Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.

Seven (7) denotes spiritual perfection. It reflects the work of the Holy Spirit as the power of God as a hallmark does. It is the mark of life and divides the periods of reproduction in animal life. It is the number of rest and the cycle of rest in the jubilee. It is also the period of return to God in rest and return to His law and that is why the Law is read in the Sabbath year of the cycle.

By Andrew Harris 6 July 1999 ©
Last Modified Tue, 21 Aug 2001 11:58:12 GMT
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Introduction

In the Hebrew, seven ([b'v, - Sheh'-bah) is from a root word meaning to be complete or full. This can be clearly seen from the first time a varient of this word is used in the Bible.

1Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Genesis 2:1-3

God rested on the seventh day because his work of creation was complete, entire, perfect. Thus seven represents this perfect completeness and also it represents rest, as in the rest that is taken from work. It is from this same word that the Sabbath, the day of rest comes. But as well as this spiritual perfection, seven seems also to be used in another way in scripture.

"Born as the 7th month dies..."  I'm sure there are more, but don't have my books with me now.

July was named for the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, organizer of the
Julian Calendar in 46 BC, which remained in use until 1752, when the
Gregorian calendar was adopted.
The birthstone for July is the red ruby. It symbolizes love, and an
open heart. The ruby is the carrier of the red ray, and helps the
wearer to gain courage. Ruby is worn to improve circulation and the
richness of the blood. Associated with the sign Leo, it strengthens
the heart center leading to the will, and through compassion turns
personal love into love of humanity. The ruby is not limited to Leo,
but is supportive of all fire signs. Its contrasting properties are
associated with Shiva the destroyer, and correlated with the process
of purification.

Quote (CrumplehornedSnorckak @ July 11 2005,11:10 am)
"Born as the 7th month dies..."  I'm sure there are more, but don't have my books with me now.  


More about our 7th month.  For obvious reasons JKR has picked the 7th month as Harry's birth month

Quote  
July was named for the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, organizer of the
Julian Calendar in 46 BC, which remained in use until 1752, when the
Gregorian calendar was adopted.
The birthstone for July is the red ruby. It symbolizes love, and an
open heart. The ruby is the carrier of the red ray, and helps the
wearer to gain courage. Ruby is worn to improve circulation and the
richness of the blood. Associated with the sign Leo, it strengthens
the heart center leading to the will, and through compassion turns
personal love into love of humanity. The ruby is not limited to Leo,
but is supportive of all fire signs. Its contrasting properties are
associated with Shiva the destroyer, and correlated with the process
of purification.

Diamond, I think you already mentioned the Emerald Tablet and the Pyramids of Giza; is the Tablet supposed to be concealed beneath them?

Seven notes in the musical scale.

"Ah, music! A magic beyond all we do here!"

Homer Simpson's "Do Re Mi Beer"
Dough, the stuff that buys me beer
Ray, the guy who sells me beer
Me, the guy who's drinking beer
Far, a long way to go for beer
So, I'll have another beer
La, I'll have another beer
Tea, no thanks, I'm having beer
that will bring us back to

D'oh!

Quote  
Seven notes in the musical scale.  


What does DD say about music?

Quote  
"Ah, music! A magic beyond all we do here!"

The first of these fundamental primordial sacred cosmic laws, namely the law of Heptaparaparshinokh, is formulated by cosmic Objective Science in the following words: The flow of forces follows a line that constantly deflects at specific intervals and unites again at its ends. According to this primordial sacred cosmic law, the line of the flow of forces has seven points of deflection or, as is otherwise said, seven 'centers of gravity,' and the distance between two consecutive points of deflection, or 'centers of gravity,' is called a 'stopinder' of the sacred Heptaparaparshinokh.' The complete process of this sacred law, acting through everything newly arising and existing, is always made up of seven stopinders.  

The seven fundamental tones of the octave express the law of seven. The addition to it of the Do of the next octave, that is to say, the crowning of the process, gives the eighth step.

