The number seven has ever been regarded as having a peculiar mystic
significance, and its manifold virtues have been the theme of elaborate
monographs. Alike in Holy Writ and among the earliest historic peoples,
in classic antiquity and in the mythologies of many nations, this number
has been most prominent, and to this fact may reasonably be attributed a
portion of the luck associated with odd numbers in general. A complete
enumeration of familiar examples of the use of this favorite number,
although germane to our subject, would be beyond the scope of this
sketch, but a few instances may be appropriately given.
The origin of the respect accorded this number by the nations of
antiquity was probably astronomical, or more properly astrological, and
arose from their observation of the seven great planets and of the lunar
phases, changing every seventh day.
_Saturn_ is first, next _Jove_, _Mars_ third in place;
The _Sun_ in midst, fifth _Venus_ runs her race,
_Mercury_ sixth, _Moon_ lowest and last in band,
The Planets in this rank and manner stand.[520]
It was a saying of Hippocrates that the number seven, by reason of its
mystic virtues, tended to the accomplishment of all things, and was
the dispenser of life and the fountain of all its changes; for as the
moon changes its phases every seven days, so this number influences all
sublunary beings.[521] The phrase “to be in the seventh heaven” was
derived from the seven planets, which were believed by the Babylonians
to be carried around upon as many globes of crystal, the seventh being
the highest.[522] In the writings of the Cabalists of old are likewise
portrayed seven heavens, one above another, and the seventh or highest
was the abode of God and the higher angels. The ultimate source of
the sanctity of the number seven has, however, been ascribed to the
_septentriones_, the seven ploughing oxen, stars of the constellation of
the Great Bear.
An ingenious but not especially plausible reason alleged for the
popularity of this number is the fact of its being composed of _three_,
the number of sides in a triangle, and _four_, the number of sides in a
square, thus representing two of the simplest geometric figures.[523]
Certain Biblical critics of a speculative turn of mind have concluded
that its prominence as a symbol is due to the emblematic significance of
its component parts, three and four; the former representing Divinity,
and the latter Humanity: in other words, “the union between God and
man, as affected by the manifestations of the Divinity in creation and
revelation.”[524]
In some portions of a great work on magic, discovered by Mr. A. H. Layard
among fragments of clay tablets in the ruins of a palace in ancient
Nineveh, are many incantations, formulæ, and conjurations, in which the
number seven occurs repeatedly.[525]
As familiar instances of the prominence of this number in former times
may be cited the seven wise men of Greece, the seven gates of Thebes, and
the legend of the seven sleepers of Ephesus.
Other examples are given in the following “seven heroic verses” sent by
a certain Mr. Michelburn to one Mr. Crisp, who owed the former seven
shillings:—
Friend Crisp, I send you verses only sev’n,
The number’s od, God numbers lovs unev’n;
Sev’n Hills at Rome, sev’n mouths of _Nilus_ are,
Sev’n sacred Arts, the World’s sev’n Wonders rare,
The week sev’n dais, the Heav’ns sev’n Trions show.
But one thing rests, sev’n shillings you me ow,
Which that you’l pay, sev’n Verses I bestow.[526]
In ancient Ireland every well-to-do farmer had seven prime
possessions,—a house, a mill or a share in it, a kiln, barn, sheep-pen,
calf-house, and pigsty.
The number seven appears more than three hundred times in the Scriptures.
God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, and
throughout the Old Testament, as well as in the Apocalypse, the constant
recurrence of this sacred number is noteworthy. Thus we read of the seven
fat and seven lean kine of Pharaoh’s dream, and also, in the account
of the Fall of Jericho (Joshua vi. 4): “And seven priests shall bear
before the ark seven trumpets of rams horns: and the seventh day ye
shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the
trumpets.”
According to a popular mediæval tradition, Adam and Eve remained but
seven hours in Eden.
Seven archangels are mentioned in the Bible and in Jewish
writings,—_Michael_, who was the special guardian and protector of the
Jews, and in whose honor the Festival of Michaelmas is celebrated on
the twenty-ninth day of September by the Anglican and Roman Catholic
churches; _Gabriel_, the messenger who appeared to the Virgin Mary and
to Zacharias; _Raphael_, spoken of in the Book of Tobit as the companion
and guardian of Tobias, and conqueror of the demon Asmodeus; _Uriel_,
an angel mentioned in the Book of Esdras; _Chamuel_, who, according to
Jewish tradition, wrestled with Jacob; _Jophiel_, who expelled Adam and
Eve from Eden, and who was the guardian of the “tree of the knowledge
of good and evil;” and _Zadkiel_, the angel who is supposed to have
stayed the hand of Abraham when the latter was about to sacrifice his son
Isaac.[527]
Samson’s strength resided in seven locks of his hair, representing the
seven rays of Light, the source of Strength. And the shearing of these
seven locks by Delilah, a woman of low character, has been described as a
triumph of Evil in suppressing Light.[528]
According to Herodotus, the Arabs of the desert had a peculiar method of
confirming a vow of friendship. Two men stood on either side of a third,
who made incisions with a sharp stone on the palms of their hands, and,
having dipped in the blood therefrom some portion of a garment of each,
he proceeded to moisten with it seven stones lying on the ground.[529]
The age of the world, in the opinion of learned men of former times,
was properly divided into seven great epochs; namely, the _first_, from
the creation of Adam to the Deluge; _second_, from the latter event
to the time of Abraham; _third_, from Abraham to the Exodus of the
children of Israel; _fourth_, from that time to the building of Solomon’s
Temple; _fifth_, from then to the Babylonish Captivity; _sixth_, the
period between that and the coming of our Lord; and _seventh_, from the
beginning of the Christian era to the end of the world.
According to astrologers, man’s age was divided into seven parts,
governed by seven planets. The first part, _Infancy_, comprised four
years, and was ruled by the Moon, a weak, moist, and changeable body.
Next came _Childhood_, a period of ten years governed by Mercury, a
planet indifferently good or bad, according to the character of the
planets with whom he was associated. Following this came _Youthhead_,
from fourteen to twenty-two, over which Venus presided. Next was
_Adolescence_, lasting twenty years and ruled by the Sun, and in this age
man attained his full strength and vigor. The fifth, from forty-two to
fifty-six, was called _Manhood_, and was under the dominion of Mars, a
bad star. At this time men began to wax angry, impatient, and avaricious,
but were more temperate in their diet, and more discreet. The next period
of twelve years was called _Old Age_, governed by Jupiter, a noble
planet, whose influence rendered men religious, chaste, and just. The
seventh was _Decrepit Old Age_, ruled by Saturn, and comprising the years
from seventy-eight to ninety-eight.[530]
In the Lambeth Palace Library there is a manuscript of the fifteenth
century in which the seven canonical hours are compared with the seven
periods of human life, as follows:—
Morning, Infancy.
Midmorrow, Childhood.
Undern, School Age.
Mid-day, the Knightly Age.
Nones, or High Noon, the Kingly Age.
Midovernoon, Elderly Age.
Evenson, Declining Age.[531]
In the “Secrets of Numbers,” by William Ingpen, Gent. (London, 1624),
the number seven is described as the most excellent of all for several
notable and curious reasons, and prominent among these was the alleged
fact that the Soul consists of seven parts, namely, Acuminie, Wit,
Diligence, Counsel, Reason, Wisdom, and Experience.