11 + 11 + 11 = 2
11 + 11 + 11 = 2 - Numerologists the world over take 11/11/11 as cue to say 'I do'. For some it marked a peculiarly auspicious time to begin a lifetime of marriage; for others it was simply the perfect excuse to don a wardrobe's-worth of corduroy. Whatever its significance, for many people worldwide, a date reading 11-11-11 was just too good an opportunity to miss.
This was particularly the case in numerology-obsessed east Asia, which witnessed a rash of weddings. In Shanghai there were almost 5,000 marriage services, while around 300 ethnic Chinese couples gathered for a mass service near Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Vietnam's commercial capital, Ho Chi Minh City, meanwhile, saw 80 couples celebrate together.
In recent years 11 November has become known around China as "singles' day", with the numeral one supposedly representing "bare sticks", a term for the country's numerous bachelors. The once-a-century occurrence of six ones in one date was thus seen as an ideal occasion to end this status.
If that weren't enough, adding up all the numbers in the full version of the date – six ones and a two – made eight, a number traditionally associated with wealth.
On the other side of the world the self-proclaimed marriage capital of Las Vegas was not about to be outdone. The Viva Las Vegas wedding chapels reportedly boasted 200 bookings, four times the daily average. Another enterprise, the Chapel of the Flowers, was running 15 hours of back-to-back weddings in its three chapels, ending at 11.11pm. In Britain 53 couples – 51 weddings and two civil partnerships – tied the knot at the traditional wedding destination of Gretna Green, on the border of England and Scotland.
In some countries the date was also considered auspicious for a birth. Health officials in South Korea were obliged to deny reports of a rush for caesarean sections. The reported reason for this was in part to give offspring an auspicious start to their 13-digit national ID number, which begins with the six numbers of the birth date.
Elsewhere, the reasons for marking the date became progressively more arcane. The US-based corduroy appreciation club, which venerates every 11 November as the date that best represents their fabric of choice, was understandably excited, encouraging aficionados to don at least three items made from the material for their meetings.
Meanwhile, numerologists not based in Asia were enjoying their moment in the sun. Sonia Ducie, from the Connaissance School of Numerology in Royston, Hertfordshire, had earlier described the date as "a very good day for negotiation and making peace". She had added: "Great things could happen in Europe, creating more stability." Sure enough, austerity measures moved along in Greece and Italy and stock markets rose.
via: guardian
