Superstition, numerology and the curviest of numbers factor into the 8/8/08 equation
By Aaron Wells
Friday is under a lot of pressure this week.
It's not the regular "start of the weekend pressure." Rather, millions of people around the world expect Aug. 8, 2008 or "8/8/08" to be a particularly auspicious day.
Some seek power or change, some expect good fortune and wealth - others hope for everlasting love. With a barrage of planned weddings, record lottery sales and the opening of the Olympics in Beijng, 8/8/08 has a lot riding on its curvy shoulders.
It has Western numerology and Chinese superstition to thank.
In Chinese tradition, the number eight is considered to be lucky. The pronunciation of the number in Mandarin and Cantonese sounds similar to the word for "wealth" or "prosperity," resulting in a long and close association between the number and good fortune.
In Asia, to have an eight in your licence plate has become something of a status symbol. Some drivers pay more for a licence plate with multiple eights than for the car itself.
In 2003, Sichuan Airlines paid 2.33 million yuan (approximately $230,000) at auction for the rights to use the phone number 028-88888888 for their flight information and reservation line.
The modern numeral eight is also linked to the shuang xi, a Chinese decoration composed of two characters for the word "joy" or "happiness" that look somewhat like a stylized "88."
Ventures beginning on a date with three eights are considered to be triply prosperous. Little wonder then that the Chinese Olympic Committee scheduled the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics to begin on Aug. 8, 2008 at 8:08:08 p.m.
But the Olympics are not the only game in town on 8/8/08. Casino attendance is expected to swell and forward-thinking obstetric wards are preparing for larger than usual numbers of deliveries.
Aug. 8, 2008 is also an extremely popular date for weddings, with the possibility of outstripping last year's "lucky sevens" date of July 7, 2007. But the triple-eight date has meaning beyond the association with prosperity, especially for couples who have chosen the date for weddings.
When San Diego natives Michelle Alvarado and Michael Hayforth wed in Del Mar on Friday, the eights may be lying down, but they will still be hard at work, spreading symbolism.
"If you turn 8 on its side, it's the symbol for infinity." Alvarado said. "And, we will be married forever."
Hayford and Alvarado, who have known each other since middle school, wanted the special date for their wedding even though it doesn't fall on a more convenient weekend day. But they weren't the only ones looking to book the idyllic location at Sea Grove Park.
"We got a late start on the planning." Alvarado said. "By the time we decided on Sea Grove Park, it was already reserved."
However, luck was still with them. The other party didn't provide the down payment so the park became available.
Mathematically speaking, there is nothing inherently portentous about the number eight. It is not a prime number. It has four factors. It can be expressed as two to the third power or the root of 64.
Nonetheless, eights play familiar roles in nature, in history and in our everyday lives. The "byte", the commonly used unit of information storage in modern computer systems, is composed of eight "bits" or binary digits. Spanish "pieces of eight" were the de facto world currency through the 17th and 18th centuries. And the axial tilt of the Earth combined with its solar orbit causes the Sun to trace a figure eight pattern called an analemma across the sky in the course of a year.
Facts such as these about the number eight are happenstance to some, yet spiritually or metaphysically meaningful to others.
The number eight has religious resonance for faiths around the world. Buddhists follow the Eightfold Path towards enlightenment. The Torah holds that the bris should be performed on the eighth day after birth. Many Hindu gods have eight aspects. In the Christian tradition, "the eighth day" references both eternity and the resurrection of Christ.
Western numerology, based on the study of the esoteric relationships and significance of numbers, regards the number eight to be one of great power, structure, balance and change.
"When you draw the number eight, you don't have to stop to lift your pen from the page," said Terry Lamb, local numerologist and astrologer. "[The center] of the number, where the lines cross, is a nexus which gathers power."
And where powerful energy gathers, the potential for significant events increases, Lamb says. 8/8/1988 saw the start of the popular 8888 Uprising against the Burma's socialist regime, for example. But those who have planned weddings, gambling junkets or say, the Olympics, for Aug. 8, 2008 needn't worry.
"While the day is numerologically significant, it is not astrologically significant," Lamb said.
The solar eclipse of Aug. 1 will have passed and the lunar eclipse of Aug. 16 will still be a week away, so the heavens themselves are unlikely to add their metaphysical weight to that day.
That does little to blunt the enthusiasm of those with events planned for 8/8/08. And whether it's prosperity, balance, fortune or change that you're seeking, it never hurts to have three eights on your side.
Aaron Wells is a Carmel Valley-based writer. He can be reached at aaronwells1@gmail.com.
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