There have been several episodes of Mad Men with numbers in the title, although Seven Twenty Three is the first episode that is entirely a number. Some of the numbers don’t seem significant, like the 6 in Six Month Leave, but some are pretty potent, like 5G.
So, I was thinking about Seven Twenty Three; 7-23, and it occured to me that Matt Weiner is a fan of the Tarot, and these are pretty significant numbers to the Tarot.
First of all, 23 is a remarkable number. The Major Arcana (the “trumps”) consist of 22 cards, from 0 (The Fool) to 21 (The World, whom Anna Draper found so significant last season). So 22 is the number of everything, the totality of the soul’s journey illustrated by the trumps. In The Mountain King, Don’s tarot reading contained the culmination of the journey: 19, 20, and 21. 22 would be he journey as a whole.
23 is the number beyond that journey. It is past the edge of the universe, beyond the journey of the soul. Sail to the end of the world and you fall off. “Here There Be Dragons.” 23 is the number of Chaos, the number of the Discordians, and the number of the 23 Enigma.
Like a solar eclipse, 23 is the end of the world.
I hereby remind the doubter that July 23, 1963 was a Tuesday. The script could easily have been written to make “the” date Monday the 22nd. This date was selected on purpose.
What about 7? (I’m having a moment here of thinking, well, Matt didn’t have all that much choice about the 7, did he? But then I realize, he absolutely had a choice about the name of the episode and about zooming in on the contract at the end. So I carry on.)
The Tarot corresponds to the Kabbalah, and most Tarot readers use interpretations based on the Kabbalah. This is because the Kabbalistic Tree of Life is made up of 10 spheres (sephiroth), each with 4 “emanations,” with a total of 22 paths from one sphere (sephirah) to the next. The Tarot is made up of 10 number cards, in each of 4 suits, and each suit also has 4 “court cards,” plus the 22 trumps. So you can see how they correspond, even though historically there’s no relationship.
Okay, back to sevens. In the Kabbalah, the seventh sephirah is Netzach, which corresponds to the planet Venus. Netzach’s meaning is love, lust, eternity, and victory.
Cool.
In my favorite Tarot book, Mastering the Tarot, author Eden Gray says the following about seven:
This number denotes wisdom, perfection, completeness; it is the number of the mystic, and relates to the soul development of the individual; also to the completed cycle of physical labors. ‘God rested on the seventh day.’
33 Responses to “Seven Twenty Three–Numerology”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Brillant.
Any thoughts about The Chariot (Major Arcana 7)? Cuz it sure felt like Don's got crashed.
"The Book of TAROT" by Susan Gerulskis-Estes (based on the Morgan-Greer deck that I referred to elsewhere on BoK), notes that The Chariot (VII) has other significance, in addition to the various meanings of the card itself. http://www.villarevak.org/g_resource/xmg_ch.jpg
Astrological Influence: Cancer, the crab, is the receptive, watery sign. Cancer represents that which protects its soft interior by a hard shell or exterior.
Numerical Influence: Soul development, evaluation, and security [7].
The author gives a very detailed explanation of the meanings of the various images on the card, which I won't post here, but the last part is very apt, regarding Don:
"The charioteer utilizes all forces to insure steady and progressive travel along the One Path. His singleness of purpose and concentrated effort to achieve his goal insure success. The Chariot completes the first septenary of the Major Arcana. Thus, it represents the perfected and controlled state of personality, the Higher Principles of human nature."
In a spread, these are the basic meanings of The Chariot …
Chariot (Upright) – Protecting one’s interest and psyche. Control of the direction of one’s life. Travel. Understanding the nature of good and evil.
Chariot (Reversed) – Lack of control. Lack of vision causes one to stumble along without direction.
As someone who reads Tarot, it's so cool to learn that you read also – and that Matt is into the Tarot, as well!
What SmilerG said about the Chariot.
Don is certainly having trouble directing the vehicle of his life the way he wants. And when in a moment of generosity he makes room for strangers in the space of his car – his literal chariot – he suffers for it. Seems that he's having trouble balancing the powerful energies of the light and dark sphinxes.
On the other hand, he's still got his car
Come to think of it, Don as the (reversed) Chariot-driver is a bit reminiscent of the Sun-upright, isn't it? Both are solitary figures riding forth into the future … except that Don is still encased in/struggling with the contraptions he's willingly built around himself. He hasn't lost his armour yet.
Both 7 and 23 are prime numbers, not divisible by any 2 other numbers.
For what it’s worth.
I love this even though I have absolutely no idea what any of it means.
I crack me up by not thinking to discuss The Chariot. I had the Minor sevens on my mind; the choices of cups, the combat, etc.
