Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-02-19


occult philosophers writes: eth
number seven, therefore, because
consists OF three and four, joins til,
soul to the body" The same write
says elsewhere: "The number sever
is of various and manifold power
In the theory of the occult philoso
pliers the number seven plays mos
important part in the life man, ant
this is the way they divide a man.
years: After the first seven days al
infants eyes can bear the light; afte
twice seven days it seeks the light
! it the third seven days
trrns its head freely. After sew
en- months it gets teeth; afte
the second seven months it sits with
out fear of falling; after the thirC
seven months it begins to ospeak aftel
the fourth seven months it stands
strongly and walks; after the fifth
seven M onths it is weaned. Aftel
seven years it loses its first teeth
after the second seven years comes
the change from boyhood to youth
at the third seven years the change
from youth to manhood; after the
fourth seven years there is never
any increase of stature; in the fifth
seven years a man il in his prime
of strength; the seventh seven years
they attain their perfection of wis
dom and the perfect age Of men; but
when they come to the tenth seven
years they reach the turn of life
Plato, in the Timacus, also said thai
God creates the soul of seven por.
tions.
The alchemists, too, laid much
stress on the number seven, inasmuch
as that was the number of their
famous "bodies'-gold for the sun,
silver for the moon, iron for Mars,
quicksilver for Mercury, lead for Sat-
urn, tin for Jupiter and copper for
Venus. Tee champions of Christen-
dom were seven in number-St.
George for England, st. Andrew for
Scotland, St. Patrick for Ireland, st.
David for Wales, st. Denis for
France, St. James for Spain and st.
Anthony for Italy. The mortal sins
are seven in number, as are also the
virtues. Rome was the seven-hilled
city; the senses are also accounted
to be seven in number. Then
there are the seven sorrows of Mary,
the seven times that Christ spoke on
the Gross. the seven wise men Of
Greece and the seven wonders of the
world. In the life of Rienzi the num-
ber seven plays very curious part.
1t was The 7th day Of October that his
foes yielded to his power. For seven
months he reigned Tribune. Seven
years was the length of time he spent
in exile, and during seven weeks after
his return he had no enemies. His
return, by the way. too, took place
October 7th. The number of crowns
awarded him by the Roman converts
and councils was also seven.
Here, also, from another source, is
an odd use of this number: Frederick
1. OF Germany, who is known in le-
gend as Barbarossa, and who, accord
ing to tradition, never died, but is
still sleeping in Kyffhaueserberg, in
Thuringia, once in seven years chang
es his position. Charlemagne also
starts In his chair from sleep once in
seven years. Ogier, the Dane, clangs
his iron mace on the floor once in
every seventh year; and Olaf Red
beard OF Sweden once in seven years
uncloses his eyes. 1t may not be
known to many people that Wales
also boasts of seven wonders. They
are Snowden, Pystyl Rha' a'adr Water
fall, St. Winifred's Well, Overton
Churchyard, Grisford Church Bells,
Wrexham Steeple and Llangollen
Bridge.
But it is in the Scriptures that this
number appears oftenest as of special
significance. Among the Hebrews
the word for swearingis ''septenare,"
or protest by seven. Abraham, you
will remember, appointed seven eve
lambs as his testimony to the cove
nant with Abimelaeh. The Creator
rested from His work on the seventh
day and this day was called Sab
bath, or seventh. A leprous person
was either to bathe seven times OF
be sprinkled seven times with the
blood OF sparrow. Seven years was
the period for repentance. Every
seven years the Hebrew servant de-
manded liberty for himself. And the
Prophet praised God seven times day
Cain we are told, was to be revenged
seven-fold. The gifts of the Holy
Ghost were said to be seven in mum.
ber; and in the presence Of the
Almighty seven Angels stand, as We
are told in Tobias. Seven lamps burn
before God, and throughout the whole
Book Of Revelations the number
seven is constantly used. Jacob
served seven years for Leah and seven
more for Rachel. Then there are the
seven ears Of corn and the seven kline.
It was seven people that possessed
the land of promise in Deuteronomy
and the story Of Samson tells how he
kept his nuptials seven days, and then
was bound with seven green withes.
Among the occulists, again, there
are in the planets seven birds, seven
fish, seven animals, seven metals and
seven stones. Seven habitations like.
wise of the Intervals are described by
the Rabbi Joseph, the Cabalist Of Gas.
tilla, in the "Garden of Nuts"
This number entered very largely
into the Egyptian ordinances and
worships. The feast of April lasted
seven days. Osiris was killed wher
7x4 years old; his body was cut in Tx
pieces; their priests Of the dead were
7x6, and their period of modification
7x6 days; 7x10 days was the duration
of mourning for the dead. Among
the Brahmis, the great cosmic egg
which contained Brahma, broke il
twain, and one part formed the sever
realms of heaven and the other tn,
seven regions of earth.-[Philadelphis
| News.
| Catullus-Ode Xxx.
| My love says she would single be
| If she must othe r wed than me;
| Fen should great Jove, in person, WOO,
| Yet. even then, would she betrue,
i O ~