Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia
There's a word for it. There's an actual phobia and everything. Fear of the number 666. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised.
Will the world end? Will someone give birth to the antichrist? Will Satan reclaim control?
Thirteen may be an unlucky number, but the Book of Revelation claims 666 is the number of the beast.
And not since the Y2K computer scare of December 31, 1999 has a date received so much attention.
Jesuit priest Richard Leonard from the Australian Catholics Bishops Conference said the furore was so great, there were reports some Australian women did not want to deliver their babies on this date.
"Parents can take heart from the fact that June 6 is not 06/06/06 at all," Father Leonard said.
"We know from other historical sources and from the New Testament … that Dionysius' (who complied a list of dates of Jesus' birth, death and resurrection) dating was out.
"We assume that Satan knows that the sixth day of the sixth month in '06 was in fact the sixth of June 2002."
So there you have it, direct from a Jesuit. You're four years overdue if you're worrying about today. But if you have a four year old celebrating a birthday today, I strongly recommend you do NOT attend the opening of the remake of The Omen.
Oh, and goat heads are right out.
UPDATE: And Michael Covington weighs in with a bit of analysis. The real Da Vinci code if you will. I'd still stay off the goat heads.
UPDATE: Might as well make this post the repository of all things related to today's date.The Sidney Morning Herald, The Washington Times and AFP all weigh in. The AFP story is about a group in the Netherlands who are out to protect us all through prayer on the "Devil's Day". I gotta go find me a coconut.
UPDATE: And finally, the Washington Post also has extensive coverage. There are a lot of people trying to cash in on this date. Isn't capitalism wonderful? I think I'll stop collecting these links now. I don't want to attract the wrong kind of attention or anything…. Uh oh. That was the sixth external link. I'll be hiding for the rest of the day.
Weird Stuff | Gaius Tuesday, 6 June , 2006
By Roland Hesz, Wednesday, 7 June , 2006 @ 8:56 am
I heard that the number of the beast was 621 originally. And a couple of other numbers.
And finally the people editing the Bible agreed and set on 666.
So, why is that number so special (apart from being all sixes, which must be an evil number as is shown in MSN Messenger devil head (6))?
By Gaius, Wednesday, 7 June , 2006 @ 9:04 am
According to numerologists, six is a “good” number. Whatever that means.