The Sparrow and the #23.

"I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn." -Henry David Thoreau

Interesting story:  I was sitting in the tattoo place with my tattoo guy, David Page getting this done (the final of three appointments), and I decided to watch a movie to kill time.  I chose "The Number 23".  It's a movie about the Enigma 23- the theory that everything somehow relates directly to the number 23.  It took me about an hour to remember that it was November the 23rd.  It also occurred to me later that I had seen my tattoo guy, David Page, over three appointments.  David Page, when you assign each letter a corresponding number and add them all together does not equal 23:

D + A + V + I + D + P + A + G + E

4 +  1 + 22 + 9 + 4 +16 + 1 + 7 + 5  = 69.

But I saw him OVER 3 appointments, so 69 over 3 = 23.

Oh, and the name of the main character in the movie? Walter Sparrow.  Weird, right?

My birthday:  08/10/77.  0+8+1+0+7+7=23.

I don't buy this as a cosmic universal influence, but it is fun to think about.

Here are some interesting facts about the 23 Enigma:

In the Illuminatus! Trilogy, he expresses the same view: that one can find a numerological significance to anything, provided "sufficient cleverness."^[2]

William S. Burroughs was cited by Wilson as being the first person to notice the 23 enigma:^[3][4] Wilson, in an article in Fortean Times, related the following story:

I first heard of the 23 enigma from William S Burroughs, author of Naked Lunch, Nova Express, etc. According to Burroughs, he had known a certain Captain Clark, around 1960 in Tangier, who once bragged that he had been sailing 23 years without an accident. That very day, Clark’s ship had an accident that killed him and everybody else aboard. Furthermore, while Burroughs was thinking about this crude example of the irony of the gods that evening, a bulletin on the radio announced the crash of an airliner in Florida, USA. The pilot was another captain Clark and the flight was Flight 23.^[5]

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The Number 23

1723 A.D.:

The year that Adam Weishaupt revived the Illuminati. The 23 is 2+3=5, going to the Law of Fives. The 17 is also interesting, as 1+7=8, 2 to the 3rd power = 8.

2 / 3 = .666... This stuff can be dangerous.

AOL Chat Rooms:

Only 23 people allowed in a AOL chatroom. Coincidence? Obviously, just an "illuminated" programmer.

Airplane disaster:

230 people died on TWA Flight 800. Only two seats were recovered.  23J and 23K.

Alphabet: The letter W

W is the 23 letter of this alphabet. The symbol for that letter is two points down and three points up. On a standard QWERTY typewriter, the W key is directly below and between the numbers 2 and 3.

E is the fifth letter of the alphabet, and also the most commonly used in the English language. W is the 23rd letter of the alphabet. Half of W is V, which is the roman numeral for 5. Once again, therefore, the inherent connection between 5 and 23 is proven.

Apollo Lunar Landings:

First landing on the Moon was in the Sea of Tranquility, 23.63 degrees East. Second landing was in the Ocean of Storms, 23.42 degrees West. Notice the names of the picked sights and how they contrast. Note: First two landings were Apollo 11 & 12 (11+12= 23!).

April 19th

As in 4-19... 4 + 19 = 23. April 19 is the date the Battle of Lexington, Waco, and the Oklahoma City Bombing... (4+19=23).

Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 and died on April 23, 1616.

Kurt Cobain:

Born 1967: 1+9+6+7=23. Died 1994: 1+9+9+4=23.

Beatles:

The first song on Side A of the Beatles first Album took 23 takes to record.

U2:	U is the 21st letter in the alphabet added to the number two gives you 23.

Zodiac:

The days on which the signs of the Zodiac begin and end are the 22nd and 23rd of most months.

Astrology:

The axis of the Earth (which currently points vaguely at Polaris) describes a circle in the heavens (switching off 'pole stars' and sometimes going without) over a period of 23,000 years. Precision, as this motion is called, also accounts for talk of our entering the Age of Aquarius (we entered the age of Pisces around the era of the birth of the historical Jesus). The Sun will 'be in' each of the '12' Zodiac at Spring Solstice (each being an 'age') during this 23,000 year cycle.

March 23, 1997:

The comet Hale Bopp was at her closest point to Earth, 123 million miles.

Astronomy:

The axis of the planet Earth is 23.5 degrees.

Astronomy:

The number of days in a year on Earth is 365.2422.

August 23, 1970:

Birth date of River Phoenix, actor. Died of drug overdose.

August 23:

Birth date of Keith Moon, original drummer for the Who. Also died from drug overdose.

