wesdgreat
06-18-2006, 08:32 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/23_%28numerology%29
The 23 Enigma is a belief that the number 23 is of particular or unusual significance, especially in relation to disasters.
Unusual circumstances being linked to 23 are mentioned by William S. Burroughs. He tells the story of meeting a ferry captain named Clark who claimed to have sailed the same route without an accident for 23 years. That very day, however, the ferry sank. Later that day, Burroughs writes, he was thinking about Clark's ferry accident when he heard that a Flight 23 on a New York-Miami route had crashed. According to Burroughs, the pilot's name for the flight had also been Clark. Burroughs began collecting incidences of the number 23 in a scrapbook and referred to them in his writings.
The 23 Enigma can also be traced to Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's novels The Illuminatus Trilogy (there called the "23/17 phenomenon"), Wilson's Cosmic Trigger I: Final Secret of the Illuminati (there called "The Law of 23s"), as well as to the Principia Discordia. In these works, 23 is considered to be alternately lucky, sacred to the goddess Eris, or just plain weird. The Principia quotes "The Law of Fives" in explaining this, as 2+3=5. The electronica group The KLF, who referenced The Illuminatus Trilogy extensively, also contrived the appearance of the number 23 throughout their work, in promotional material and in the cataloguing of their releases.
The link to disasters also corresponds with hexagram 23 of the "I Ching", P'o, translated as "Splitting Apart." The hexagram pictures a time in which inferior people surreptitiously overthrow the superior.
Though certain numbers have long been linked to unusual coincidences (13 and 17 also being favorites), the 23 Enigma could be just an example of apophenia. There is also the fact that 23, being a fairly low number, occurs often in the media, current events, and daily life. Skeptics point out that it appears probably no more often in conjunction with catastrophe or coincidence than 22 or 24, while believers often enjoy hunting for ways in which 23 is "revealed."
The 23 Enigma is a belief that the number 23 is of particular or unusual significance, especially in relation to disasters.
Unusual circumstances being linked to 23 are mentioned by William S. Burroughs. He tells the story of meeting a ferry captain named Clark who claimed to have sailed the same route without an accident for 23 years. That very day, however, the ferry sank. Later that day, Burroughs writes, he was thinking about Clark's ferry accident when he heard that a Flight 23 on a New York-Miami route had crashed. According to Burroughs, the pilot's name for the flight had also been Clark. Burroughs began collecting incidences of the number 23 in a scrapbook and referred to them in his writings.
The 23 Enigma can also be traced to Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's novels The Illuminatus Trilogy (there called the "23/17 phenomenon"), Wilson's Cosmic Trigger I: Final Secret of the Illuminati (there called "The Law of 23s"), as well as to the Principia Discordia. In these works, 23 is considered to be alternately lucky, sacred to the goddess Eris, or just plain weird. The Principia quotes "The Law of Fives" in explaining this, as 2+3=5. The electronica group The KLF, who referenced The Illuminatus Trilogy extensively, also contrived the appearance of the number 23 throughout their work, in promotional material and in the cataloguing of their releases.
The link to disasters also corresponds with hexagram 23 of the "I Ching", P'o, translated as "Splitting Apart." The hexagram pictures a time in which inferior people surreptitiously overthrow the superior.
Though certain numbers have long been linked to unusual coincidences (13 and 17 also being favorites), the 23 Enigma could be just an example of apophenia. There is also the fact that 23, being a fairly low number, occurs often in the media, current events, and daily life. Skeptics point out that it appears probably no more often in conjunction with catastrophe or coincidence than 22 or 24, while believers often enjoy hunting for ways in which 23 is "revealed."