Is 7 your lucky number?

YOUNGSTOWN — The number seven. Where would we be without it?

Without seven, six and eight would be stuck next to each other.

We couldn’t have seven seas, seven deadly sins, seven wonders of the world, seven brides for seven brothers, seven days of the week, seventh heaven or seven dwarves.

Seven is an important number in religion. God rested on the seventh day after creating the world. Noah had seven days to gather the animals. Seven priests with seven trumpets were to encompass the walls of Jericho for seven days, and on the seventh day, the city fell into the hands of Israel.

Muslims turn around the Ka’bah seven times, throw seven stones on Satan in Pilgrimage, and prostrate on seven bones.

This year however, seven is going to get even more play than usual.

Last year was the year of the sinister 6/6/06 (666 is referred to as the Number of the Beast in the Book of the Revelation). Next year will be the year of the Crazy 8/8/08s.

This year, we’re gambling on lucky seven.

Saturday’s date, 7/7/07, is significant for many gamblers, because for them, seven is the ticket.

Why? Maybe it grew to be thought of as   lucky because of all those religious references.

For the complete story, see Thursday's Vindicator and Vindy.com.