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| English: Mayan calendar created by a modern craftsman (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Along with the prediction of apocalypse on December
21, 2012, according to the Mayan Calendar, which turned out, by the way, not to
be a Mayan prediction, but a Western misinterpretation, we had the mystique of
December 12, 2012, which was hyped as 12/12/12.
Well, nothing happened, so there. Part of the problem is this was a perversion
of numerology. Just in case you’re
scratching your head right now and wondering what all this means, numerology is
the study of the divine, mystical, or other special relationship between a
number or combination of numbers and some coinciding observed, or perceived,
event. In today’s world, these
traditions and beliefs are often associated with paranormal phenomena,
astrology, or divination. Maybe it was
pure hype, or maybe it was the proximity to the Mayan Calendar debacle that
made people focus on 12/12/12.
Of course, they got it wrong. The precise date was 12/12/2012, so there was
no duplication; numerologically speaking.
A little factoid at this juncture:
despite a long belief in the magical power of numbers, the term
numerology wasn’t recorded as being used in English before circa 1907. Wow, we modern folk have a lot to answer for,
don’t we?
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| Detail of the copy of the Da Vinci's Last Supper by Giacomo Raffaelli Ordered by Napoleon to the Italian artist Giacomo Raffaelli, the mosaic was only terminated after Napoleon's abdication and end up in the Minoritenkirche (Vienna) Post-processing: Perspective correction (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Anyway, back to the power of numbers. Most people are aware of the Western belief
that the number 13 is unlucky, supposedly because of the thirteen attendants at
Christ’s Last Supper, with Judas Iscariot sitting in the number 13 slot. Didn’t know they had assigned seating back
then, but that’s the theory. There’s
also the Norse belief that whenever a banquet of twelve gods was interrupted by
the mischief-maker Loki (making 13 diners) chaos ensued. Who knows?
In many Asian cultures, the number four is considered unlucky because
its pronunciation in Mandarin Chinese is similar to the pronunciation of the
word for ‘death.’
Then, there’s the string 666, the Number of the
Beast. This, I believe, is supposed to
be the devil come to claim all lost souls at the end of time or something like
that. It’s a bit confusing, because in
some texts it’s 616 rather than 666.
So, having thrilled you with that little bit of
history, here’s something to chew on. For
those who believe in the magic power of numbers associated with the calendar,
here are some dates in 2013 to watch out for:
June 1, 2013:
June, the sixth month (6), the first day (1), and the digits of the year
(2 +0+1+3=6) add up to six – 6 1 6 the
number of the beast according to some texts.
June 6, 2013:
June (6) 6th (6), 2013 (6) is the traditionally accepted
Number of the Beast – 666.
April 3, 2013:
April (4) 3, 2013 (6), or 4 + 3 + 6 = 13, which as I’ve explained is an
unlucky number, as is March 4, 2013 ( 3 + 4 + 6 = 13).
If that’s not enough to chew on or fret over, give
me some time, and I’ll find something else.
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