Why Seven?!

We were together, lying on a typically Moroccan settee. With her head pillowed on my right thigh, she was merrily watching an American animated film. Meanwhile, I was questionably enthralled by the sort of the spell that seven-year-old girl fell under. A spellbinding tale, indeed! I still remember very well every single shade of that fairy tale, and I can feel the spell under which my niece fell. She, as if by magic, was taken to another world, her body still and her eyes sparkling.

As for me, I too was spelled but differently. Out of the blue, a never-thought-about question  suggested itself; it was the title of the fairy tale, not the animation, which really pushed me to pen this article.

As my niece dozzed off, I took her to bed and made sure she was well-blanketed. Then, I ejected the CD of  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  Why sevendwarfs, not six or eight? Why number seven. I believe even the Brothers Grimm could not account for, let alone think about, that at the time they published the collections of folk tales and fairy tales, including Cinderella, The Frog Prince, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to name but a few.

Similarly enough, what makes one at sixes and sevens is the number of the famous saints burried in Marrakesh. They are SEVEN!

Both the SEVEN dwarfs as well as the SEVEN saints have in common purety, wisdom, and immortality. 

Not far from the Marrakeshi culture ( as well as the Moroccan culture in General), number SEVEN stays rooted. Every Moroccan reader of this article has experienced number SEVEN one way or another. Out from the very first SEVEN days of your coming into existence, you

witnessed --though not remembering-- your birthday-seven-celebrations (Sbuu). All your family, neighbours, friends, and even  beggars en route were singing, ululating, dancing, and eating for SEVEN days.

Why SEVEN days? I mean, Why are there SEVEN days in the week? Probably because God's willingness of creation has something to do with this number;Seven heavens (skies) were simultaneously and successively created, thus coming into existence too. By analogy, that's the reason why Moroccans celebrate the whole week--SEVEN days-- as a sacredly imitative act of God. Heaven knows! Never heard about that before, but my interpretation might be true.  

Sorry to forget mentioning that even cats did joyfully share the celebration of your "coming into being" party. This animal--the cat-- never dies easily, for it hasSEVEN lives. Can you believe it, SEVEN lives? Again SEVEN!

I am awfully sorry, but my mind has come to a full stop because I kept the whole night vigil, writing about seven. Gosh, is it 7 AM now?!