6/6/06: Bad Omen or Just Another Day?

James Owen
for National Geographic News

June 5, 2006

Mothers giving birth tomorrow might be tempted to check their newborn for any unusual birthmarks … you know, just to be sure.

Such is the hype surrounding the sixth day of the sixth month of the year '06. A significant date for superstitious souls, 666 is the "number of the Beast," as mentioned in the Bible's Book of Revelation.

So it's a day of trepidation for some people, perhaps, but an excellent marketing opportunity for the remake of the 1976 horror movie The Omen, which uncoincidentally opens tomorrow.

The film features Damien, an antichrist figure with the triple-digit mark of the devil hidden beneath his hair. (Related: "Horror, Japanese Style: Beyond 'The Grudge'" [2004].)

In Europe, North America, and elsewhere there have been reports of expectant mothers hoping to avoid giving birth on the supposedly ill-starred day.

Pregnant women have been discussing the approaching date in forums of the Web site of Mother & Baby, a British parenting magazine.

"Keeping my legs well crossed that day," writes Emma Robertson, whose baby is due on June 10.

"I have just found out its going to be a boy," says another forum member, whose baby is due tomorrow. "If it's born on its due date [I] think I might call him Damien."

Devil Children?

If these women don't appear to be taking the idea of spawning devil children too seriously, a survey in Texas by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram suggests some real concern among expectant mothers.

"I'm going to be induced on the fourth or fifth," Carrie McFarland from Dallas told the newspaper. "If my doctor had offered to induce me on the sixth, I wouldn't have done it."

Angela Dubose-Davidson of Fort Worth told the newspaper, "I'm a Christian, and that number has significant occult meaning behind it of a negative nature."

"I really do not want that date," she added.

The triple sixes have loomed large recently on spooky billboards across the U.S.

Emblazoned "6 6 06"—with the numbers separated by inverted crosses—the signs bear the message "The signs are all around you."

The placards may look apocalyptic—and that's just the way 20th Century Fox likes it.

The Omen opens tomorrow, Tuesday, instead of the usual Friday release, with movie experts predicting a box office killing.

Movie marketers aren't the only ones playing the numbers game.

The heavy metal band Slayer starts its "Unholy Alliance" tour of North America in San Diego, California, tomorrow.

At the other end of the cultural spectrum, the latest in the best-selling Left Behind book series, is scheduled to drop tomorrow. The fundamentalist-Christian novels are based on the visions of St. John in the Book of Revelation.

Raptureready.com, an evangelical Christian Web site that gauges the likelihood of the Apocalypse based on world events, says it's "fasten your seatbelts" time.

The online gaming site BetUS.com rates the chances of this happening tomorrow as ten to one.

"We are in the middle of a war, there have been earthquakes, tidal waves, and [the] hurricane season is now upon us," BetUS.com spokesperson Matt Ross said in a statement. "No one could possibly know what can happen next."

Pyrrhic Victory

Nevertheless, gamblers might be put off striking such a bet, as they may find collecting any winnings difficult.

Others believe the odds on offer are way too short.

Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobiacs, those who fear of the number 666, should stay calm, according to Felix Just, professor of theology and religious studies at the University of San Francisco in California.

He points out that Revelation states that 666 is "the number of a person," not an indication of any date.

Father Just adds that tomorrow's date belongs to the Gregorian calendar, which is commonly used today. However, different calendars applied in New Testament times.

Frank Finn, an expert on cults and religious studies at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, is similarly relaxed.

Finn says that many people have seized on the number 666 to label their enemies and promote a culture of fear.

Among those accused of being "Beast" in more recent times are Osama bin Laden and President George W. Bush.

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