By Andrew Harris 2 March 1999 ©
Last Modified Tue, 21 Aug 2001 11:58:36 GMT
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Introduction

Eight is seven plus one, and is hence the start of a new order, the beginning of a new era. Eight thus represents regeneration and resurrection. When the flood washed the earth clean, in a type of baptism, eight people were saved in the ark.

Eight is seven plus one, and is hence the start of a new order, the beginning of a new era. Eight thus represents regeneration and resurrection. When the flood washed the earth clean, in a type of baptism, eight people were saved in the ark.

'Many prophecies there are of times to come,and those days are even said to be at hand, when the Fourth Monarchy, which is the Intellectual reign of Truth and Peace, shall predominate, when the Mother of Sciences will come forth, and greater things be discovered than have been hitherto in the past monarchies of the world. But we do not tarry about these matters; the Revelation of all things is always at hand for him who knows how to investigate, and the rest will be always far behind. If truly there be minds prepared, or if the great era approaches more rapidly than is given us yet even in faith to foresee (for notwithstanding so many signs that are appearing, all signal rumours of a coming change, yet they are fewer and far between and more rare yearly which indicate the progression of Truth); but if, we say, a better age is approaching, which at some period of time must come, when abundance of all things by an equitable distribution of all, shall help to break down the competitive barrier of society, and introduce a co-operative alliance among mankind, then this incentive to inquiry may not be inopportunely offered in the self-discovery of truth.'

Curiously enough Paracelsus also connects the establishment of the 'Fourth Monarchy' or Millennium with a rediscovery of Alchemy and a universal knowledge of the secret of transmutation of metals.

'Then will the Old Art flourish, and no heed be given to the New.
'Then shall the Pearl so long lost be found by an humble one, and will be set, as a jewel, in gold."

He also said something that LV should keep in mind:  'Truth is the power to understand if you wish the world to spin in the palm of your hand.'

Solstices again. Trelawney said something about the winter solstice, didn't she? But what I find most interesting is that, as most people here know, Voldemort's wand is made of yew, which is associated with the winter solstice, regeneration and longevity (in a nutshell).

Is there a connection? I don't know, but it'll be fun to speculate.

Could this be anything to do with LV’s rebirthing potion?  I just wondered if there's any connection with what LV did to try and achieve immortality - taking blood from Harry, his sworn enemy?  Might he also have "sold his soul" to someone all powerful for the promise of living forever?  

it is also true that the Buddhists took from the Aryans of India, not from Egypt, their idea of seven stages of progressive development of the disembodied soul ...

There are Seven Ages of Man.  

The Seven Muses: History, Poetry, Comedy, Tragedy, Music, Dance and Astronomy.

The Seven Medieval Arts: Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Music, Arithmetic, Geometry, and Astronomy - which are also called the Seven Liberal Arts because they are intended to liberate us from a mundane life.

In many societies every seventh year is a "Year of Release". It is the statute of limitations for various crimes and debts, slaves are set free after seven years, planted fields are allowed to rest, etc.

In Greek Mythology, seven is the symbol of the Virgin. It is not possible to construct a perfect heptagon or to divide the circle into seven equal portions using only simple geometer's tools. Hence, seven is indivisible, unconquerable, and virginal.

7 From earliest times this number was associated with celestial beings and spiritual forces; seven days in a week, the seven known planets (including the sun and the moon); the 7 evil spirits, the seven levels of a ziggurat (astral tower built by the Babylonians--the most famous being the Tower of Babel); according to St. Augustine, seven symbolized the perfection of God--he created the world and rested on the seventh day; Christian life is ordered by seven: seven capital sins, seven virtues, seven sacraments.

Why seven? A brief overview of the history. The number seven was considered sacred not only by all the cultured nations of antiquity and the East, but was held in the greatest reverence even by the later nations of the West. The astronomical origin of this number is established beyond any doubt. Man, feeling himself time out of mind dependent upon the heavenly powers, ever and everywhere made earth subject to heaven. The largest and brightest of the luminaries thus became in his sight the most important and highest of powers; such were the planets which the whole antiquity numbered as seven.

