On 07/07/07, Luck Runs Hotter Than on 06/06/06

c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) It comes only once a century. So for the host of religious traditions that see 7 as the most sacred digit, 07/07/2007 is looking like the perfect day for everything from weddings to worldwide activism. Or at least it’s better than last year’s eerie 06/06/06. According to David Frankfurter, […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) It comes only once a century. So for the host of religious traditions that see 7 as the most sacred digit, 07/07/2007 is looking like the perfect day for everything from weddings to worldwide activism.

Or at least it’s better than last year’s eerie 06/06/06.


According to David Frankfurter, professor of religious studies and history at the University of New Hampshire, the number 7 is characteristic of how God organizes heaven. God completes his creation in seven days. The year of Jubilee comes after seven times seven years. There are seven cardinal sins, seven virtues, and a host of apocalyptic signs in Revelation that come in groups of seven _ seven churches and seven seals, for example.

“In the Bible it’s symbolic of perfection,” Frankfurter said, “and what Americans have done is kind of turned it into a lucky number.”

Moira Smith, librarian for folklore at Indiana University, says three sevens don’t carry nearly the symbolic punch of three consecutive sixes, which have long represented the Antichrist. But combining the biblically significant digit seven in a pattern of three _ a number that pervades folklore (Goldilocks and the Three Bears, for example) and biblical texts (the Trinity, or Jesus’ three days in the tomb) _ makes triple seven both a gambling boon and a date to pique superstitious imaginations.

One thing’s certain, 07/07/2007 is one of the hottest dates for a wedding in recorded history. Among members of online bridal community TheKnot.com, an estimated 38,000 will be walking the aisle on Saturday, July 7 _ more than triple the 12,000 that will wed on a typical Saturday in July, according to the Web site.

That bridal boom has set off a major shortage of ministers, photographers and ceremony venues. For La Bella Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, July 7 is trumping New Year’s Eve and even Valentine’s Day as the most popular wedding date on record. The chapel is squeezing at least 51 weddings into a single day.

“It’s been crazy,” said Pam Monis, a La Bella wedding planner. “It’s been huge (for us), just like everyone in this town.”

Though Monis said a sizable number of Christians opt to marry in Vegas, she doubts that the religious symbolism of 07/07/2007 is behind most of the rush.

“I honestly don’t think it has anything to do with it,” she said. “Some people were just thinking it would be cool to be married on that date.”


Sara Vicker and Brian Smith plan to tie the knot in West Davenport, N.Y., on July 7. “We’re into numbers,” Smith said. “No religious significance, no gambling/luck significance.”

“Into numbers” indeed. The couple met on 09/09/99, they say, and Smith proposed on 05/05/05.

Symbolic dates are nominally important in America largely because, Frankfurter explains, the Christian church has long discouraged the use of superstitious numerology. Eastern traditions, meanwhile, are much more likely to rely on divination when choosing wedding dates.

July 7 will be significant in Japan _ the date marks the star festival of Tanabata, considered the day of love. But it won’t necessarily be the biggest day for weddings, said Guven Witteveen, professor of Japanese studies at the University of Michigan. That’s because the Japanese calendar is rather unpredictably divided into lucky and unlucky days; important events and nuptials are planned around those calendar days.

Besides, he said, the real lucky number in Japan is 8.

Lucky or not, 07/07/2007 was a marketing godsend for several nonprofit organizations. It was the perfect date for “The Call,” a massive 12-hour, interdenominational prayer gathering in a Nashville, Tenn., football stadium. The meeting will be the culminating event of a nationwide 40-day fast and is a symbolic recommitment to God.

“We want to `remarry’ the Lord,” said spokesman Julia Richardson, explaining that the number 7 represents a covenant.


The date also happens to be the 40-year anniversary of 1967’s “summer of love.” After a generation of radical feminism and a “sex, love and happiness” mentality, Richardson says it’s time for a new era.

“We want to have a new Jesus Movement,” she said. “If we can gather people, we can start a revolution.”

Revolution is also high on the priority list for the organizers of SOS LiveEarth. A partnership between concert producer Kevin Wall, former Vice President Al Gore and a host of environmental groups, LiveEarth is a global warming awareness campaign that involves eight massive benefit concerts in cities around the globe, including New York. Sponsors expect to reach 2 billion people with the eco-friendly message. The marketing scheme? 07/07/07, of course.

But July 7 won’t be without a dose of the bizarre. According to UrbanDictionary.com, it’s the day some fans of the late rapper Tupac Shakur _ who died in 1996 _ believe the multi-platinum artist will come out from hiding.

And for all those brides-to-be who couldn’t reserve a chapel for their July 7 ceremonies? Some of them are covered. WalMart just awarded seven couples all-expenses-paid dream weddings set to take place in the most romantic of venues: their local WalMart’s home and garden department.

Sacred may not be the right word, but it just might be a lucky day after all.


KRE/PH END RINDELS

900 words

Illustration available via https://religionnews.com.

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!