August 23rd, 1995

David Gottel, a member of Skinny Puppy, died.

Avogadro's Number

The number of atoms of an element in one mole (cf. Atomic Weight) is 6.21x10²³.

Base 3

The number 23, written in base 3, is 212 (2+1+2=5)

Base 4

23 written to the base 4 is 113 (1+1+3=5).

Base 7

23 written to the base 7 is 32 (3+2=5).

Bible: Revelations

The most frequent numbers in the Book of Revelations are 4 (the powerful beasts), 7(seven seals, seven churches, etc.), and 12 (12 apostles, etc.). 4+7+12=23!

Bible

Daniel 8:14: And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

Bible

Psalm 23:The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want...

Biorythm:

The human biorhythm cycle is generally 23 days.

Blood Circulation:

It takes 23 seconds for blood to circulate through the human body.

Ceasar

Ceasar was stabbed 23 times when he was assassinated.

Chromosome Pairs

The human body has 46 chromosomes, which are paired, in somatic cells. Generative cells have half this number, 23, which is the number of chromosomes each parents gives to human deoxyribonucleic acid.

Cigarettes:

The average smoker smokes 23 butts a day.

Clinton:

Bill Clinton's numerical initials are B=2 C=3.

The number of letters in William Jefferson Clinton is 23.

William, W being the 23rd letter of the alphabet.

Computers: World Wide Web

23+23+23=WWW, the World Wide Web is referred by "WWW." W, of course, occupies the 23rd position in the alphabet.

Cults: L. Ron Hubbard &

His Axiom 23: All thought is concerned with motion.

December 23, 1805

Birth date of Joseph Smith, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

December 23, 1913

Passage of the Federal Reserve Act by 3 members of Congress, 2 of which were stockholders of the parent firms of the Federal Reserve Bank.

December 23, 2012

The date the Mayans believed the world will end. Hence why they were really obsessed with time and it's observance.

Dvorák's Symphony No. 9

In Dvoráks Symphony No. 9 in E Minor (5th letter of the alphabet, btw), you hear the morse code for V, the Roman Numeral Symbol for 5. Titled From the New World, probably as in "The New World Order". You also hear the same BA BA BA BUUUMMMMMM (Dot Dot Dot Dash) in Beethoven's 5th Symphony, which he wrote after being "Illuminated" by Adam Weishaupt.

Fallen Angels

Two-thirds of the angels decided to stick it out in Heaven with God after Lucifer and the other third fell.

Film:Airport

In the movie Airport, the mad bomber has Seat 23.

Film:Lawrence of Arabia

Anthony Quinn's character proclaims he has 23 wounds upon his body.

Film:Quiz Show

A waiter chooses 23 when asked for a random number, and the contestant follows with a list of 23 related facts to show his knowledge base.

Film:Star Wars

In the final assault on the Death Star, Luke Skywalker is in Red 5. Red 2 and Red 3 start the bomb runs at 23 degrees. "Stay on target!"

Film:Star Wars

R2-D2 and C-3PO: R2+C3=RC (Rosy Cross, Rosicrucian) and 23.

Film:Star Wars

The cell block where Princess Leia was held on the Death Star was AA-23 on Level 5. A.'.A.'.?

Film:Star Wars

When Luke Skywalker is in the trench during his bombing run, the first number you see on the targeting computer is 23. The next scene that shows the computer shows the number 32.

Film:The Prophecy

In the movieThe Prophecy, the Bible belonging to the dead angel Uziel is bookmarked on the 23rd chapter of Revelations. (There is no known 23rd chapter of revelations).

Film: Happy Gilmore:

The number on Adam Sandler's helmet in Happy Gilmore is 23.

Freemason Henry Price

Henry Price is buried in the cemetery of Townsend, Massachusetts. His monument is an obelisk that measures 69" tall (69 / 3 = 23). On the side of the monument facing west it says:Henry Price "Founder of Duly Constituted Masonry in America." On the east face it says:Born in London about 1697, removed to Boston about 1723, appointed Provincial Grand Master of New England in 1733. The monument is carved on 2 faces, made of 3 pieces - base, block, and cap stone.

Freemasons

The address of the Freemasons lodge in Stafford, England is 23 Jaol Rd. In New York it is on 23rd street.

General Custer:

Custer achieved the rank of General at the young age of 23, the youngest general in the U.S. army at the time.

Harmonic Convergence:

The harmonic convergence occurs every 23,000 years.

Health: Centrum Silver

There are 23 vitamins and minerals in a Centrum Silver tablet.

