significance of the number 7??

Question

Why does the number 7 pop up in so many religions, folklore, and fairy tales? Where does this obsession with the number stem from? We have 7 skies, 7 heavens, 7 seas, 7 climes, 7 days in the week, 7 dwarves, 7 sins... ALso, becoming 7 years old is considered to be a turning point in child development. And there's the so called 7-year-itch in marriage. There's a definite cyclicality about the number 7 and I was just wondering if anyone has any insight regarding the sociological significance of 7.

Answer 1

7 is supposed to be a lucky and very spiritual number.

Answer 2

Its astrological : the ancients saw seven heavenly bodies which moved across the sky : 1. the sun, 2. moon, 3. star Mercury, 4. star Venus, 5. star Mars, 6. star Jupiter & 7. star Saturn.

The ancient calendars were astrological, so they devised the week of seven days : one day for each body of heaven.

Since these are heavenly figures also they were associated with the gods (or God in the case of the ancient Hebrews) and so the number was also thought to be holy.

The other important number 12, comes from the 12 new moons which can be seen in a year : the basis of our month.

Answer 3

Before I go into the significance of 7 an important thing needs be said.

Most writings, especially relating to scriptures or ancient writings relating to mythology, there was always a pattern that they were trying to convey. This pattern often had to do with the mind. 7 isn't the only important number, 3 also, and 12, you will find these in many ancient writings (seen in the 12 months, 12 Zodiac signs, 12 tribes, 12 apostles, 12 fruits on the tree of life, Muhammad had 12 wives, Ouranos and his mother Ge were born 12 children).

To esoteric wisdom, 7 was supposed to represent the numeration of levels of being within ones inner cosmology, but more so completion was 7. 7 was seen as the condition of perfection, to go back to the inner cosmology thing, 7 things together meant wholeness. Like 7 colors of a prism, or and octave of a scale, which is really 7 notes since the last DO of an octave is just the repeat of the first or even 7 Charka’s or Endocrine system (the literal 7 Glands in the body). 7 together meant wholeness, completion. 6 isn't a perfect number, because the middle of the number in mystic transitions is supposed to be the "balance." 6 if you take the 3rd digit as the balance it will be seen to be imbalanced, not proportionate on each side. With seven the if you take the 4 number, it is proportionate on each side and their is triad on each side reflecting the other. If that is understandable.

In regards to some other fairy tales, they worked under the patterns of life. The patterns of life, to mystics, reflected the patterns that were imbued within their mind and being. They asserted that all of phenomena that we see is not concrete, but is frequencies or vibration which we interpret as concrete, so the very patterns and its imagery is all reflective to our own inner cosmology of mind, it illustrates our mind and thinking/aspects. What became seen as days, was relative to the astrology, which IS the study of the mind if you go deeper into the Zodiac to know. So I would say since we mathematically construct hard reality, the patterns we see reflect the patterns of mind. In regards to scriptures it is a deliberate objective because they are esoteric allegories about the centers/aspects of mind.

Answer 4

Not to mention "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (though I guess it'd be a bit weird to have _six_ brides for seven brothers - I'm not sure whether the one with two brothers would have reason to complain or not, though ), "Seven Continents", "Seven of Nine"... no, wait, that last one - well, I dunno', Gerri Ryan *might just qualify for _two_ "seven" titles - one as "Seven of Nine" and the other, in my book at least, as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World"... ;-)

Seriously, you can find metaphysical significance in just about any number from about 50 on down, most numbers from 51-100 and a few numbers above that. There are so many possibilities, it would be impractical to try listing any significant number of them here without knowing how you, the asker, would define 'significant' in this context. What would be significant about it in one belief system would be completely irrelevant in another. Without more insight into your own philosophical and metaphysical outlook on the world, it's not an easy question to answer.

But that's a good thing, imho - it just means humans are too complex to be so easily defined by just their numbers. ;-)

Answer 5

There is a tale that might have been helped to make 7 popular. It was a kind of doggerel.

7 and 7 will get you to heaven.

7 Shillings for a casket and 7 shillings for the casket bearers and grave digger.

Answer 6

it's a dynamic number. it breaks up the balance and potential for stagnation of the number six. six is the number of balance because it represents union between male and female energies. the six-pointed star is a upward triangle [male] and a downward triangle [female]. if you add a point, there's no way to geometrically reduce it, so the number represents a fluid energy. five doesn't have that association because it is related to the golden section, which is the basis of life. that leaves seven as the only digit that stands outside of geometry.

Answer 7

If you have $7 to your name, it's not significant. If you have 7 million, it is.
That's about it.
7 in religions? Well, there's so much nonsense in religions, why bother about number 7?

Answer 8

In the Bible it is the number of completeness

when something is fulfilled (done, complete) it is a significant number

like in the fulness of time etc:

Answer 9

google the words
number 7 in history
and check out any or all of the sites pretty interesting

Answer 10

Because 7 is a Hitler and Buddhist sign?