The mystery of numbers
The mysticism of numbers is present in the life of every person, regardless of the culture in which he was brought up. each of us has a mystical perception of numbers. The history of the mystical relationship between man and numbers is rooted in the distant past.
Number 13
The Devil's Dozen, or the number 13, has been considered unlucky since ancient times. And there are certain grounds for this kind of belief. At least, there are many known cases when the number 13 became fatal. The most famous is the Last Supper, during which 13 people were at the table with Jesus Christ. What happened next, most of the readers are probably well aware: Jesus Christ that evening was captured and then executed at Calvary.
Particularly dangerous is the coincidence of the number 13 and Friday. People have long believed that it was on Friday the 13th that witches gathered in groups of 12 at their gatherings, called sabbats. The thirteenth in this terrible company was the devil himself.
Among those who believe in the special power of the devil's dozen, there are even those who are convinced that on Friday the 13th Eve was tempted by the Serpent and on that day Cain killed Abel.
However, this mystical combination sometimes led to tragic events in worldly life.
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• An example is the tragic incident of the schooner Thomas Lawson, commanded by Captain George Doe. On her first and, as it turned out, her last voyage, the ship set off on November 19, 1907.
During this voyage, a tragedy occurred: once, during the fog, the ship hit a rock. At the same time, the resulting hole was so significant that the schooner sank almost instantly. As it turned out, the ship sank on Friday 13 December.
• The next tragic incident associated with the mystical number occurred in 1930, when the English racer Henry Seagrave, contrary to prejudice, decided to break the world speed record on his ship on Friday, June 13th. And the Englishman coped with his task: his boat reached the desired 98 miles per hour. But at the very finish line, his ship crashed into a sunken log and Sir Henry … died.
• No less strange case, in which the figure 13 appears, occurred in the 1930s, when the German ace Lamsdorf decided to conquer a very difficult route at that time, which ran from Europe to the coast of West Africa. Contrary to warnings, the pilot on the plane number 13-13 took off on June 13 at 13h13 local time. And after a while, communication with him completely ceased and was no longer restored: Lamsdorf sank into obscurity.
• The mystical figure has had its impact even on astronauts. In April, at 13:13, the American Apollo 13 spacecraft took off. Moreover, it started in such a way that the Apollo's lunar compartment landed on the Moon on the 13th. At the same time, even the flight itself received the 13th number. As they say, it was clear to the naked eye that there were too many "unlucky numbers" on this space expedition. The result of all this "devilry" was the explosion of an oxygen cylinder and the failure of two of the three batteries of fuel cells on the ship, which provided power supply to the crew compartment of the command module. As a result, the astronauts almost died.
There are many examples of the negative impact of the number 13. And knowing how unfavorable it is, people try to protect themselves. To do this, they have resorted to different tricks.
So, in France, when there are 13 people in the company, the 14th guest is specially hired. Many airlines do not have 13th place in their planes, and 13th rooms in hotels. And, of course, not a single sane Western businessman makes an important business meeting at 13:00, and even more so on the 13th.
Of course, scientists deny any connection between unpleasant and even tragic events with this number. They believe that superstition itself creates unpleasant situations: in those days, which fall on the 13th, people become more nervous and make mistakes in their actions and decisions made more often than usual.
Nevertheless, the belief that the number 13 brings bad luck is quite widespread. For example, according to a poll conducted in Germany, more than 25% of Germans are afraid of this number. In addition, regardless of the month, many complain that on the 13th they lose their mood, and hypertensive patients' blood pressure rises sharply on this day.
British scientists came to a sensational conclusion when, in the course of one large-scale experiment, they tried to find out how the damn dozen affects the health and behavior of people. After analyzing many facts, they found that it is on Fridays the 13th that the number of people admitted to hospital in connection with an accident increases by 52%.
German experts came to a similar conclusion: their analysis of accident statistics showed that the greater number of accidents and human deaths occur precisely on Black Friday and, most surprisingly, between noon and 3 pm …
The only consolation for those who believe in the unlucky combination of the 13th and Friday is the fact that it happens relatively rarely. In fact, there is at least one Friday in each year that coincides with the 13th of the month. Sometimes there are two such coincidences a year. But the repetition of Friday with the 13th number three times a year happens only every 11 years. If Friday falls on the 13th in June, then more such insidious combinations are not expected during the year. And if such an event occurs in February, then it will certainly repeat itself in March.
Doctors call this superstitious fear of the 13th triskaidekaphobia, or terdekaphobia. And it is the doctors who, probably, suffer more than others from this superstition, because the patients stubbornly refuse the operations that occur on this day.
The mystics believe that the number 13 contains two forces that are opposite in their effect on a person: one is good, the other is evil. And this is due to the fact that the number 13 consists of two digits: tens and three. The number 10 means strength and action, and 3, on the contrary, carries a certain limitation. Together, these numbers lead to the fact that many beginnings fail.
But collapse is not only a defeat, but also the beginning of a new cycle after the completion of the previous one. Therefore, the number 13 not only symbolizes destruction and death, but also the birth of the new, replacing the old.
Number 7
Another mystical number is the number 7. Thus, in Christianity, the "seven" is considered a divine number and occupies an important place in the ritual symbolism of this religion. Here are just a few of them: 7 sacraments, 7 gifts of the holy spirit, 7 ecumenical councils, 7 candles in the altar lamp, 7 deadly sins, etc.
