The Magical, Mystical Number 7 Seven

Why is the number seven so special?

These things are never as simple as they look, and it is unlikely that there is one reason above all others that makes seven a particularly potent number and symbol. It is often a series of things that convince people that something holds power just as today we need more than a coincidence or two to believe in the power of things like prayer, the Law of Attraction, or numerology.

I believe there are four major reasons that, cumulatively, made Seven stand out as a special, mystical and magical number to ancient peoples.

First are the stars, specifically the heavenly "wandering"* bodies visible to the naked eye, the planets Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. They were pretty special since all the other visible twinkling lights moved through a standard and predictable course.

* The word "planet" is derived from the Greek planetai which means "wandering."

Second is another astronomical explanation: there are seven stars in the Big Dipper portion of the constellation of Ursa Major. The Dipper has been an important part of cosmologies from China to Mexico because it is always in the night sky, and the direction in which the handle points is a seasonal marker. This is most noticeable on the solstices and equinoxes: In the evening of the day of the Summer Solstice, the handle points toward the southern horizon; on the Autumnal Equinox, it points toward the western horizon; on the Winter Solstice, it points toward the north, and on the Spring Equinox, the handle of the Big Dipper points toward the eastern horizon.

Third, seven is the only one of the first 10 digits (1 through 10) that does not divide evenly into the 360 degrees of a circle! Since circles can represent both heavenly and earthly powers and influences, not to mention being symbols of The Eternal, imagine how seven was considered an Otherworldly number with Otherworldly symbolism since it was so unique that it set itself above inclusion in the symbol of wholeness, the circle.

Fourth, the Ancient Greeks considered seven to be a potent number due to the chanting of the seven vowels of their alphabet as magical sounds. There are several spells and incantations revealed in The Greek Magical Papyri In Translation: Including the Demotic Spells edited by Hans Dieter Betz that include the chanting of A, E, E with a line on top, I, O, U (written Y), and O in various orders for various reasons. (Alpha, Epsilon, Eta, Iota, Omicron, Upsilon, and Omega.) It is possible that chanting the vowels in a particular pattern or order caused a shift in consciousness much like the chanting of "Om." In one spell which seeks the attention of the god, the vowels and sounds each also corresponded to a direction; the priest was to chant or sing each sound while pointing his palms into the directions of east, west, north, south, up (sky/heaven), down (earth), and the final vowel was sung while holding one's hands over one's heart for Center.

Here is an interesting and fun list of Special 7 stuff from Wikipedia:

In science

• The number of spots on a common ladybug.
• With very few exceptions, all mammals' necks have seven bones.

Astronomy

• The number of stellar objects in the solar system visible to the naked eye — the Sun, the Moon and the five classical naked eye planets: Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn.
• The number of daughters of Atlas in the Pleiades (also called the "seven sisters").
• The number of saints appearing in a constellation called "Saptharishi Mandalam" in Indian astronomy.
• The number of stars in the constellation of Ursa major.

In the classical world

In classical antiquity:

• Seven against Thebes
• Seven hills of Rome
• Seven Liberal Arts
• Seven Sages
• Seven Wonders of the ancient world
• Seven emperors (and period; Rome, history):
• Julius Caesar, Augustus, Galba, Hadrian, Nerva, Sallust, Vespasian

In religion

• In Islam:
• The number of ayat in surat al-Fatiha.
• The number of heavens in Islamic tradition.
• The number of Earths in Islamic tradition.

• In Judaism:
• A highly symbolic number in the Torah, alluding to the infusion of spirituality and Godliness into the Creation. For example:

2. God rested on and sanctified the seventh day (Shabbat).

3. A seven-day purification period is required for one who has become tamei to become tahor.

4. The Shemittah (Sabbatical) year arrives every seventh year.

5. The Jubilee (Yovel) year comes after 7 times 7 years.

• The weekly Torah portion is divided into seven aliyahs, and seven men or boys over the age of 13 are called up for the reading of these aliyahs during Shabbat morning services.
• David was the seventh son of Jesse.
• The number of Ushpizzin (also known as the "Seven Shepherds") who visit the sukkah during the holiday of Sukkot: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David.
• The number of nations God told the Israelites they would displace when they entered the land of Israel (Deut. 7:1): the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
• In Breslov tradition, the seven orifices of the face (2 eyes, 2 nostrils, 2 ears, and the mouth) are called "The Seven Candles."
• The menorah (Hebrew: מנורה), is a seven branched candelabrum lit by olive oil in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem.

