It's the stuff of legends for gamblers and lottery fans — and the universal symbol for slot machines and big Vegas jackpots. Wondering where the number gained its lucky reputation? It could be simply due to the fact that seven stands alone out of all the single-digit numbers; it's not divisible by anything, including five, making it powerful. It could also be attributed to the role that the number seven has played in history, culture and legend. God took seven days to create the world, the ancient world had seven planets and there are seven seas, seven wonders of the world and seven days of the week. Seek out the seventh son of a seventh son; he is supposed to have magical abilities, including healing powers and an unending pool of luck.
4 is well known to be an unlucky number because 四 sounds similar to 死 (sǐ), which means "death" in Chinese. People will go to extremes based on superstitions of the number 4. Houses and apartments that have 4 in the address number will sell for much less than ones without. Mentioning the number four to an ill family member is considered to be highly offensive, and giving anything with 4 on it to someone can be seen as a death threat.
Like 5, 7 has both positive and negative connotations in Chinese culture. For the positive side, 七 sounds like both 起 (qǐ), which means "start" or "rise", and also 气 (qì), which means "vital energy". Seven is also seen as a lucky number for relationships. The Qixi Festival (七夕節), also known as the Chinese Valentine's Day, falls on the 7th day of the 7th month in the lunar calendar.
The 7th month is also known as the "ghost month" in China, where ghosts and spirits are believed to rise from hell to visit earth. While ghosts may be seen as omens, the ghost festival in the 7th month is widely celebrated. 7 may also be considered unlucky because 七 sounds like 欺 , meaning "cheat". Whether inspired by biblical stories or the legends of ancient people, these so-called lucky or unlucky properties assigned to numbers have real meaning to many people. Based on little more than a story, where the origin is often unknown, people will alter travel plans, delay purchases or spend their life savings on lottery tickets. Wonder where these numbers earned their reputations?
Read on to learn about some of the most popular superstitions in the world of numbers. In many cultures around the world, seven is considered a lucky number. In fact, if you start looking for reasons why seven is so popular throughout history across various cultures, you'll find that the number seems to appear everywhere. Others believe it is because of the tie-in with 13 and the lunar cycle.
13 is the exact number of full moons in a calendar year, and since people have thought that the moon controls emotion and makes people a bit crazy, then 13 is bad luck. In many Persian cultures, 13 is unlucky as well, showing that this superstition crosses cultural borders. And of course, Friday the 13th is considered very bad luck.
7 was widely used in ancient Chinese culture, for example the Seven Treasures for Buddhist Scripture refer to gold, silver, colored glaze, coral, amber, seashell, and agate. Another example is the Double Seventh Festivalwhen the Milky Way Lovers can have their annual meeting only on July 7th. Therefore, July 7th is regarded as the Chinese Valentine's Day. The seven Classical planets resulted in seven being the number of days in a week. It is often considered lucky in Western culture and is often seen as highly symbolic. Unlike Western culture, in Vietnamese culture, the number seven is sometimes considered unlucky.
A lot of people expressed an interest in number 7 for a variety of reasons and not just because it was considered lucky. A number of people said that they had no idea why they liked it. Perhaps part of the answer lies in a seminal paper published in 1956 by the psychologist George A Miller called "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two".
Miller claims that it is more than just coincidence that the number 7 seems to be all around us. It is believed that there is a powerful connection between number 7 and the religions of the world. Biblical scholars marks that number 7 is quite significant in the Bible. If you take a look at the creation story, God made the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th day.
With this, it is believed that the number seven often represents perfection or completeness in the Bible. The number 7 itself isn't committed to any religion, but to the people who follow its grace are devoted to a singular power. 3 (三), pronounced san, is considered lucky due to its similarity in sound to the word that means birth.
Additionally, this number represents the three stages in the life of humans - birth, marriage, death - that adds to its importance in Chinese culture. In China, lucky numbers have pronunciations that are similar to words with lucky meanings. Number 8 holds huge significance as a lucky number. To a lesser extent 2, 6, and 9 are considered lucky. As well as these general number superstitions, fengshui and the Chinese zodiac dictate different number luck for different places/people.
It seems that every culture has lucky numbers and unlucky numbers. In Japan, four and nine are considered unlucky numbers because of their pronunciation. Four is pronounced "shi," which is the same pronunciation as death. Nine is pronounced "ku," which has the same pronunciation as agony or torture. In fact, some hospitals and apartments don't have rooms numbered "4" or "9".
Some vehicle identification numbers are restricted on Japanese license plates, unless someone requests them. For example, 42 and 49 at the end of plates, which are linked to the words for "death (shini 死に)" and "to run over (shiku 轢く)". The full sequences 42-19, (proceeding to death 死に行く) and (time to die 死に頃) are also restricted. Learn more about unlucky Japanese numbers on my "Question of the Week" page. If you are not familiar with Japanese numbers, check out our page for learning Japanese numbers. It is said that the world's favourite number is lucky 7.
You can see there are seven days of a week, 7 colours of the rainbow, seven notes on a musical scale, seven continents, and seven seas. Even in fictional stories number 7 is used very often. Some people find their birth date numerology number to be their lucky charm. In numerology, Number 7 is considered as the universally lucky number in many of their auspicious work. Why Is 7 A Lucky Number - Have you ever wondered Why Is 7 A Lucky Number?
Why do some people think the number seven is lucky? When asked to groups of people to choose , most often the people choose number 7. It is believed that the number 7 generates strong emotions in the hearts of the people.
