Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia (pronounced: hexa-koseeoi-hexe-konta-hexaphobia) (derived from Ancient Greek roots ἑξακόσιοι (six hundred), ἑξήκοντα (sixty), and ἕξ (six); literally meaning "fear of [the number] six hundred sixty-six") is the fear[3] that originated from the Biblical verse Revelation 13:18, which indicates that the number 666 is the Number of the Beast, linked to Satan or the Anti-Christ.[4]
[edit] Examples
A prominent example is Nancy and Ronald Reagan who, in 1979, when moving to their home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles, had its address—666 St. Cloud Road—changed to 668 St. Cloud Road.[5][6]
The phobia has been a motif in various horror films such as The Omen and the 2006 remake of The Omen. The number of the beast also appears in other crime films such as Pulp Fiction.
Some women also expressed concern on giving birth to a child on June 6, 2006 (06/06/06).[7] When the BBC News Magazine Monitor made the definition of "hexakosioihexekontahexaphobiac" the subject of its "Daily Mini-Quiz" for June 5, 2006, it announced on June 6 that 88.8% of the respondents got the answer right.[8]
Another example of hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia comes from the Dutch Christian organisation Stichting Opwekking ("Revival Foundation"). When their songbook would have reached the number 666 in May 2007 they decided to skip the number "because of the sensitivity amongst people".[9] Another reason for excluding this number was that it would be the last song of that year: they release new Christian songs in their Revival songbook every year around Pentecost and the number 666 would be on the front page of their songbook. As a result the Revival songbook skips from 665 to 667. Christian critics described this exclusion as a superstitious act.[10]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Greek Numbers and Arithmetic
- ^ St. John's Revelation. Chapter 13
- ^ Kottler, Jeffrey; David Chen. Stress Management and Prevention: Applications to Daily Life. Cengage Learning. ISBN 9780495117858.
- ^ Prayer vigil targets Devil's Day BBC News. Monday, 5 June 2006, Accessed 21 September 2007
- ^ "THE REAGANS: First Family Easing Into Private Life". Los Angeles Times. Nov. 19, 1988.
- ^ "In Arcadia real estate, 4 is a negative number". Los Angeles Times. May 21, 2011. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-arcadia-numbers-20110521,0,6077634.story. Retrieved 2011-05-21. "Supporters say changing building numbers isn't such an unusual thing. After all, they say, when President Reagan left office, he and Nancy took up residence at 666 St. Cloud Road in Bel-Air but had the address changed to 668 to avoid the 'number of the beast.'"
- ^ Allen-Mills, Tony (April 30, 2006). "Mothers expect Damien on 6/6/06". London: The Sunday Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2158015,00.html.
- ^ "The Magazine Monitor". Daily Mini-Quiz results. BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5047848.stm#tue. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
- ^ Drukte bij Opwekking om getal '666' Kerknieuws.nl
- ^ Er komt geen Opwekking nr. 666 Ichthus Groningen Forum