Hiroshima:

Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945 (8+6+4+5=23).

Human Lifespan:

63 years, the average lifespan of a human being on the planet Earth, is roughly 23,000 days.

Human body:

The number of joints in the human arm is 23.

January 23:

Adolf Hitler organized the National Socialist Congress on January 23. On November 23 he tried to seize power.

On January 23, 1968 the USS Pueblo was hijacked off of North Korea. The crew was held exactly 11 months until December 23, 1968 when they were released after being beaten by soviets to give back an intercepted USSR message stating plans to start a nuclear war with Red China.

July 23, 1996:

"Mysterious Eyes" of comet Hale-Bopp first sighted.

July 23:

More reported UFO sightings on this day than any other day of the year. This is the flapday of the year.

July 23rd:

July 23rd is both the Sumerian and Egyptian New Years.

June 16th, 1904

(19 + 04 = 23) The day James Joyce uses in Ulysses, who mentions the General Slocum disaster the day before repeatedly within this book.

Knights Templar:

October 13 (10+13=23) is the month and day that the Knight Templars were arrested in France... hence Friday the 13th being considered a day of bad luck.

The Templars had only 23 Grandmasters. Jacques de Molay was the 23rd and last of the Templar Grandmasters.

Latin Alphabet:

There are 23 letters in the Latin alphabet.

Level of ONE:

The newest front society of the Illuminated, the 23rd level of the ONE is reported to be the last level attainable (achieving departure from Earth).

Literature:

In Dickens' Tale of Two Cities, Sidney Carlton, the 23rd man, is guillotined in the final scene." The murmuring of many voices, the upturning of many faces, the pressing on of many footsteps in the outskirts of the crowd, so that it swells forward in a mass, like one great heave of water, all flashes away. Twenty-Three."

The Catch-22 of Joseph Heller's book/film: "If a bomber-pilot don´t want to fly missions then he´s sane, for mission-flying is deadly dangerous. If a bomber does want to fly missions then he´s insane for missions-flying is deadly dangerous. The only way to stop flying missions is to be insane, but if the flyer does want to fly missions then why shouldn't he go on? No way out (23)."

Literature:

Lines 22-23 of Book I of Milton's Paradise Lost read, ".... what in me is dark Illumine, what is low raise and support..."

Male Sex Cycle:

23 days in the male sex cycle (according to Tantrists).

Mathematics:

The Hex equivalent of 23 is 17, therefore all references to the number 17 are indirect references to the number 23.

Mathematics: Primes

23 is the first prime number in which both digits are prime numbers and add up to another prime number.

Two (2), three (3), and five(5) are the first three prime numbers in our counting system. (1 is not prime, it's an identity.)

Mathematics:

Square root(s) of 2,3, and 5 are used in respect to tetrahedral hyperdimensional physics and perfect form in design. Square root(s)of 2, 3, and 5 supposedly relative to D&M Pyramid on Mars and other similar relationships. Also these square roots were quite common in early architecture and considered the most aesthetically pleasing in design.

Mathematics:

23 Axioms in Euclid's Geometry.

Two-thirds of numbers which are divisible by 2 are not multiples of 3.

Microsoft:

There are 23 buildings on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington.

Mob:

Gangster "Mad Dog" Coll was shot on 23rd Street when he was 23 years old; a year later, Dutch Schultz (who paid for the Coll assassination) was himself fatally shot on October 23, 1935. Marty Krompier, king of the Harlem numbers racket, was non-fatally shot on the same October 23, 1935. ("It's got to be one of them coincidences," he told the police.) Shultz's killer, Charlie Workman, served 23 years of a life sentence and was then paroled. Coll is buried in St. Raymond's Cemetery.

Money:

There are exactly 23 plainly visible characters (letters & numbers) on the front of all U.S. Coins.

Nissan brand cars:

Nissan is a brand of Japanese cars. In Japanese, "ni" is 2, and "san" is 3. So Nissan would be 23.

Nixon:

The Articles of Impeachment meant for Richard Nixon were under Article 2, Section 3 of the Constitution. In the sweetest irony, Hillary Rodham Clinton, was one of the young lawyers who helped research the constitutionality of impeaching a reigning President.

October 23, 4004 BC

According to Bishop Usher in his Annales Veteris Testament (Annals of the Old Testament), the supposed date of God's creation of the world is October 23, 4004 BC.

Parliamentary Procedure:

23 votes are required to rescind a Motion.

Physics:

On average every 23rd wave crashing to shore is twice as large as the average wave.

Physics:

The name of the Uranium isotope used in bombs is U235.

