Seven is a number of a special significance in magic and mysticism. This can be traced back to the oldest human history: the Sumerians; according to the present level of knowledge the oldest civilisation on earth. Astrology was an important discipline there, and they established seven heavenly bodies, seven objects that were visible to the naked eye: the Sun, the Moon; and the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This made seven an important number with a lot of meanings, which would develop further in the intellectual and spiritual cultivation of the civilisations that succeeded the Sumerians. Babylonian astrology (as it is sometimes called), and its concepts early spread to Persia.
Zecharia Sitchin, in his Earth Chronicles, suggests a different explanation, entirely on the basis of his hypothesis that the human civilisation was created by extraterrestrials. He suggests that the number seven got its special meaning by the fact that the earth was the seventh planet for a traveller arriving from outer space.
If we do not agree with Sitchin, and if we try to keep religiously neutral, it is still possible that the number of known stellar objects (visible to a naked eye) is the origin of the seven-day week. Each stellar object was associated with one day.
1. Sunday - the Sun
2. Monday - the Moon
3. Tuesday - Mars
4. Wednesday - Mercury
5. Thursday - Jupiter
6. Friday - Venus
7. Saturday - Saturn
In many languages, the connection between "planets" and days is still reflected in their names for the days of the week, although the names can be changed to the ones of the local deities that correspond to Mars, Jupiter, etc.
In English, Tuesday to Friday have names after Germanic deities. Not Saturday, however, whose name is based on the Roman name of the god Saturn [Saturnus]."
Many readers will disagree and say that seven is special because God created he world in seven days.
According to St. Augustine, he created he world in six days (he rested he seventh) because six is a perfect number. So, six was perfect already before the creation. Was seven so as well? Is it six that is special and seven is special only because it is 6+1? We will never know; we can only speculate.
In the Mazdaism/Zoroastrianism (an ancient Persian religion), seven was the most holy number of all. The highest god was Ahura Mazda and he was followed in hierarchy by seven Amesha Spentas, beneficial immortals [Ameretat, Armaiti, Asha Vahishta, Haurvatat, Khshathra Vairya, Sraosa, Vohu Manah]. Zoroastrianism also sees it as the union of male [three, the spiritual] and female [four, the material, the four elements].
In Mithraism, another religion of Persian origin, but later with a strong syncretic character, heaven belonged to the sun, and their highest rank was given the number 7.
The Greeks were exposed to these ideas early, probably from three directions (Babylon, Persia, Egypt). In Timaios, Plato discusses the division of the inner soul into seven parts. Seven also was the sacred number of Apollo, who was said to be born on the 7th of a month, and his lyre had seven strings. It was also the sacred number of Asclepius, the son of Apollo and the god of healing. After him, number seven was believed to be healing of disease.
The Pleiades were the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas and the sea-nymph Pleione, (Maia, Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope, Merope).
Seven is at the very heart of Judaism as well. The Menorah, a candelabra with seven branches, can be a symbol for the seven heavenly bodies; there are seven archangels, etc.
Through the Greeks and the Jews, the number seven entered Christianity almost from the beginning. In the Bible it can be found almost everywhere, from Genesis to Revelation, from the first book to the last. Further, there are seven virtues (Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude, Justice, Temperance, Prudence) and seven deadly sins (anger, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony).
Japanese tradition also counts seven virtues according to Bushido [the way of the warrior], standards of conduct for the samurai (Right decisions, Valour, Benevolence, Respect, Honesty, Honour, Loyalty).
Islam teaches that the Archangel Gabriel brought the Koran to the Prophet Mohammed, and he brought it from the seventh heaven. A sevenfold heaven exists in later Judaism as well, and it probably can be traced further back from there to Persia.
The importance of seven in Islam is further accentuated by, for instance, tawaf, the circambulation of Ka'ba in Mecca, which is made seven times; or the symbolic stoning of the Devil being done with seven stones in each of three rounds. All probably based on the Prophet Mohammed, according to tradition, having ascended seven heavens and got in immediate contact with the divine. This would have happened in Jerusalem, something of which The Dome of the Rock serves as a reminder.
Further in Islam: The seven colours black, yellow, green, red, blue, sandalwood, and white are associated with the seven celestial bodies (those being visible to the naked eye): Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn; with the seven metals: gold, silver, mercury, copper, iron, tin, and lead; and with the seven prophets: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Mohammed.
In the Mandean religion, seven is a number of evil, since the seven heavenly bodies are considered as evil.
Indian lore, at least as old as the Brahma Upanishad and the Yogatattva Upanishad, works with chakras, vortices in the surface of the etheric double of a human; force centres. The best-known is a system of seven. Here with correspondences. (Further elaboration on chakra theory is beside the point this time.)
The Crown Chakra - Spirituality - Purple
The Third Eye or Brow Chakra - Imagination - Indigo
The Throat Chakra - Communication - Blue
The Heart Chakra - Balance - Green
The Solar Plexus Chakra - Purpose - Yellow
The Stomach or Spleen Chakra - Emotion - Orange
The Root Chakra - Passion - Red
In Alchemy the seven planetary spheres of the Ptolemaic cosmos correspond to seven metals, which are seen as the seven coagulated planetary forces.
Saturn - Lead
Jupiter - Tin
Mars - Iron
Venus - Copper
Mercury - Quicksilver
Moon - Silver
Sun - Gold
These metals were seen as various degrees of maturity of the same base substance, whose perfection was gold. As always in Alchemy, this had a physical/material meaning - and a spiritual one. But discussing the labyrinthine teachings of Alchemy goes beyond the scope of this article.
It may be fun to know, however, that the dwarves of Snow White are seven miners, because they represent these seven metals.
The correspondences were sometimes extended to colours and gems:
gold/yellow: topaz, Sun, Gold;
silver/white: pearl, Moon, Silver;
red: ruby, Mars, Iron:
blue: sapphire, Jupiter, Tin;
black: diamond, Saturn, Lead;
green: emerald, Venus, Copper;
purple: amethyst, Mercury, Quicksilver.
Art and literature are full of symbols from Alchemy. Therefore it is justified to say that much of Western creative art from the Renaissance onwards is virtually incomprehensible without a profound understanding of its symbolism and its correspondences.
Read the whole series:
Read also: What is Special with Number 7?
(This material has previously been published in TMA/Meriondho Leo and in my e-book “Numericon”.)
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Even the rainbow's color (ROYGBIV). Now I understand way it's called 'Lucky 7'. But this also reminds me of the 7 terraces of Purgatory in Divine Comedy - Dante; this part is scary.