Seven

Seven years ago last Tuesday, The Emerald podcast was born. This episode reflects on the journey of the podcast so far and gives hints of what's to come, all through the prism of the number 7, which is — to say the least — a mythically important number. The myths often iterate in cycles and families of seven—seven swans, seven dwarves, seven ravens, and seven gates of the underworld. In many traditions, seven represents the completion of a cycle and the beginning of a new one. In Ayurveda, in order for something to be fully embodied, it must pass through seven dhatus, or tissue layers. In many traditions, initiates pass through a journey of seven stages. This recurring 'journey through seven' is not just arbitrary, it is a reflection of nature itself, which often repeats in cycles of seven. The ancients saw seven at play in the architecture of the cosmos, in the musical scales and the spectrum of light and in a world that they saw as expressing through seven cosmic layers. The vision of seven as a number of threshold, passage, and reconnection can be understood through the numerical and geometric attributes of seven itself, which displays strange characteristics not found in any other number. Featuring Nivedita Gunturi singing the seven-note scale progressions of Hindustani and Carnatic music, and excerpts of beloved stories of seven, this episode is a celebration of seven years of The Emerald, and a preparation for what's to come.

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