• In Christianity:
• The number of churches of Asia to which the "Book of Revelation" is addressed.
• The number of the Seven Virtues: Chastity, Moderation, Liberality, Charity, Meekness, Zeal, and Humility, corresponding to the seven deadly sins.
• The seven terraces of Mount Purgatory (one per deadly sin).
• The number of sacraments in the Roman Catholic faith, and most reformed traditions.
• In the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew 18:21, Jesus says to Peter to forgive seventy times seven times.^[1]
• The number seven is considered by many Christians to be a perfect number because of the amount of importance the Bible puts on it specifically, whereas the number six is considered imperfect.
• In Roman Catholicism, and some reformed traditions, the Blessed Virgin Mary has Seven Joys: The Incarnation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Visit of the Magi, the Finding of Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, the Resurrection of Christ, and The Assumption of Mary into Heaven.
• In Roman Catholicism, and some reformed traditions, the Blessed Virgin Mary has Seven Sorrows: The Prophecy of Simeon, the Flight into Egypt, the Three Day Loss of the Christ Child in the Temple of Jerusalem, the Carrying of the Cross, the Crucifixion of Christ, the Pieta, and the Closing of the Holy Sepulchre.

• In Eternalism:
• The number of deities
• The years Godzimir was exiled to Turin, in Savoy
• 1/7 of each of the Deities powers was taken to create the Eternal
• There are seven verses in each of the Septrains of the Prognostications of Godzimir and Invomandus
• Seven universe in each phase toward Edication

• Others:
• The number of Archangels according to some systems.
• The minor symbol number of yang from the Taoist yin-yang.
• The number of palms in an Egyptian Sacred Cubit.
• The number of ranks in Mithraism.
• The number seven is of particular significance within Cherokee cosmology.
• In Buddhism, Buddha walked 7 steps at his birth.

In mythology

• In Khasi mythology, the seven divine women who were left behind on earth and became the ancestresses of all humankind.
• The number of gateways traversed by Inanna during her descent into the underworld.
• The number of sages in Hindu mythology; their wives are the goddesses referred to as the "Seven Mothers."
• In Guaraní mythology, the number of prominent legendary monsters.
• Seven Lucky Gods exist in Japanese mythology.
• In British Folk lore, every 7 years the Farie Queen pays a tithe to Hell (or possably Hel) in the tale of Tam Lin.

In other fields

· In Galician folklore, a seventh son will be a werewolf. In other folklores, after six daughters, the seventh child is to be a son and a werewolf. In other European folklores, the Seventh son of a seventh son will be a child with special powers of healing and clairvoyant seeing.

· Seven candles are lit in the kinara during the African-American celebration of Kwanzaa, which is a seven-day holiday.

· The Kulin people of Australia living near the Dandenong Ranges traditionally have seven seasons. Some of the Native Americans of Montana also have seven seasons: chinook season, muddy spring, green summer, gold summer (or dry summer), 'Indian' Summer, late fall, and cold winter.

Seven is also:

• The largest number of sticks (or other cylindrical objects) that can be tied into a bundle such that the shape of the bundle remains fixed.
• The number of openings into the human head (mouth, two eyes, two ears, two nostrils).
• The number of spheres in the Ptolemaic system
• The traditional number of Wonders of the Ancient World. There were seven, though only the Great Pyramid of Egypt still stands today.
• Viewed as a lucky number in Japanese Culture as well as many Western cultures.
• The number of days in a week.
• The number of the ages of man into which William Shakespeare divided a lifetime.
• The figurative number of seas.
• The number of colors of the rainbow (the asteroid 7 Iris is named after the rainbow goddess Iris).
• The number of chakras.
• The number of basic principles of the bushido.
• The number of points on a sheriff's star.
• When rolling two standard six-sided dice, seven is the number most likely to occur. It is the sum of any two opposite sides on a standard six-sided die
• The Seven Sages of Greece: Solon, Chilon, Thales, Bias, Cleobulus, Pittacus, and Periander.