Don as Charioteer makes enormous sense, both because he is holding tight rein over chaos and because of the specific significance of his car.
Is it possible to post a screen shot or replication of the reading Anna gave, so us Tarot-n00bies can see what you're talking about here?
Gypsy, I don't know if I'm going to get around to it, but the Tarot post has illustrations of several cards, and a link to a Celtic Cross spread so you can see what it looks like.
In addition to blogging S3, I've got some old broken stuff on S1 that I've been working hard to fix, so circling around to S2 is a little overwhelming.
I also noticed when Duck tells Peggy the time and room number, he clarifies "not the other way around" – maybe it's nothing but I thought it illustrated something of the potential chaos that comes from misunderstandings.
And I was thinking that it had something to do with the Zodiac. The morning of July 23, 1963 would have been the start of Leo, right?
(I have nearly zero knowledge of astrology, as you can see.)
You're right, Big S, the sun entered Leo sometime between the 23rd and 24th, depending on the time zone.
I really like the digging at the number and tying it to the Tarot is inspired. (At least to me, one who knows little of the Tarot.)
When I read the episode title I thought it was ambiguous. Could be a date or time reference, a room number. Then the surface significance becomes clear when Don dates the contract.
But, 7-23 for the title should be written "seven twenty-three" with the hyphen. That's pretty standard accepted form. Is there any more significance in the three seperate numbers – 7 20 3 ?
Don the Charioteer VII I see. What about the other two with regards to Peggy and Betty?
Thanks for giving me something fun to chew on today.
Oooh! Less of me, great thought, I'll dig more later. (It's Chariot, Star, Empress.)
I like that "you all talk" about this kind of esoteric symbology — I am all over that kind of shit
Yes, 7/23 is the cusp of Leo. It's the first triad, and there are Cancer influences, but by and large you're talking Leo here.
Here's a bit about people born in the first triad of Leo (interesting given this context).
"You are a born leader: people naturally gravitate to you, and look to you for guidance and security. This is especially true if you are born in the very first part of Leo – that is you're born between 24th July and 3rd August. At times you can seem a hard taskmaster, demanding excellence from them — this is just a reflection of your own actions, your own approach, but keep an eye out for it, and keep it under control."
Hi Deborah,
This is awesome, thank you — especially the explanation of numerology within the Tarot world. Fascinating — I had asked for insights from numerologists in a previous post, but this is much more than I expected!
I had forgotten what an important number 23 is — I must have blocked it out with that Jim Carrey movie about the 23 Enigma. The number has transfixed Carl Jung, William S. Burroughs, John Nash and many others.
This may be a case of apophenia on my part (seeing patterns in random or meaningless data), but 23 crops up a bunch in Mad Men Season 3: This episode's title, Roger's daughter's wedding, Dr Pepper machine (they advertised having 23 flavors back in the day), 23 chromosomes Don and Betty contributed to make Baby Gene… it's everywhere (just kidding).
Interesting. Discussion of the Tarot is never far away on this board.
At lunch today, I was talking with a friend about the controversy around the release of a famous prisoner who's been punished for years for what some believe is a crime he didn't commit (the Lockerbie bomber, not the Polish movie director). Though a friend of mine died in that incident, I don't know what to believe. I never have.
I think it is humane to release a person who may not have killed anyone from prison if he's dying of cancer. I know my old friend is still dead, and now has been gone for longer than she lived. I never wonder what justice would look like for her. There is no replacement for an unfinished life.
I used the "Wheel of Fortune" to describe to my friend what I feel when I think about this situation, today: how little control any of us has over forces like terrorism — or anything another person really wants to do. It's luck, good or bad.
A phrase that jumps out at me: "end of the world". But it's not really
death. There is a very specific card in the Tarot that unequivocally means death, correct? And in the world as we understand it, here there actually be no dragons. Here there is only more: mornings, nights, decisions, on and on, to the last syllable of recorded time.
This is what I'm thinking, as I recall watching Don trudge wearily up those stairs at the end of "Seven Twenty Three". Try living in a world devoid of something you loved: even if it was the idea of freedom.
I'd bet money it feels like that.
When I read this thread the first thing I thought of was: Season 1 had FiveG, Season 2 had Six Months Leave (and Three Sundays) and Season 3 now has Seven Twenty Three.
Maybe totally irrelevant. You numerology experts can decide.
BTW glad you're back, ladies! I was north of the border this morning and really needed a BoK fix – better late than never!
#13 "Is there any more significance in the three seperate numbers – 7 20 3 ?"
Oddly enough I've been thinking about the Empress card (III), that most "feminine" of Tarot cards. The Empress is sometimes regarded as representing pregnancy or motherhood… and last night (after posting some Chariot comments) I suddenly realized that Betty's undulating "fainting couch" actually reminded me of the cushiony couch that supports the Empress:
Rider-Waite version of the Empress
(Hope the HTML works! Am I allowed to include this link?)
