of the ancient seven and next to the sun, our moon, changing in all its splendour every seventh day.
There are 7 days of the week.
There were also seven horcruxes.
The seven seas.
The seven orders of architecture.
Our seven liberal arts and sciences.
We require seven Brethren to make a Lodge perfect and we have our seven steps on the winding staircase.
The Arabians had seven Holy Temples.
Greece noted for it’s 7 sages.
Rome for it’s 7 hills, 7 kings and 77 emperors.
The Goths had seven deities, as did the Romans, from whose names are derived our days of the week and reign lasted 77 years.
The Holy Empire, Germanic-Roman lasted 777 years.
In Persian mysteries there were seven spacious caverns through which the aspirants had to pass, they believed in 7 good and 7 bad spirits, and set up a Council of 7 to regulate their affairs of state.
For the god Apollo, sacrifices were made on the 7th day after the new moon.
The "shichi-fukujin," translated either as the "Seven Gods of Happiness" or "Seven Gods of Luck" are personifications of earthly happiness in Japanese folk religion/folklore (HOTEI, BISHAMONTEN, FUKUROKUJU, JUROJIN, DAIKOKU, EBISU and BENZAITEN).
We pass through 7 ages and examine 7 races of mankind.
We see seven colours of the rainbow; seven letters for the word Rainbow.
We hear 7 tones in the musical scale (octave).
We marvel 7 wonders of our world.
7 sabbatical years.
Sevenfold rhythms which have filled the life of mankind.
The very ecstasy of happiness is said to be felt when one reaches the seventh heaven.
In African-American Hoodoo: there are several formulas for anointing oil and a relatively modern line of products marketed under the name Seven African Powers became identified with seven Catholic saints. Images for the Seven African Powers are shown on Santeria votive candles.
The character called Lady Luck (Lady Fortuna), in her Irish-American World War Two incarnation, wears dice for earrings, which always show 7.
The 7 lucky artefacts: wishbone, rabbit's foot, white elephant charm, key with heart-lock, four-leaf clover, swastika (pre-Hitlerian) and horseshoe.
The 3 (spirit, mind, soul) descend into the 4 (the world), the sum being 7, or the mystic nature of mankind, comprising our threefold spiritual body and fourfold material form. These are symbolised by the cube, which has six surfaces and a mysterious seventh point within.
When Inanna the Queen of Heaven (the major love, fertility, and war goddess of the Sumerians) descended into Hell, she was forced to pass through seven gates.
According to the Tarot, this number 7 (represented by the Chariot symbol) implies progress and victory.