Everyone from brides and grooms to movie studio execs are celebrating the upcoming calendrical anomaly in their own way.
In Florida, at least one country clerk’s office is offering a one-day wedding special for $ 99.99. The rarity of this Sept. 9 hasn’t been lost on the creators of the iPod, who have moved their traditional Tuesday release day to today to take advantage of the special date. Focus Features is releasing their new film “9” an animated tale about the apocalypse, on the 9th.
Not only does the date look good in marketing promotions, but it also represents the last set of repeating, single-digit dates that we’ll see for almost a century (until January 1, 2101), or a millennium (mark your calendars for January 1 3001), depending on how you want to count it. Though technically there’s nothing special about the symmetrical date, some concerned with the history and meaning of numbers ascribe powerful significance to 09/09/09. For cultures in which the number nine is lucky, Sept. 9 is anticipated – while others might see the date as an ominous warning.
Math magic: Modern numerologists – who operate outside the realm of real science – believe that mystical significance or vibrations can be assigned to each numerical one through nine, and different combinations of the digits produce tangible results in life depending on their application. As a final numerical, the number nine holds special rank. It is associated with forgiveness, compassion, and success on the positive side as well arrogance and self righteous on the negative, according to numerologists. Sept. 9 also happens to be the 252 day of the year (2+5+2)…
Loving 9: Both China and Japan have strong feelings about the number nine. Those feeling just happen to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. The Chinese pulled out all the stops to celebrate their lucky number eight during last year’s s Summer Olympic, ringing the games in at 8 p.m on 08/08/08.
What many may not realize is that nine comes in second on their list of auspicious digits and is associated with long life; due to how similar its pronunciation is to the local word for long-lasting (eight sounds like wealth). Historically, ancient Chinese emperors associated themselves closely with the number nine, which appeared prominently in architecture and royal dresses, often in the form of nine fearsome dragons. The imperial dynasties were so convicted of the power of the number nine that the palace complex at Beijing’s Forbidden City is rumored to have been built with 9,999 rooms. Japanese emperors would have never worn a robe with nine dragons, however.
In Japanese, the word for nine is a homophone for the word suffering, so the number is considered highly unlucky – second only to four, which sounds like death. Many Japanese will go so far to avoid room numbers including nine at hotels or hospitals, if the building planners haven’t already eliminated them together.