“The number 7 was recognized as sacred not only by all civilized peoples of antiquity and the East, but was deeply revered even by the later Western peoples. The astronomical origin of the number 7 is beyond doubt. Man, who from ancient times felt his dependence on heavenly forces, always and in everything subordinated the earth to heaven. Thus, the largest and brightest luminaries in his eyes became the most important and highest of powers; such were the planets, of which the entire ancient world numbered 7. Over time, they transformed into 7 gods. The Egyptians had 7 primordial supreme gods, the Phoenicians had 7 cabirs, the Persians had 7 sacred horses of Mithra, the Parsis had 7 angels who opposed the seven demons, as well as 7 heavenly abodes corresponding to the seven lower spheres. The entire sky was subject to seven planets, therefore in almost all religious systems we find 7 heavens."
And most likely, it is not in vain that the week is divided into 7 days, and the rainbow consists of 7 colors, and even, probably, there is some hidden meaning in the fact that the musical scale is represented by seven notes, and there are 7 “holes” for organs in the head feelings.
It is important to note that the number 7 has a religious meaning not only in Christianity. Thus, every devout Muslim must at least once in his life visit the holy places of Islam - Mecca and Medina. At the same time, he is obliged to walk around the sacred stone of the Kaaba seven times and run seven times between the hills of al-Safa and al-Marwa.
It is also known from history that the destinies of the Sumerians were ruled by seven gods and goddesses. And when the Sumerian died, he went to the underworld through one of the seven gates, where one of the seven judges was waiting for him.
Number 666
But, perhaps, the most mysterious number is the number 666, which is referred to in the Revelation of John the Theologian. It is called "the number of the beast" in this book.
“Everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slaves, will have a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and that no one will be allowed to buy or sell, except for the one who has this mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. He who has intelligence, count the number of the beast, for it is a human number; his number is six hundred and sixty-six”(Rev. 13: 16-18).
John tells us that under this number the name of a certain person is hidden. But what kind of personality is hidden behind this figure, it is invited to find out the reader himself. But this can only be done by one who has the appropriate "wisdom".
For this reason, over many centuries of interpretation of the Apocalypse, many interpretations of the number 666 have appeared. It was assigned to the Roman emperors Nero, Domitian, Caligula, Trajan, Hadrian. And also to the Pope, Peter I, Napoleon, Stalin.
In the Middle Ages in Catholicism, it was believed that the number 666 symbolizes the threefold proclamation of creation without the Sabbath and the world without the Creator, which means the triple and final renunciation of God.
An interesting version regarding the number 666 was suggested by the professor of the Moscow Theological Academy A. Osipov. He connects the origin of this figure with the era of King Solomon. The fact is that every year 666 talents (Jewish talent weighed 44.8 kilograms) of gold were delivered to the treasuries of this king, that is, more than 32 tons.
And because the first Christian texts were most often written by Jews, they understood this allegory literally, that is, as a sign of wealth, power and other earthly goods. Thus, according to Osipov, "this figure is, in essence, the biblical symbol of mammon - the kingdom of earthly abundance, glory, power", as a consequence "this absolute materialism will become the name of the Antichrist as his greatest ideologist." At the same time, the professor warns that "outside this sense, the fear of sixes is a sign of Christian superstition."
At the end of the twentieth century, a letter decoding of the abbreviation 666 appeared. Its essence boiled down to the fact that 666 is nothing more than www, or the World Wide Web, that is, the Internet. In other words, it is the World Wide Web that should be identified with the Antichrist.
According to biblical symbolism, 6 is a human number. First of all, man was created on the 6th day. But this is not the main thing: if 7 is closely connected with God and the upper world, then 6 symbolizes human perfection (which is an order of magnitude lower than the divine), wealth and power. In the East, whole queues for documents with a six line up - it is considered a real talisman that brings happiness to the owner.
The number 666 has a strange effect on humans. Christians do their best to avoid it, which gives rise to many curiosities. In some cities of the world there is no 66th floor in skyscrapers, that is, after 65, 67 immediately goes. But on the map of America you will not find roads 666 - as you can see, the Americans decided to play it safe.
Moscow Orthodox Christians in the ornament on the new Russian passport saw three sixes. They came to receive new documents only after consulting a priest. Before the elections to the parliament of Russia in 2003 in the Tambov region. did not begin to do polling station No. 666 in connection with numerous appeals of believing voters.
2002 - the trial, which took place in the city of Priozersk, Leningrad region, became a sensation. and later called "judgment against the devil." The city court officially recognized that the barcode of each taxpayer identification number (TIN) contains 666.
It turns out that for the Chinese and Japanese, as well as for people from these countries, the mystical and at the same time dangerous number is 4. This was proved by American sociologists.
The fact is that when scientists conducted statistical studies on mortality over 25 years among 200,000 American Chinese and Japanese, as well as - for comparison - among 47,000 Americans of European descent, they got shocking results. On average, among the Chinese and Japanese, mortality on the fourth day increased by 7%, and among chronic heart patients - by 13%. That is, the patients were afraid and at the same time expected death on the fourth day!
Stress is most likely the cause of this phenomenon. And it provokes the word "four", which in Japanese, as well as in a number of Chinese dialects, for example in Cantonese and Mandarin, sounds exactly the same as the word "death". For this reason, some Chinese and Japanese hospitals do not even have wards under No. 4 and do not have a fourth floor - from the third you go directly to the fifth.
A. Bernatsky