Made in Macao | The superstition of seven

Jenny Lao-Phillips

The number seven has many representations in different cultures. From the biblical point of view, the creation of our world was done in seven days. The Book of Revelation makes reference to the Lord with seven stars in his hand, who walks amongst the seven-candle lamp stand. There is  also  reference to the seven -spirits of God. Then there are the beasts: a lamb with seven heads and seven horns, and a dragon and a leopard-like beast – both with seven heads. Further, even those who are not familiar with religion know of the seven deadly sins.

Religious representation aside, we are born into a world full of “sevens”. We have seven days a week, a rainbow with seven colours, there are seven continents, and seven wonders of the ancient world. Everywhere we look, there is the number seven. Even in popular literature that we read from childhood, we always encounter the number seven. How many of us remember the first fairy tales most are told? There is “Snow White” who meets the seven dwarfs, and “The Little Mermaid”, Ariel, who is youngest of seven sisters.  Even as we grow up, popular reads are surrounded by seven: there are seven books in the Harry Potter series, and what is the code of the world’s most famous fictional spy on Her Majesty’s mission again?

Research has shown that when asked what one’s favorite number is, most people automatically pick 7. In Western culture, the number 7 is considered lucky, perhaps because of its significance in the number of ancient wonders, and the many things in our lives that relate to the number 7. But mathematicians and scientists believe that there is something appealing about the number 7 that may be cognitively related. According to the mathematician Alex Bellos, our minds tend to split numbers in half whenever we see them, and odd numbers that cannot be divided in two seem more appealing to our minds. That said, 7 split in half is 3.5 so I don’t see why odd numbers are more special. Anyway, Bellos also explained that our minds tend to round up numbers to 10, so the number 5, right in the middle does not appeal to our minds as much. Further, the number 3 seems mundane as we see things in groups of 3 all the time. So, 7 is the choice of most.

Whether the number 7 is really a lucky number or not is a matter of one’s culture. It is considered one of the unlucky numbers in the Chinese culture. Firstly, the seventh month of the lunar year is the Month of the Hungry Ghosts, which we believe means that the door to hell is opened and ghosts roam around looking for food, or a replacement. A replacement is to get someone to die the same way they did, and that person takes their place in hell. So, the seventh month is not good for doing anything, not even going out at night.

The Chinese also believe that the mourning of the dead lasts seven times seven days, forty-nine days to be exact. On the seventh day after someone passes away, it is believed that the spirit of the dead would return to visit its family, or haunt its enemies. Then, every seventh day for seven weeks during the mourning period there is a memorial feast during which seven dishes will be served at the dinner.

Therefore, during meals, especially celebratory events, it is unlucky to order seven dishes. If it turns out that you have unknowingly ordered seven dishes at a meal, don’t panic, simply order one more, a soup or whatever, you can then turn an unlucky meal into one of prosperity, the lucky eight.