Numbers of the Beast
1 TRIPLE THREAT: In the Bible’s Book Of Revelation, John The Elder wrote: “Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.” That is where the Devil and 666 became first linked. 666 is said to be cursed and in 1982 heavy metal rockers Iron Maiden named their LP The Number Of The Beast.
2 SPIN OF DOOM: Roulette is known as the Devil’s game because if you add up the numbers from one to 36 the total is… 666!
3 GOSPEL TRUTH: It’s said in three of the Gospels that after Jesus was baptised, he went into the desert to fast for 40 days and
40 nights – during this time the Devil appeared three times to try to tempt him.
4 EVIL BARKS: The 2021 census showed that one in 120 residents of serene market town Bungay in Suffolk count themselves as Satanists. On top of the weathervane in Market Square is the Black Dog, of the Black Shuck legend – said to be the Devil in disguise as a dark hound who stalks the coastline.
5 BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: In 1969 three members of cult leader Charles Manson’s “Manson family” – Tex Watson, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel – murdered Sharon Tate, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring and Steve Parent, claiming they were “doing the Devil’s work”.
6 THEORY QUERY: In 2013, the Harris poll in the US found 58% said they believed in Satan and Hell but just 47% accepted evolution.
7 TICK TOCK: 3am is known as The Devil’s Hour and also the Witching Hour in folklore, the time of night when most supernatural events take place. William Shakespeare mentioned it in Hamlet, writing: “Tis now the very witching time of night, when churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out.”
8 DARK READ: The Codex Gigas, aka the Devil’s Bible, is the largest illuminated manuscript in the world measuring 3ft long, nearly 2ft wide and nine inches thick. It is thought the skins of 160 calves or donkeys were used to produce the pages, written by a monk called Herman The Recluse.
9 TAKE A BITE OF THAT: Tasmanian Devils have the strongest bite of any mammal of their size, with jaws which can open 80 degrees wide, filled with 42 teeth which grow until they die. 10
HEADS OR TAILS? Spiky lizards named the Thorny Devil have a false head on their shoulders which they use when threatened by tucking their real one between their legs.