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Some of the oldest religions which adopted the number seven include: the Egyptians who had seven gods, Parsees seven angels, Persians seven sacred horses, and Phoenicians seven mysterious kabiris gods. (The kabiris were so mysterious that the Phoenicians didn't know for certain how many there were, but they believed seven nonetheless.)
Here we look at current religions and other ideologies which also incorporate seven in their doctrinal views and theological or philosophical perspectives.
In the 6th century Pope Gregory the Great defined a set of seven negative attributes that must be avoided. He instructed the best way to avoid these sins was to adopt seven positive attributes. The three Theological Virtues defined by St. Paul (faith, hope and love) added to the four Cardinal Virtues (prudence, temperance, courage and justice) give us the Seven Heavenly Virtues.
For the Seven Deadly Sins, there are Seven Contrary Virtues. There are also medieval instructions for helping others, giving us the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy and there are Seven Sacraments.
Seven appears in the Bible much more frequently than other numbers. See Seven in the Church.
Next up... Islam:
Islam teaches seven heavens and seven articles of faith:
The phrase "seventh heaven" originates from both Islam and Judaism, which posit that the seventh (Life after Death) is the highest and most exalted. The extended meaning of "a state of intense happiness" can be traced back to the late 1700s.
In the philosophies of Indian yoga, Chakra is a centre of spiritual energy in the human body. There are six of these wheels spinning away, stacked vertically from the base of the spine to the top of the head. And there's a seventh which is above all these, beyond the physical body. Different cultures at various times have described chakras differently, and a popular understanding is that the seven chakras correspond to different aspects of a human being:
Minority groups also revere the number seven.
Iraq is home to the Yazidis (known to themselves as Daasin) who recognise seven great spirits emanating from the supreme being and Creator known as Yasdan. The greatest of these seven spirits is the Peacock Angel known as Malak Taus. The peacock was a symbol of immortality because the bird replaces its feathers every year and when the peacock's body dies, its flesh does not appear to perish. Persecution from other religions, however, is causing Yazidism to perish.
In Hermeticism, a set of seven principles is outlined in the Kybalion, a key text of Hermetic philosophy. These principles comprise mentalism, correspondence, vibration, polarity, rhythm, cause & effect, and gender.
In Europe and elsewhere are fascists who see three sevens as an anti-anti-Christ; their profound and deep-thinking rationale being that 777 is the result of adding 111 to the demonic 666. And that makes perfect sense... to them.
Numerologists associate the number seven with enlightenment, spiritual insight and introspection.
Alchemists believe the number seven is associated with transformation and the quest for knowledge. It is seen as a number that bridges the physical and spiritual realms.
Occultists frequently employ seven sacred symbols or items, such as the heptagram (seven-pointed star) or the seven sacred herbs: basil, mint, thyme, sage, rosemary, lavender and dandelion. Those seven frequently appear in European folklore and herbalism.
Other parts of the world with different plant species have a different heptad (set of seven). For example, some Native American tribes have seven sacred herbs such as sage, sweetgrass, cedar, tobacco, juniper, pine and bearberry.
Harry Potter fans will be familiar with wiccan and pagan traditional use of the following ingredients for rituals and spells: mugwort, yarrow, rosemary, sage, lavender, thyme and mint. (The writer of this page can attest that the latter of those does indeed offer protection. Planting peppermint near geraniums effectively protects them from being nibbled by mice. Mint also makes a lovely cup of tea.)
Some occultists believe the number seven is the basic structure of the universe, though the more traditional religions agree with rationalists that the structure of the universe is more complex than that.
USA, Las Vegan gamblers see triple seven as a winning line on a slot machine. Being dealt three sevens in blackjack is a winner. The opposite sides of a six-sided die always total seven. For two six-sided dice, seven is statistically the most common combined number of two rolled dice.
The Korean-based Unification Church has special prayers, anniversaries and important events organized around seven-year intervals. On the completion of a Seven-Year Course on 21 October 1970, the Church's founder and leader, Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012), conducted a simultaneous marriage blessing ceremony for 50 couples. On the completion of another Seven-Year Course on 1 August 1975, he officiated in a marriage blessing ceremony for 777 couples.
Japan has lots of superstitions about the number seven, and we tried to identify the seven most popular. But there were far too many to choose which should qualify.
There are the famous seven gods of course, seven bushido, seven samurai, and even "777" in some of Japan's public toilets!
Too many to list here, so please see the special page: Lucky Seven in Japan.
Back to the main seven page.
