Is the 23 in your life?
Finally got around to watching Jim Carrey's The Number 23 the other day. I'm not sure that it received blockbuster status in the theaters, but I loved it. Though it was billed more as a supernatural thriller, it was actually (without spilling spoilers) more of a psychological detective story. Carrey's character becomes aware of a lot of occurrences of 23 in his life. The more he looks, the more he sees, which leads to a mystery brilliantly summed up by verse 32:23 from The Book of Numbers: "And be sure your sin will find you out."
The film is inspired by a real-life phenomenon, that I've been fascinated/obsessed by for some time, called the 23 Enigma. The 23 Enigma suggests that all events are connected to the number 23, and the connection can be discovered through ingenuity on the part of the interpreter. The amazing connections aren't so obscure, however. They scream 23.
One of the earliest to subscribe to the 23 Enigma was beat poet William S. Burroughs. For him, it was not just the unusual frequency of the number; it was that in any coincidence he would find the number 23. When he was in Tangiers in the 1960s, Burroughs met one Captain Clark, a ferry captain who boasted of not having had an accident for 23 years. That night the boat sank, killing Clark and everyone aboard. Later that evening, Burroughs heard a radio broadcast about a plane crash. The pilot's name was Captain Clark. The flight number was 23. After that day, Burroughs kept a record of similar coincidences. Throughout his journal, 23 recurred over and over.
The 23rd letter of the alphabet is W. On the typewriter keyboard, W lies directly below the 2 and 3. The earth's axis is on a 23-degree tilt. Twin towers falling on the 11th day of the ninth month of 2001 (2 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 11 + 9 = 23!). The first Morse Code transmission - "What hath God wrought?" - was from the Bible passage Numbers 23:23. The Chernobyl disaster happened on April 26, 1986 at 01:23 am and the power plant is located at 51?23′23″N, 30?5′58″E, near Pripyat, Ukraine. William Shakespeare: born on April 23, died on April 23. William Shakespeare's first portfolio was published in 1623. Julius Caesar was allegedly stabbed 23 times when he was assassinated. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper died on February 3 (2/3). Psalms, the longest book of the Bible, is the 23rd book of the Old Testament. Hannah Kersey, a woman with 2 wombs, gave birth to 3 girls (2/3) when she was 23 years old. Michael Jordan was known for his jersey number 23. The Titanic sank the morning of April 15th, 1912 (4 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 9 + 1 + 2 = 23). There are 46 chromosomes, but 23 pairs, 23 from each parent. The list goes on and on!
I got married on 10/13 (10+13=23), at the age of 23!
The film is inspired by a real-life phenomenon, that I've been fascinated/obsessed by for some time, called the 23 Enigma. The 23 Enigma suggests that all events are connected to the number 23, and the connection can be discovered through ingenuity on the part of the interpreter. The amazing connections aren't so obscure, however. They scream 23.
One of the earliest to subscribe to the 23 Enigma was beat poet William S. Burroughs. For him, it was not just the unusual frequency of the number; it was that in any coincidence he would find the number 23. When he was in Tangiers in the 1960s, Burroughs met one Captain Clark, a ferry captain who boasted of not having had an accident for 23 years. That night the boat sank, killing Clark and everyone aboard. Later that evening, Burroughs heard a radio broadcast about a plane crash. The pilot's name was Captain Clark. The flight number was 23. After that day, Burroughs kept a record of similar coincidences. Throughout his journal, 23 recurred over and over.
The 23rd letter of the alphabet is W. On the typewriter keyboard, W lies directly below the 2 and 3. The earth's axis is on a 23-degree tilt. Twin towers falling on the 11th day of the ninth month of 2001 (2 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 11 + 9 = 23!). The first Morse Code transmission - "What hath God wrought?" - was from the Bible passage Numbers 23:23. The Chernobyl disaster happened on April 26, 1986 at 01:23 am and the power plant is located at 51?23′23″N, 30?5′58″E, near Pripyat, Ukraine. William Shakespeare: born on April 23, died on April 23. William Shakespeare's first portfolio was published in 1623. Julius Caesar was allegedly stabbed 23 times when he was assassinated. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper died on February 3 (2/3). Psalms, the longest book of the Bible, is the 23rd book of the Old Testament. Hannah Kersey, a woman with 2 wombs, gave birth to 3 girls (2/3) when she was 23 years old. Michael Jordan was known for his jersey number 23. The Titanic sank the morning of April 15th, 1912 (4 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 9 + 1 + 2 = 23). There are 46 chromosomes, but 23 pairs, 23 from each parent. The list goes on and on!
I got married on 10/13 (10+13=23), at the age of 23!
Labels: obsessions
posted by Jeremy at
9:23 PM
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