The symbol for the 23rd element is V (roman numeral 5).

Qabbala:

In the Qabbalistic Tree of Life, the 23rd path is associated with the Hanged Man Tarot Card. Aleister Crowley also states that this card represents the concept that the only way OUT is WITHIN!

September 23:

The Fall Equinox.

September 23:

Yom Kippur.

Shakespeare:

Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 and died on April 23, 1616. 23+23=46. Shakespeare was 46 years old in the year 1610 (1+6+1+0=8, 8=2³), the year the King James Bible was published. Psalm 46 in that translation has as its 46th word "shake" while the 46th word from the end is "spear." Shakespeare.

Space Program, Russian:

On March 14, 1997, NASA representative states that MIR 23 space station is having problems resulting from the February 23, 1997 fire and has used 23 of their oxygen-generating canisters. It is the 23rd day aboard for the Russian crew. Progress 233 supply vehicle has problems of its own and cannot redock with MIR.

Sports: Ryne Sandberg

Number 23 on the Chicago Cubs, holds MLB record for consecutive errorless innings, 123. The 1 in 123 added to 4, the numerical designation for second base equals 5, adhering to the law of fives.

Sports:

23 World Series have been won by the New York Yankees. Also they won their first World Series in 1923. Ah, statistics.

Sports:

Michael Jordan's shirt number is 23, which is also the day of his father's murder.

TV:	Popeye is seen repeatedly pondering the number 23 in many of his 1970's TV Cartoons.

On Sesame Street, Bert is a member of the National Association of W Lovers. W is the 23rd letter of the alphabet.

TV:	Ten-Thirteen (10+13=23) is the name of the production company famed for producing shows like the X-files and Millennium. 10-13 is the Birth date of creator Chris Carter and the day the Knights Templar were arrested in France in 1307.

Agent Mulder goes to the apartment of a recently deceased man in one episode, and we see the number 23 on the door as he is let in.

Max Headroom broadcast on Network 23.

Unabomber:

The Unabomber allegedly hurt or killed 23 people.

Victory/Peace hand sign:

Consisting of five fingers: 2 up to form a Roman Number V, 3 fingers down.

Video:

After the Rodney King verdict, a Korean shopkeeper during the L.A riots can be clearly seen shooting at looters from the roof of a building in front of a large sign proclaiming the number 23 and nothing else.

W:	W is the 23rd letter in the alphabet.

W, the only letter in the English language to be pronounced polysyllabically, is 23rd in line. Note also that it is a double(2)-u and that has three(3) syllables.

Snippets.

Ron Paul has nothing good to say about the Wall Street bailout plan

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) may no longer be running for president, but that doesn't mean he slunk away quietly and is simply tending to his re-election bid (though there may not be much to do, since he's running unopposed). The free-market, small-government libertarian had plenty of harsh words about the Bush administration's proposed Wall Street bailout plan when he appeared on CNN's "Late Edition" today. WOLF BLITZER ("Late Edition" host): What do you say to the president who wants you and your fellow Republicans and Democrats to quickly pass this $700 billion bailout package? PAUL: Well, I think that's a mistake because we don't have the money. But that doesn't mean you have to do nothing. I mean, we could reform the system. We could return to sound money. We could balance our budget. We could change our foreign policy. We could take care of our people at home. We could lower taxes. There's a lot of things that we can do. But the worst thing that we can do is perpetuate the bad policies that gave us this trouble in the first place, and that is that we no longer, over the last quite a few decades, believed in free-market capitalism. Capital is supposed to come from savings. We're supposed to work hard and save. As a matter of fact, the Chinese work hard, right now, and they save, and they're buying up the world. But we borrow and spend and consume, and now it's caught up to us and it's undermining our whole system. ... So this $700 billion is not going to do it. Paul also argued that ... ... contrary to the White House's contention, this plan does not help Main Street. "This is Wall Street in big trouble and sucking in Main Street, now, and dumping all the bills on Main Street. ... And you can't solve the problem of inflation, which is the creation of money and credit out of thin air, by more money and credit out of thin air, and not changing policy. We have to change basic policy. "Yes, it would be painful, but it wouldn't last so long. What they're doing now, they're propping up a failed system so the agony lasts longer. They're doing exactly what we did in the Depression." "So, yes, there are going to be losses, but everybody lived beyond their means when the prices of houses were going up. Nobody cared about it. They kept borrowing against it. Oh, yes, that was fine and dandy. Everybody was making money, and the owner of the home kept borrowing and living beyond their means. Now they have to live beneath their means. "What the government is doing now -- and this new program is trying to prop up prices. You want the price structure to adjust. You want the price of houses to go down. You don't want to fix the price of housing. You can't price-fix. We've had too much of that. "We need a market economy. We need to believe in ourselves. We need to believe and understand how the economy got us -- how the government got us into this mess. And believe me, it wouldn't be that tough. It would be a bad year. But, this way, it's going to be a bad decade." Paul had nothing but disdain for Republican presidential nominee John McCain's suggestion to create a new government entity to deal with the crisis, calling it "just more of the same, more government, more programs, more spending, more regulations, trying to prop up a system that has been undermined." He did say that Democratic candidate Barack Obama "has a pretty good grasp on how to attack this politically and go after McCain, but he doesn't have any answer. He's not talking about the Federal Reserve system. He's not talking about balanced budgets. He's not talking about bringing troops home from Afghanistan." And, as Paul has said before, his choice for president will be "neither one of those two. They don't offer any alternatives." -- Leslie Hoffecker Photo credit: Associated Press / J. Scott Applewhite Credit companies are one thing- as long as they use the $ to extend credit to small businesses (not to buy out dead banks or issue golden parachutes to newly-fired CEO's). But shoveling cudrillions toward a dying auto industry to help prop up contracts with unions? Nope. Nobody is even talking about the effect that injecting $1Trillion dollars into the market will have on inflation and the value of the dollar. The US used to make TV's too. They don't now, but we're all still alive and we have 4 TV's per household instead of one. It's like the Grateful Dead sing: we will get by.

