Eight: Not always great?

It seems that folks can be so preoccupied with the dangers of 666 that they don’t even get to contemplate the sometimes-sorry fate of eight.

It’s not that eight is never great.  The Chinese consider it to be one of the luckiest of numbers, especially insofar as financial abundance is concerned.  In fact, the Chinese word for “eight” (Pinyan: ba) sounds very much like the Chinese word for “prosper” or “wealth” (Pinyan: fa).  However, these aren’t just pennies from heaven.  Carmen Lynne, in her video Power & the Number 8 in Numerology, explains that because eight is associated with the planet Saturn, those under its influence have to work hard for their wealth.

Eight is associated with good fortune in many other cultures, as well.  Ridingthebeast.com points out that the configuration of eight often denotes infinity and perfection.  The Egyptians viewed it as a symbol of balance and cosmic order.  It is used as a “symbol of the cosmic Christ.”  Clement of Alexandria believed that “the Christ places under the sign of 8 the one he made to be born again.”  For Pythagoreans, this number was a symbol of love, friendship, prudence and thinking.  The Japanese also associate eight with prosperity.

Wikipedia lists many religious associations with the number eight.  The Dharmacakra (Buddhist “Wheel of Life”) has eight spokes, representing the Noble Eightfold Path.  In Judaism, brit milah (circumcision) takes place on the eighth day of the baby boy’s life.  Shemini Atzeret, otherwise known as the “Eighth Day of Assembly,” immediately follows the seven days of Sukkot.  In Christianity, the Sermon on the Mount includes eight Beatitudes.  Islam tells of eight angels that carry “the Holy Throne of Allah” in the heavens.

In the Wiccan Wheel of the Year there are eight Sabbats (“festivals, seasons, or spokes”).  The Hindu Goddess Lakshmi “has eight forms.”  Eight is also a number that is commonly used in Scientology (as in OT8, “the highest level”).

So what’s not to like?  Unfortunately, even some of the luckiest people find themselves behind the eight ball at times.  Astronlogia.com reports that “the revolutionary 8 in numerology” is believed to sometimes bring “more misfortune and pain than good.”   Although the numerological influence of Saturn can allegedly bestow great wisdom and saintliness, Astronlogia.com warns that it can also bring “pain, violence, sufferings, mishaps, losses, delays, failures, inferior nature, suicidal nature, and renunciation in terms of its negative traits.”

Resources

http://www.ridingthebeast.com/numbers/nu8.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_in_Chinese_culture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_(number)

http://astronlogia.com/2009/07/29/the-power-of-number-8-in-numerology/

http://www.ehow.com/video_4466880_power-number-8-numerology.html

Copyright February 11, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved