Joe R. Frinzi is an independent author, movie lover and critic, and the partner-in-crime for Kafka the Kat, who writes his own pithy memoirs.
By guest author Joe R. Frinzi
As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has been associated with a great deal of symbolism in religion, mythology, superstition, and philosophy, not to mention pop culture. For most of my life I’ve had a fascination with the number seven. I remember being captivated as a young boy by the number 7 seen on the back of New York Yankees star, Mickey Mantle. He was a hero to many a young boy in the late 1950s into the ‘60s. But that’s just the beginning of my obsession with the number seven.
Let’s begin with the overarching theme of the world, itself, and the universe in which it’s encompassed. There are, not counting the distant stars, seven Celestial Objects visible to the naked eye—the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. There are the Seven Seas and the Seven Continents. And our calendars are ruled by Seven days in a week. Someone liked the number Seven, so much, it was decried that there should be Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. However, they didn’t stop there.
In religion and myth, there are the Seven Deadly Sins, the Seven Virtues, Seven Plagues, Seven Sacraments, Seven Sorrows of the World, Seven Graces, not to mention Seventh Heaven. There’s the Seventh Son of the Seventh Son, and 7/7 The Song of Solomon. There are the Seven Seals in Biblical revelation, as well as the Seven Spirits of God, often depicted as a slain lamb with seven horns and seven eyes. There are Seven Chakras in the human body, Seven Psychic Circles of the mind, and Seven Circles in Hell (according to Dante, at least). There are Seven Cities of Gold, Seven Hills of Rome, and T.E. Lawrence’s book, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. But wait, there’s more!
There’s the book, Seven Years in Tibet, by Heinrich Harrer, that was made into the 1997 film starring Brad Pitt, Seven Maidens all in a row, Seven Swans a Swimming (in the “12 Days of Christmas” song), and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. There’s 7 Up and Seagrams 7, without which you cannot make a true 7-and-7 cocktail. In music, there’s Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, not as famous as his 5th or the 9th, but still a standout piece of music. In film, we have The Seven Year Itch, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, 7th Cavalry, The Return of the Secaucus 7, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, Seven Psychopaths, Seven Days in May, Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao, The Seven Little Foys, James Bond Double-O Seven, David Fincher’s creepy serial killer thriller titled simply Seven, plus, the classic western, The Magnificent Seven, and Sherlock Holmes and the Seven Per Cent Solution (which was the mixture of cocaine he indulged in). Television gave us 77 Sunset Strip, the 7 o’clock News, and the character named “Seven of Nine” from Star Trek Voyager. There’s also 7-Eleven, your go-to convenience store.
And then there’s Number 7, Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees. That “7” on his back was like a real superhero emblem to me. Curiously, New York has seven letters, as does Yankees, and so does stadium. Make of that what you will! I’m currently in my seventh decade of life at 69, and will turn 70 in March of next year. My dear mother passed away in 2012 at the age of 77 years, a number I hope to surpass. Time will tell, but I suspect that the number 7 will continue to be an important part of my life.
Publisher’s Note: We previously mentioned Joe in this blog entry.
Parisian Phoenix Publishing 
Leave a comment