666!

Today is June 6th, 2006, which shortens to 6/6/06, the famed “number of the beast” from Revelation, the final book of the New Testament and inspiration to countless Antichrist movies.

The demonization of the number 666 stems back to the Babylonians, who were practitioners of numerology, which was based on their astronomy and their advanced understanding of mathematics and their base-60 counting system. They determined that a year was 360 days (pretty accurate, considering their level of technology), and it’s from them that we get 360 degrees in a circle, and our “60 seconds in a minute, 60 miniutes in an hour”.

They had 36 minor gods ruled by a sun god. Each of the minor gods was assigned a number between 1 and 36. each with a designated number between 1 and 36. The whole pantheon was expressed by adding all their numbers together — 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 and so on, all the way up to 36. The sum of these numbers: 666. Since 666 represented the pagan pantheon, it ended up becoming the number of the beast.

And thus a number of urban legends and heavy metal albums were born.

It’s also the National Day of Slayer, and what better day than the day Ann Coulter releases some more birdcage liner in convenient bound form?

Have a good one folks, and if you must play Slayer, go for either Reign in Blood or Seasons in the Abyss.

As a bonus treat, I give you Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast. Enjoy!