Thank you to everyone who entered our 09-09-09 competition and posted some fascinating facts about the number nine. Wikus and I did the draw and documented the process to prove it was free, fair, democratic and all that.

We wrote down all the names people who commented on the 09-09-09 blog post and put them in our fish bowl (amazing what you find in the office of a brand agency). I picked one…

Kris, you are the lucky fella to win double tickets to the musical CATS. Congratulations. Our people will call your people and hook you up.

According to some dating experts the key to a successful date is to look your best, listen, flatter and agree with everything your “hot date” says. Sounds like good advice, but dig a little deeper and you cannot dismiss that something feels amiss. I often find myself wondering why we do this and found only one justifiable answer. Acceptance.

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If you read, subscribe or follow South African news you more than likely feel bombarded  by negative news about our country (as I do). Strikes, riots, police brutality, murders, asylum seekers, child abuse, SA soccer bosses squabbling over the big seat on the FIFA bench and let’s not forget the gender debate which turned into a race debacle… The list can go on and as a result even religious news readers are tuning out.

So what’s the solution? It is a concern of many that the Films and Publications Amendment Act (2009) will mean our news will be censored. I believe the media should be free to report and reflect our society in its entirety because not only do we have the right to know but the obligation to care.

The answer could be to simply to subscribe to a more holistic view of our country, the good as well as the bad. I’ve decided to follow some proudly South African positive tweeters.  If you would like to balance out the bad news with reasons to celebrate our country, here are five tweeters worth the follow…

@sagoodnews highlights South Africa’s progress and positive developments. It ‘s all about finding solutions, not problems and that is something every country needs. Visit their site for the good news.

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Read this post and comment below to stand the chance to win double tickets to the musical CATS. Competition draw on 15 September 2009.

Today is the 9th day of the 9th month of 2009 (09-09-09) and the last set of repeating, single-digit dates until the next century. The next date will be January 1, 2101. This makes today special and a pretty big deal for all of us at Power of 9. In celebration of the day, we decided to collect some cool facts about the number nine. Here is a quick fun summary with hyperlinks (highlighted words) for more fascinating details on each aspect.

The number 9 has deep symbolic connections to the creation of life and the inspiration and perfection of ideas. In numerology, nine is associated with tolerance, generosity, forgiveness, passion, creative energy, success, romance, benevolence, and a deep love of life.

The 9th sign in the zodiac, Sagittarius, identified by the Greeks as a centaur, are magical creatures known for their skills as archers, philosophers, and predictors of the future. The number nine is also prevalent throughout many world religions and cultures. There are also some fun facts related to the number.

Tell us what the number nine means to you or share a number 9 fact by posting a comment below and you could win double tickets to the musical CATS at MonteCasino (Gauteng) from 26 September – 22 November or at Artscape (Cape Town) from 29 November – 10 January. We will announce winners on Wednesday, 15 September.

Exercise your grey matter with these fun equations and read idioms, proverbs and sayings using the word nine.

The sum of the digits of the number added to 9 is always equal to the sum of the digits of the result. Take any four digit number and try the trick. Ex: 9 + 17 = 26. 1 + 7 = 8 & 2 + 6 = 8

It is easy to work out whether a number is exactly divisible by 9. This is the same as asking whether a number is in the “9 times table”.

All you have to do is add up its digits. If the answer is more than one digit long, you add up the digits again, and go on doing this, until you are left with a single digit. If this single digit is 9 then the original number was divisible by 9. For example, is 781236 divisible by 9? Adding up its digits 7 + 8 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 6 = 27 and adding again 2 + 7 = 9. And because the answer is 9, the original number must be divisible by 9.

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Cultural beliefs and superstitions about the number of nine date back centuries. Many are still believed today and here are a few…

The number nine was considered as sacred in Egypt and in Greece. In China the number is associated with long life, due to that fact that the pronunciation is similar to that of the Mandarin word for ‘long-lasting’. In China today many couples are getting married hoping that the significance of the date will ensure a long-lasting happy marriage. As a product of 3 x 3, nine is the expression of the perfection and virile power associated with couples.

In ancient Asia, gifts given in groups of nine were considered most respectful. In fact, the Chinese words for “gift” and “nine” are identical. Chinese emperors were believed to associate with the number nine ensuring it appeared prominently in architecture and royal dress, often in the form of nine fearsome dragons. Even the imperial dynasties’ palace complex at Beijing’s Forbidden City is rumoured to have been built with 9,999 rooms in honour of the number nine.

In French the word ‘neuf ‘ means both nine and new. In German, the words for nine and new are ‘neun’ and ‘neu’, and in Spanish, ‘nueve’ and ‘nuevo’. As you count and reach nine, you know you are about to make a new start.

The ninth sign of the Zodiac is Sagittarius, identified by the Greeks as a centaur, half human and half horse. Centaurs are magical creatures known for their skills as archers, philosophers, and predictors of the future. Being the ninth sign of the zodiac, Sagittarius has been associated with the astrological ninth house. Ninth house is the House of the Philospohical and the Foreign. The Ninth house relates to seeking the meaning & purpose of life through: philosophy, religion, higher learning, spirituality, mysticism, inner vision, journeys of the mind, psychic attunement, taking the long view, seeing history and the present from a higher perspective, a sense of humour, observing and connecting widely-divergent ideas and opinions.

The number nine is prevalent in Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism and here’s why…

In Christianity, the number nine is significant and mentioned in the Bible 50 times. When nailed to the cross, Jesus Christ dies at the ninth hour, hence the saying, ‘in the ninth hour’. After the resurrection of Jesus, he appears nine times to his disciples.

Within Christianity, there are nine choruses of the Angels and 9 spiritual gifts God can bestow on His followers. The nine choruses of angles include: Seraphes (angels of love and light), Cherubs (angels of wisdom and intelligence), Thrones (angels of force and life), Dominations (angels of liberty), Principalities (angels of eternity and memory), Powers (angels of holiness), Vertues (angels of humility), Archangels (having for attribute the justice), Ordinary angels, to which we attribute the innocence.

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Greek mathematician Pythagoras, father of the famous theorem, popularised numerology in ancient times and noted that that 9 in particular had many unique properties.

According to modern numerology the mystical significance is assigned to numbers 1 to 9. The number 9, the last number in the sequence, holds special rank and relates to a balanced numerological personality or cyclical timing energy often associated with tolerance, generosity, forgiveness, passion, creative energy, success, romance, benevolence, and a deep love of life.

According to Dutch numerologist, Hans Decoz, today we will have our attention directed to issues of personal interconnections and deal with our shortcomings in the areas of diplomacy and human relationships.

We found information about the number 9 from: Properties of the number 9, ‘9’: It’s more than a movie, it’s a magic number, 9 (number). Wikipedia, The Amazing number 9, The number nine, the.Encyclopædia Britannica Online, What Is The Ninth House? , Sagittarius. Wikipedia and A Beginning And An Ending: The Importance Of 9/9/09 In Numerology

Nine is the symbol of creation and the life as a rhythm and development. As a symbol of creation and life, 9 is the number of months it takes for a human life to develop and form in the womb. It is supposedly the number of the patience, meditation and harmony and represents inspiration and the perfection of ideas.

We found information about the number 9 from: Properties of the number 9, ‘9’: It’s more than a movie, it’s a magic number, 9 (number). Wikipedia, The Amazing number 9, The number nine, the.Encyclopædia Britannica Online, What Is The Ninth House? , Sagittarius. Wikipedia and A Beginning And An Ending: The Importance Of 9/9/09 In Numerology