P.S. In terms of retrofitting Seven Twenty-Three into less of me's theory, I'm not so sure about card XX, "Judgement". If I had to pick a card that characterized Don's experience in that episode, I'd rather go for XVI "The Tower": utter devastation and loss of control.
oops, Judgement. I said Star. Bad blogger.
I can easily see Don as 7, the Chariot, in this episode, and Betty as 3, the Empress: Feminine, a mother, connected to the land (the water tower thing). That leaves 20, Judgement, for Peggy, transformation into a new and higher form of being, which makes a lot of sense. Specifically, there's also the image of waking up.
I just saw it as July 23, the date that the contract between Don and Sterling Cooper was finally signed. So it was a day that "went down in infamy" sort of reference, like the Anti-Independence Day. However, I like the theory of the Chariot and other tarot cards a lot better.
Wow! I'm feeling faint, where's that couch? The past 24 hours my mind has been aswim in a vast ocean of Tarot symbols, numbers and interpretations. I've been surfin' and a-learnin' for hours.
I may have been too literal in trying to designate the "7 20 3" to each of our three leads.
Deborah, you mention the act of waking up and I've read about the Resurrection; coming back from the dead. On first viewing, Don looked dead on that motel floor and the way Peggy's arm drops off the bed had a Big Sleep feel to it also. And with the sense of doom I felt all episode, Don's name and the date on the contract reminded me of a tombstone inscription. I've also read that Judgement hints at making a final decision to put the past behind and to move forward. Now why does that sound familiar? Ha.
I'm getting a lot of mileage out of this post. I like it.
So seven twenty three is very much about the Tarot.
And Don struggles all episode, much confrontation and battle. He unexpectedly has to spar with Connie. Miss Farrell gets in his face at the park. Roger jabs at him about the contract. Don verbally smacks Peggy and Betty around. Then he takes a punch to the back of the head and he is down for the count. He looks like he's been in a brawl–the taped nose, the blackened eye– by the time he makes it to the office on Tuesday 7-23.
Historical sports fact– Floyd Patterson of Brooklyn, NY lost his rematch with heavy-weight champion Sonny Liston in Las Vegas on Monday July 22, 1963.
An eclipse, a title fight and a soul's struggle for redemption all in one TV show. . .where nothing ever happens.
less of me- and wasn't it Floyd Patterson who Jimmy addressed in the speakeasy right after Don punched HIM out?
gypsy howell ** Winner!!**
That just blew my mind!
You are absolutely correct-o-mundo!
Jimmy straightened himself up and said something like "How'd I do Floyd?",
right?
If all this is fanwank, it's really high-quality fanwank
[...] Seven Twenty Three really is the end of the world. Perhaps Don Draper – the literally self-made man, the legend of Madison Avenue – can go no [...]
I am a student of the Tarot and Numerlogy. In considering a date, you can also include the year. So the date 7-23-1963, breaks down to the the single number 4. 4 is the building block of all creation.
below is some paraphased info I found at http://www.tarotteachings.com/meaning-of-four.htm…
"4 elements, 4 directions, 4 seasons, 4 suits in a deck, the Emperor Card
The father figure of the Tarot deck, about advice, widsom, authority, and grounding
If it were not for the number Four, we would be lifted into the energy realms like helium balloons: Unfettered, ungrounded, and hopelessly lost. We need structure, we need to be grounded, and the number Four is a necessary vibration attesting to this vital need.
Granted, floating high above the mundane can be a pleasurable experience, but being in this state will never serve us full-time. We simply must have anchors and stabilizers in our lives in order to function. "
Don is at a crossroads (crosses are geometric representations of the number four) If this is a new birthday for Don, it is time for him come down to earth and grow up. At the end of S2, after he was away from his family he acted like he missed them so much and wanted a second chance. Now he is being given that chance, perhaps he forgot how miserable he was without them. I am hoping he will remember.
Gingere, that's interesting material. You've taken it further than I did. My intention was to examine numerology that may have been purposely planted in the title, which is why I didn't consider the year. Still, good stuff.
I suppose this will be the ultimate 7-23 factoid – legendary ad man, David Ogilvy, died on July 21, 1999 and he was buried on July 23, 1999!
[cue the Twilight Zone music!
Hi,
I created quite a large list of people according to their numerological number.
You can see the list here: http://www.whatwasdone.com/NumerologyDir.php
I'm afraid that I'm not too familiar with numerology, beside the very computation.
do you find these list useful?
Are there other improvements you suggest that I'll add?
Thanks,
What Was Done