In Christianity, the number 7 is mentioned many times. Let's see more about the reason Why Is 7 A Lucky Number in this article. Since ancient times, the number seven has been considered lucky. What better way to celebrate the new year than with a group of new instant scratch-off tickets featuring the most famous lucky number? Keep your eyes open on January 2nd for these hot new games. Is well known to be an unlucky number because 四 sounds similar to 死 (sǐ), which means "death" in Chinese.
Did you know that if you press a Chinese elevator button to go to the 50th floor of a building, you may actually only be going to the 35th floor? This is because many buildings in China not only omit the 13th floor, but are also missing any floor containing the number 4, which is considered to be the unluckiest number in Chinese culture. The Chinese have many superstitions about numbers, often related to similar-sounding words in the Chinese language, which are called homophones.
Forget individual numbers — the very act of counting itself comes with a series of positive and negative superstitions. One folk remedy suggests that counting the number of warts on your body and revealing the number to a stranger will cause the warts to go away. Of course, you should never count money, your children or your possessions, as this can make them go away as well. The same is true for livestock — like counting chickens before they hatch — as well as fish and gambling winnings. Some superstitious types claim that weighing babies at birth also brings bad luck, as does counting the stones in ancient monuments. In the creation story, God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh day.
Scholars have found that the number seven often represents perfection or completeness in the Bible. … Seven is also a prime number, which means it can only be divided by itself and one. In Western culture, four isn't necessarily considered lucky or unlucky, however, there are a few unlucky fours.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Christian bible, and most swear words are called "four letter words. The number seven has a particular meaning in various religions. In the Christian religion, as mentioned in the Old Testament,Genesissays that God created the world in six days and rested the seventh. From this came the seven-day week we use today. For this reason, it is also considered a holy number.
Chinese numerology might seem like an obscure field, but this unique set of beliefs plays a big role in modern Chinese culture. Read this article to gain insight into this quirky aspect of modern Chinese life. Biblical scholars point out that the number seven is quite significant in the Bible.
In a world where the majority of people don't identify themselves as particularly superstitious, it's astounding just how much impact superstitions about numbers can have on the economy. I was shocked to learn that businesses lose almost a billion dollars each time the 13th of the month just happens to fall on a Friday. While researching this article, I also learned that people in some Asian countries will pay a premium simply for a license plate or street address that contains a lucky number. Manufacturers and retailers have caught on as well, assigning random prices to products that rely more on the inclusion of lucky numbers than on any retail strategy or research. In Italy, the number 17 is as unlucky as 13 is to Americans — for very good reason. The Italians write 17 as XVII, which can be rearranged to form VIXI, which roughly translates to "I'm now dead" or "my life is over." Not a pleasant thought.
Carmakers and other manufacturers avoid using the number when naming products or assigning model numbers, just in case. Ironically, the dreaded 13 is actually considered lucky in Italy, despite its reputation in many other parts of the world. According to Christian numerology, the 888 number represents Jesus, and, at times, more precisely 'Christ the Redeemer'. According to Chinese numerology, 888 is a representation of triple fortune. It is because of this reason, addresses, phone numbers, etc. containing this sequence of numbers is considered very lucky.
This probably explains the affinity many people feel for the number seven. Some scientists and mathematicians also believe there are some interesting properties of the number itself that also make it alluring. In the Qur'an, "seven" is a literary device. In Hebrew, ז / שֶׁבַע ('sheva) is the most sacred number, a symbol of the perfect world, completeness and heaven. The Chinese number 七 (qī) in Mandarin sounds like "even" (齊, qí), so it is a good number for relationships. It also sounds like "arise" (起, qǐ) and "life essence" (氣, qì).
We won't go into the Cantonese meaning though, ahem. In scriptures, number 7 represents accomplishment or perfection. It is connected with god's creation and divine power. It is believed that god created heaven and the earth in six days and after completion, god rested on the seventh day. Also the Bible is divided into seven major parts.
Is The Number 7 Considered Lucky 6 (六), pronounced liu, is considered lucky as it sounds like the word that means 'to flow', and can indicate smooth progress in life. Similar to 8, 6 is preferred in number plates and phone numbers. When a couple gets engaged, the man customarily offers a gift to the girl's family which is usually money and this gift signifies a harmonious life for the couple. In fact, the Chinese are so superstitious about numbers, that they will often spend big money for "lucky numbers" in their life. A man in Hangzhou listed his license plate, A8888, for $140,000 online.
The number 666 is considered the devil's number according to the book of Revelation in the Bible. To Westerners, it has an unlucky vibe and many people hesitate if they see this number as a flight number, price, address or hotel room number. However, the Chinese consider the number lucky as it sounds similar to the Mandarin words for smooth or flowing. There are seven days of the week, seven continents and seven brides for seven brothers. It was the 7th day of the 7th month when KnowH2Ow was born. Not by design, but by coincidence, actually.
Only when reflecting at the end of this 1st week did I consider the significance of launching with such an auspicious number backing us. By taking a glimpse at the meaning behind 7 around the world, we were surprised by how well it suits KnowH2Ow, with many positive attributes from different cultures. The pronunciation of the number four in Japanese is very similar to the word death, and because of this, four has been considered bad luck in Japan, Korea and China. It is considered very bad luck to give a gift that is made up of four pieces to someone. Many buildings in heavily Asian areas do not have a fourth floor, much like the way North American cultures treat the number 13.
If a person is to celebrate their 66th birthday, that is a grand occasion. New ventures or contracts are signed on dates that have 6 in them. Chinese' fondness for 8 can be seen in many other cases, such as house numbers, phone numbers, number plates, wedding dates, the date for opening a business, and so on.
8 is considered lucky and favored by Chinese because it holds meaning in both traditional and modern cultures. It has had significance in almost every major religion. In the Old Testament the world was created in six days and God rested on the seventh, creating the basis of the seven-day-week we use to this day.
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