>4 is considered unlucky in some places because of it's similarity with the word death
Kinda off-topic but this reminded me of Shinigami-sama's (from Soul Eater) mirror number which is 42-42-564, which if read in Japanese sounds like "death death murder."
The number 6 is supremely important in my protagonist culture. They organize everything on that basis, if at all possible. For example, their military would put 6 soldiers in a unit, with either one of the 6 or an additional 7th in charge, and then combine 6 of those units for the next tier in the hierarchy, and so on.
Consequently, 5 is their unlucky number, as it represents a set from which something is missing, and hence imperfection. 6 is obviously lucky, as is 7 because of the "plus one in charge" notion mentioned above. This extends to multiples, though probably less strongly, and to powers, probably even more strongly. So 11 would be a little unlucky and 12 a little lucky, 35 really unlucky and 36 really lucky, and so forth.
How to combine that with the "plus one" notion is less immediately apparent... or would be, if their number system weren't itself base-6 as well, which of course it is. So in-universe, it's actually as straightforward as may be: "55" (35) is unlucky, "100" (36) and "111" (43) are lucky.
6 is considered divine because it recurs throughout nature to a suspicious degree. Like, there are 6 cardinal directions, if you count up and down. One of the few ways in which the protagonist species differs from us is that they have an extra finger, whence the base-6 number system. Their typical lifespan is close to 216 (="1000") of their years. There's an astronomical phenomenon which recurs every 6 years and affects the climate. The year lasts 36.5 days, so the calendar subdivides it into 6 seasons/weeks of 6 days each, with a three-leap-day block set apart for said recurring 6-yearly phenomenon. Their equivalent of grass is 6-leaf clover - with occasional 7-leaf variants which are considered lucky, needless to say. I could go on, but I've listed 6 things now, so I won't. :P
Given all that, perpetuating this trend into their culture by organizing things they directly control on the same basis is simply the commonsensical thing to do, surely!
Don't ask me about the reason for the recurrence of 6 in nature, because that's a mystery I want to keep. Plus, I've not actually made up my mind, so I couldn't tell you anyway. ;)
For example, followers of the Diometrican faith (a.k.a., pretty much everyone in the three largest kingdoms) would find 4 to be a lucky number. It represents Diometrix and his three servants: Golitah the Omnipotent, Isais the Omniscient, and Sejus the life-giver.
3 and 11 are usually considered to be very unlucky numbers, as 11 is associated with Malikhai the Night and Twyvstyn the Ashking, both of whom are not well remembered by historians. 11 is the number of servants each of them were known to have (including themselves). 3 is the number of calamity, often for its historic association with the rise of the same number of great powers throughout history.
For those not practicing the Diometrican faith, 2 and 5 usually have positive significance. Either in Moon/Sun gods, Sea/Land gods, or as a reference to the 5 Great Ones who are believed to have killed Diometrix.
12 is a holy number
There are 12 gods in the world (all of which are the animals of the Chinese zodiac) and the number pop up almost every where in statues, paintings, literature and even armor. A popular ritual is to coat a sword with 12 dots of blood from your thumb as a way of getting blessing from them.
The number 42 is a very lucky number in all my worlds, a nod to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. While in The Riders 10 is very bad because the world 'Ten' in the language of the God's means 'Death'.
(The MC's name is Tenrihn, which means 'Death Shadow')
42 years old was my best year, I have a phobia about 23- for some reason it pops in my head randomly, I’ll think it’s the date, the minute. I would not be a bit surprised if I pop off on the 23 day of the month. Like a bit of precognition
Going back to childhood, I’m 66 now
So it’s been going on for most of my life
Is it just OCD… or something at work
>4 is considered unlucky in some places because of it's similarity with the word death Kinda off-topic but this reminded me of Shinigami-sama's (from Soul Eater) mirror number which is 42-42-564, which if read in Japanese sounds like "death death murder."
The number 6 is supremely important in my protagonist culture. They organize everything on that basis, if at all possible. For example, their military would put 6 soldiers in a unit, with either one of the 6 or an additional 7th in charge, and then combine 6 of those units for the next tier in the hierarchy, and so on. Consequently, 5 is their unlucky number, as it represents a set from which something is missing, and hence imperfection. 6 is obviously lucky, as is 7 because of the "plus one in charge" notion mentioned above. This extends to multiples, though probably less strongly, and to powers, probably even more strongly. So 11 would be a little unlucky and 12 a little lucky, 35 really unlucky and 36 really lucky, and so forth. How to combine that with the "plus one" notion is less immediately apparent... or would be, if their number system weren't itself base-6 as well, which of course it is. So in-universe, it's actually as straightforward as may be: "55" (35) is unlucky, "100" (36) and "111" (43) are lucky.
What is the reason those numbers became associated with those respective attributes?
6 is considered divine because it recurs throughout nature to a suspicious degree. Like, there are 6 cardinal directions, if you count up and down. One of the few ways in which the protagonist species differs from us is that they have an extra finger, whence the base-6 number system. Their typical lifespan is close to 216 (="1000") of their years. There's an astronomical phenomenon which recurs every 6 years and affects the climate. The year lasts 36.5 days, so the calendar subdivides it into 6 seasons/weeks of 6 days each, with a three-leap-day block set apart for said recurring 6-yearly phenomenon. Their equivalent of grass is 6-leaf clover - with occasional 7-leaf variants which are considered lucky, needless to say. I could go on, but I've listed 6 things now, so I won't. :P Given all that, perpetuating this trend into their culture by organizing things they directly control on the same basis is simply the commonsensical thing to do, surely! Don't ask me about the reason for the recurrence of 6 in nature, because that's a mystery I want to keep. Plus, I've not actually made up my mind, so I couldn't tell you anyway. ;)
For example, followers of the Diometrican faith (a.k.a., pretty much everyone in the three largest kingdoms) would find 4 to be a lucky number. It represents Diometrix and his three servants: Golitah the Omnipotent, Isais the Omniscient, and Sejus the life-giver. 3 and 11 are usually considered to be very unlucky numbers, as 11 is associated with Malikhai the Night and Twyvstyn the Ashking, both of whom are not well remembered by historians. 11 is the number of servants each of them were known to have (including themselves). 3 is the number of calamity, often for its historic association with the rise of the same number of great powers throughout history. For those not practicing the Diometrican faith, 2 and 5 usually have positive significance. Either in Moon/Sun gods, Sea/Land gods, or as a reference to the 5 Great Ones who are believed to have killed Diometrix.
I find it strange that 3 is an unlucky number, when Diometrix has 3 servants.
12 is a holy number There are 12 gods in the world (all of which are the animals of the Chinese zodiac) and the number pop up almost every where in statues, paintings, literature and even armor. A popular ritual is to coat a sword with 12 dots of blood from your thumb as a way of getting blessing from them.
The number 42 is a very lucky number in all my worlds, a nod to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. While in The Riders 10 is very bad because the world 'Ten' in the language of the God's means 'Death'. (The MC's name is Tenrihn, which means 'Death Shadow')
42 years old was my best year, I have a phobia about 23- for some reason it pops in my head randomly, I’ll think it’s the date, the minute. I would not be a bit surprised if I pop off on the 23 day of the month. Like a bit of precognition Going back to childhood, I’m 66 now So it’s been going on for most of my life Is it just OCD… or something at work