Reflecting on the numbers 7 and 13

As a child, I always thought my lucky number was seven, but not because of any event. It just was. Since I had an Irish grandmother, the number 13 was scary and unlucky. It never occurred to me why I thought these two numbers were so important.

Then, I took a cruise along the Mexican and Central American coast with several stops. Two of those stops were in Cozumel and Belize, where we were exposed to much of the Mayan culture and history. Several lectures explored the rich empires of the Maya and Aztec. Here, I again heard of the importance of these two numbers. So, I had to read a bit.

The number seven is perhaps the most revered number because of coincidence of nature and history. There are seven deadly sins, seven seas and seven wonders of the world. But these are sevens that have arisen as we created religion and discovered the world. Think of all sevens that were around long before. There are seven colors in the rainbow, seven days of the week, seven joints in the body, seven notes in a scale and seven openings in the face.

These were available for importance even back in Mayan times. So, seven has always been a recurring number.

But how about 13 as an unlucky number? That took a bit more study. The ancient Hammurabi Code had 282 rules, punishments and crimes, but from its very existence, there was no rule No. 13. It was the only missing number.

Then came Norse mythology. The story is told of a dinner party of the gods with 12 invited guests. Unannounced, a 13th god, Loki, arrived. This arrival caused chaos with one of the gods – Hoder, the god of darkness – who was blind, and who then fatally shot the god Blader, the god of joy and goodness.

More recently, the fateful number is found in the Last Supper, where Jesus and his 12 Apostles gathered on Thursday the 12th. The last guest, one of the 13 attendees, was Judas. He is said to be the betrayer of Jesus. This betrayal led to the arrest of Jesus the next day, Friday the 13th!

How did all of this lead to further understanding of some of the Mayan culture, and how did it play a part in the purposes and design of their many monuments and pyramids?

The Mayan people have been around since at least the 1800s B.C., although there is some evidence that the culture had been around for as many as 1,000 years before. They created a written language around 700 B.C., and by then, the people had begun farming instead of just hunting and gathering. In addition, the rise of religion took place.

Around 300 B.C., a political change found a king and nobles in place for the first time. By 50 B.C., with royalty and religion in full swing, pyramid building started. Many city-states had been formed, and warfare was not far behind. In the coming years, many city-states vanished, including Teotihuacan, one of the largest. Over the next 1,400 years, things just continued to decline.

By 1547, the Spanish were arriving in full force, with explorers such as Hernan Cortez invading and seizing silver and other valuable assets of the people. But finally, in 1821, Mexico was recognized as a country and secured independence from Spain. Thus, many of the Mayan areas were included in this secured freedom. Discovery by outsiders of the Mayan creations began, but the real analysis of this group’s well-developed civilization was brought to the world in the 1960s.

One of the most interesting discoveries of the Mayan intelligence is how they determined how many days constituted a year. Here come seven and 13. I learned that those two numbers also were significant to the Mayans. Seven was the most special, and 13 was considered the luckiest number.

Wow, didn’t most of the world find 13 unlucky?

Well, most of the Western culture sees it as bad. Many hotels and office buildings have no 13th floor. People often act very carefully on Friday the 13th. But how did the Mayans illustrate the importance of these two numbers? And how do we know or conclude this?

The proof may be in their construction of pyramids and statues. Often, the creations have seven parts or layers of stone. The real test is at the famous pyramid Chichen Itza in eastern Mexico. I had the pleasure of seeing that pyramid perhaps 20 years ago and was even allowed to climb it, something no longer allowed.

The pyramid is made up of 91 very narrow steps and has four sides. But how does that tie into our numbers? First, the Mayans had one day that did not count and was a day of reflection.

Now, look at the number 91. It is the product of seven times 13. The pyramid has four such sides. Multiply four times 91, and we get 364. Add the one special day, and we arrive at 365, the Mayan calendar for a year.

Coincidence? If the two numbers hadn’t appeared in many other places in Mayan history, perhaps. But since we can see the importance of seven and 13 in other places, there’s quite a compilation. The math shows a calculation that almost perfectly matched the days in a year.

There is more to this trip that ended with one of my lifelong desires of going through the Panama Canal. I will share that with you later, but for now, perhaps let’s not fear 13 so much.

One more strange incident in my writing this article. I have numbered my creations from the beginning, and this one was 767. It took my daughter, Lacey, to notice something odd about that number – seven plus six is 13, leaving a 7. Just like the Mayan numbers.