Voted Yes on 8 or 102? Thank Barack!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/05/eveningnews/main4502738.shtml

African Americans and Latinos voted in record numbers this election.  70% of them voted in favor of the gay marriage ban, compared with 48% of whites.  Crunch the numbers: The gay marriage bans would not have passed had Barack Obama not won the presidency in the fashion he did.

Nick Vujicic

How much whining have you heard lately?  Waaahhhh! We have a socialist president elect.  Waaahhh! The economy sucks and half my retirement is gone!  Waaahhhh! This guy puts things into perspective.

Philoctetes

Lately, I have been reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road.  It is both inspiring and depressing.  So, when I want to read, but don't want to lapse into a funk, I pick up a book that my great friend Clark Dana shared with me called The Joy of Reading by Charles Van Doren. 

Yesterday I read about Philoctetes, and was inspired to do a little more research.  Most of the stories surrounding the Trojan war were recorded and recounted by all the Greek playwrights, but the story of Philoctetes is only found in a play written by Sophocles.  Philoctetes was the greatest archer among the Mycenaeans (Greeks).  He had inherited Hercules' bow, and was drafted by Agamemnon to fight against Troy.  He was bitten on the foot by a snake during the journey.  The wound never healed (over more than ten years), and festered and smelled so awful that Odysseus and the men on the ship decided to leave him on an island.

Philoctetes on the island of Lemnos.

Ten years after leaving him there, Philoctetes has survived, and a seer tells Odysseus that they will not defeat the Trojans unless they retrieve Philoctetes and his bow.  Odysseus returns for him, but Philoctetes is irate.  He hates the men who left him, and his pain has never subsided from the wound.  Odysseus steals his bow, but later returns it in an act of compassion and expresses regret for having left him on the island.  Philoctetes initially refuses to accompany them, but is told in a vision that if he fights in Troy, he will be great in battle and his wound will heal.  He goes with them, slays many Trojans (including prince Paris- the one who killed Achilles, and stole Helen from Agamemnon and started the war in the first place).  His wound, as promised, was also healed.

Literary critic Edmund Wilson wrote a book called The Wound and The Bow based on the story of Philoctetes.  In it, he discusses the theme of the indespensible man with the magic instrument.  Wilson states that most geniuses (people who have a great gift or talent to offer the world) are often like Philoctetes.  They possess a gift of immense value, but suffer from an incurable psychic wound, a neurosis that can only find relief in the expression of their gift.  He sites artists as an example.  Their malady is only relieved in the expression of their art.

Edmund Wilson

Consider the great writers, painters, composers, and others- men and women apart, living lives of suffering on lonely islands of their own making and finding their only happiness in their art.  Wilson claims that, as Odysseus was commanded to do, we must always invade their loneliness that in the end they may find peace.  

This theory is so interesting to me because the theme applies to so many historical figures, especially in Greek writings- Oedipus, Antigone, Achilles, etc.  It also has some practical application, as we all have neuroses and talents, wounds and bows to be healed and shared with the world.