Monday, February 21, 2022

Numbering Daze

    Tuesday, the second day of this week in this the second month of the year is numbered as the twenty-second day of the month.
   Or to phrase it numerically, the date is 2/22/22.
   So does this have any mystical significance, or is it just a coincidence of numbering the days?
   Numerals are one of the greatest contributions by the Arab world to the rest of us. Otherwise, we would be using Roman numerals for the date, which would be written as II/XXII/XXII.
  The scientific world  would not be what it is today without Arabic numerals or algebra, which is an Arabic word.
   That, of course, is by the way, and has nothing to do with politics, government or international affairs. But does the deuce sequence have any mystical significance?
   Other numbers do, and that raises the question of coincidence or a serious connection.
   Seven and eleven are considered lucky. Thirteen is not. The number twelve appears so often in societies around the world as to provide strong evidence that it is indeed significant.
  Thirteen has long been labeled unlucky, and many tall buildings in large cities do not use those digits when labeling floors. Rather, they go direct from twelve to fourteen.
   Also offered as evidence is the calamity of the American lunar voyage named Apollo 13. The space ship was launched shortly past 2 p.m. Eastern time, but Mission Control headquarters in Houston, in the Midwest time zone one hour behind Florida, used a 24-hour standard, which meant launch time was 1313 hours.
   Apollo 13 was launched on a Monday, the eleventh day of the month. Two days later, on Wednesday the 13th, the space ship suffered a major operational issue, and the crew was  lucky to get home safely.
   So why are some numbers considered lucky, and some not? What part does culture play in labeling some numbers lucky and others not? Or is the phenomenon independent of culture?
   Numerous writers have documented how often the number 12 appears in societies around the world, and there are too many examples of all these appearances to be passed off as coincidental.
   Here are just a few examples: 12 months to the year, 12 inches to a foot, 12 hours in the morning and 12 in the afternoon, 12 steps to sobriety, 12 tribes in ancient Israel and 12 apostles in the modern religion, as well as 12 years in the traditional Chinese calendar.
   Now we see a gathering of the number two in the calendar this year. Were other gatherings also significant?
   Past examples would include 1/1/11; 3/3/33; 4/4/44; 5/5/55; and 6/6/66. And what happened some 100 years ago, on the date 2/22/22?
   Does history repeat itself?
   We'll know tomorrow.

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