Since ancient times, people have attributed a special influence on their destiny to numbers. It was believed that there are numbers, happy and unlucky. The first brought good luck, the second - all kinds of disasters and blows of fate. The number seven has traditionally been considered one of the happiest.
Seven was revered both in ancient civilizations and in the Middle Ages, the belief in its magical properties has not been lost today.
The number seven in antiquity
In ancient Greece, the number seven was considered the number of Apollo born on the seventh day of the month. True, his retinue consisted of not seven, but nine muses, but he himself played the seven-stringed lyre. Everyone knows the list of the seven wonders of the world compiled by the ancient Greeks. Seven cities fought over the right to be considered the homeland of Homer. The seven were also revered by the ancient Romans. As you know, the great Rome stands on seven hills. Virgil divided hell into seven parts, which flowed around the underground waters of the Styx seven times.
The meaning of the number seven in world religions
In the Muslim religious tradition, the number seven is sacred. According to Islam, there is not one, but seven heavens, and the one who got to the seventh heaven should experience the highest degree of bliss.
In the Old and New Testaments, the number seven is mentioned 700 times (of which in the Old Testament - 77). There are seven days of Creation, seven virtues and seven deadly sins. Lent lasts seven weeks.
In the third world religion - Buddhism - the number seven is considered the sacred number of the Buddha, denoting the seven hypostases of the deity.
The variety of meanings of the number seven
Among the generally accepted concepts are seven days of the week, seven colors of the rainbow, seven notes. The number seven - 3 + 4 also denotes the union of Heaven and Earth, soul and body, combining spiritual and material, eternal and transitory.
In the Middle Ages, the doctrine of seven ages (periods in life) of a person arose: up to seven years - childhood, 14 years (2 times seven) - the end of childhood, 28 years (3 times seven) - youth, 35 years (5 times seven) - adult age, 42 (6 times seven) - maturity and the beginning of the decline of a person's physical strength.
William Shakespeare, in the famous monologue "The World is Theater" from the comedy "As You Like It", compared the seven ages of a person with the seven roles of an actor. This is an infant, a schoolboy, a lover, a soldier, a judge, an old man and a baby again.
The number seven is mentioned in many proverbs and sayings. For example, "Seven spans in the forehead", "Seven in the shops", "Seven troubles - one answer", etc. In the titles of literary works (most often - fairy tales), the number seven is also often found: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Heroes", "The Prince beyond the Seven Seas".
Thus, the number seven accompanies a person throughout his life.