In course of time these were transformed into seven deities. The Egyptians had seven original and higher gods; the Phœnicians seven kabiris; the Persians, seven sacred horses of Mithra; the Parsees, seven angels opposed by seven demons, and seven celestial abodes paralleled by seven lower regions. To represent the more clearly this idea in its concrete form, the seven gods were often represented as one seven-headed deity. The whole heaven was subjected to the seven planets; hence, in nearly all the religious systems we find seven heavens.

Other seven facts and uses:

   
   * Did you know that the Seven Senses include animation, feeling, speech, taste, sight, hearing and smelling? A current belief about the number seven is that if you include it in the price of a product you are selling (especially over the Internet), you will sell more. It is truly a magic number in that sense, because it works.

Have you ever heard of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son? Seven is the most mystical and magical of numbers, and in the lore of folk magic, the seventh son of a seventh son is believed to be born with formidable magical and healing powers: he is clairvoyant, capable of casting powerful spells, and possesses the ability to heal by a laying on of hands. This reminded me of a rather unusual story called The Seventh Father of the House. A folktale from Norway, this story tells of a traveler who asks permission to stay the night and is directed to a series of fathers until he finds the oldest and seventh ("the true father of the house"). For some reason, this has always been an unsettling story for me, but one I remember. You can find a copy of it included in Jane Yolen's Favorite Folktales from around the World.

Additional thoughts about numbers and storytelling. As I was searching for stories that included seven in the title, or seven objects and/or characters within the story, I was struck with how many stories and story titles include a number. Of course, there are a huge number with "three" and there are a range of stories with "twelve," "six," "four," and "two."  Why Don't We Find Stories with Fives or Eights?

The first chakra is located at the base of the spine and is associated with red. It is the chakra that governs our physical existence, our bodies and our health.

The second chakra is located in the area of the womb (or thereabouts for men) and is associated with the color orange. This chakra governs creativity, and some say emotion. (I associate emotion with the heart chakra).

The third chakra is located at the solar plexus and is associated with the color gold (yellow). It is associated with the will or desire.

The fourth chakra (the middle chakra in the chain of seven) is the heart chakra and is associated with the color green, and also the color rose, which is the "color of love." This chakra is connected with emotion and human love.

The fifth chakra is located at the throat and is a bright blue. It governs communication and personal magnetism. It is the chakra that most influences intercommunication and our "personas." It is also the link between emotion and thought.

The sixth chakra is located at the third eye (mid-forehead) and is indigo (deep purply/blue). This chakra is associated with thought (though some say the third chakra governs thought) and with vision, particularly psychic vision. It is also the chakra of spiritual love and connection.

The seventh chakra is at the crown of the head, and is violet fading to white further away from the body. This chakra is our connection to our "higher selves" and to the "divine." It is associated with wisdom and integration of our eternal selves with our current physical selves. It is like our umbilical cord to "God."

MA: Does she have a larger importance; the Tom Riddle stufff, being the seventh girl —

JKR: The backstory with Ginny was, she was the first girl to arrive in the Weasley family in generations, but there's that old tradition of the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter and a seventh son of a seventh son, so that's why she's the seventh, because she is a gifted witch.  I think you get hints of that, because she does some pretty impressive stuff here and there, and you'll see that again.

And does anyone else think that Ginny will still be there for Harry, even though he has said that they have to break up?

Or even Snape, helping them without their knowledge? (I know, I know, that's really going out on a limb, isn't it. But maybe my wild speculation will trigger a more rational thought by someone else.   )

I've had my fill of Harry and Ginny snogging, but I would like to see her help fight the good fight.

I would think that if it were Gryffindor's sword, Dumbledore would have destroyed it by now, but there might be some other relic there.

Wenlock, Bridget (1202 - 1285)
Famous Arithmancer who discovered the magical properties of the number seven (fw22).

Check out the new wizard of the month!  If you do not want to go to the link, look at the last post above!!!!