A Really Scary Day?

Tal Gottesman

 Where are you today? Behind the sofa with the doors bolted and the windows nailed shut? At work but feeling a little tense? Or perhaps you’re totally relaxed and scoffing at all those who thought that, yet again, the world was going to end when the clock struck midnight and the date became 06-06-06. 

Whichever of the above states applies, be assured that you too have somehow bought into this superstition-based marketing dream. 

The number 666 is used to refer to the beast in the Bible’s Book of Revelations, and consequently today’s date has prompted various ominous theories and an excuse to scaremonger in many parts of the globe.  Jumping right onto the bandwagon as always is Hollywood – with the synchronised release of the remake of the1976 Horror classic The Omen, which will have crowds heading for the big screen in droves to get a taste of delicious fear on the most appropriate day.

There was even greater hysteria on the eve of the millennium – supermarket shelves were stripped bare of batteries, canned goods, and toilet paper; because many of us became convinced that the ‘significance’ of the date was bigger than just a combination of numbers.  Of course, now we know that nothing happened and we all continued as normal the next day – albeit with extra batteries. But did we learn anything? It doesn’t look like it.

The tendency to search for hidden meanings and publicly prophesise is growing, mainly thanks to the commercial exploitation of the gullible and naïve masses – and I mean you and me. The Da Vinci Code is the latest phenomenon to add fuel to this ever spreading bush fire, and now we all want to search, participate, and discover.

Taken with the proverbial pinch of salt, it’s just a bit of fun. Don’t walk under ladders, don’t break mirrors, don’t open an umbrella indoors…and be careful on 06-06-06 because a big monster might come and eat you.  Or someone you know called Damien  might start acting really scary.

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Six things you didn’t know about 666

1. The fear of the number 666 is called hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.
2. 666 is a brand of American cough syrup made by the Monticello Drug Company.
3. There is a German house band called 666.
4. Film director Stanley Kubrick who produced cult horror movie ' The Shining'  (1980) died 666 days before January,1, 2001.
5. The Exorcist was edited at 666th Fifth Avenue.
6. The Japanese yen comes in coins of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500. If you have one of each coin, you have 666 yen.

*  See: The-Latest blogs 'International Day Of The Slayer', '666:The Number Of The Beast' and 'Is Omen Day Lucky?'