Lafayette Journal & Courier

Is today your lucky day?

Numeral has had long history of bringing joy

By CURT SLYDER

July 7, 2007

Is this your lucky day?

Today is the seventh day of the seventh month in the year 2007.

Countless people are getting married today. Others are rushing off to buy lottery tickets.

Seven has long been considered a lucky number. But the significance of the number goes far beyond luck.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Seven Hills of Rome, the seven deadly sins and Shakespeare's seven ages of man are just a few examples of people's affinity for the number, said Michael Ryan, assistant professor of medieval history at Purdue University.

"Seven is a number that is vested with a lot of power," Ryan said. It goes back beyond medieval times, with a strong significance in many of the world's religions, he said.

"The number seven is the number of spirituality," said Renee Castle, co-owner of Castle-Brooks Spiritual Supply in Lafayette. "Three times that would seem to signify something special in that vein."

There are seven days in a week, seven colors in a rainbow, seven continents and the list goes on.

But not everyone thinks this date is significant.

Glenn Sparks, a Purdue professor of communication, says the significance of the number seven, or any other number, is "really related to our fundamental desire to be able to forecast the future."

Humans need to make order out of chaos, Sparks said.

"Some people will have extraordinary good fortune (today)," Sparks said. "They will associate that day with good luck."

But the reverse will be true for people who have bad luck today, Sparks said. "They will associate the day with bad luck."