The seventh son of a seventh son is a concept from folklore regarding special powers given to, or held by, such a son. To qualify as "the seventh son of a seventh son" one must be the seventh male child born in an unbroken line with no female siblings born between, and to a father who himself is the seventh male child born in an unbroken line with no female siblings born between.[1] The number seven has a long history of mystical and biblical significance, such as seven virtues, seven deadly sins, Seven Sleepers and Seven Heavens.
In some beliefs, the special powers are inborn, inherited simply by virtue of his birth order; in others, the powers are granted to him by God or the gods because of his birth order.
In many cases seventh sons (who are not born to a seventh son) are also said to have supernatural or healing abilities.[2]
Regional variations
England
In Lancashire and particularly in Blackburn there was, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a tradition of calling seventh sons of seventh sons (and seventh sons) 'Doctor' (forename) because of their supposed abilities as healers.[3]
Ireland
The seventh son of a seventh son is gifted as a healer. The seventh son of a seventh son is part of a more general phenomenon known as the "cure" (sometimes also called the "charm").[4] Belief in the efficacy of seventh son healers and other folklore related to healing persisted to the 20th century in parts of Ireland.[5]
Italy
In a legend of Montenero di Bisaccia, "Ciarallo" was a seventh son who had the power to enchant and recall snakes, and who was immune to snake venom. Ciarallo was not only a seventh son, but underwent a special initiation rite called "inciaramazione". Customarily, one would ask Ciarallo's intercession when a snake was discovered in the house. Ciarallo would answer these requests by attracting the snake with a whistle. He would also perform the inciaramazione rite on other people to ensure protection from snakes by spreading a special oil on their arm. Children were led to Ciarallo by their mothers to get protection.[6]
Latin America
In some Latin American countries, the seventh son of a seventh son is believed to be cursed to be a werewolf, lobizón, Luison (in Paraguay) or lobisomem (the Portuguese word for "werewolf"). To prevent this, the newborn should be baptized in seven different churches. Alternately, he may be baptized under the name Benito, with his eldest brother (the eldest son of their father) as his godfather. The local myth of the lobizón is not connected to the custom that began over 100 years ago by which every seventh son (or seventh daughter) born in Argentina to "legitimately married parents of good conduct and moral character" is eligible to become godchild to the president.[7]
According to Edward Augustus Kendall in Travels through the Northern Parts of the United States, in the year 1807–1808, while he visited the Newgate copper mine and prison, he met an innkeeper who told him that "there was to be found in the surrounding hills, a black stone, of a certain species, through which a seventh son of a seventh son, born in the month of February, with a caul on his head, can discern everything that lies in the depths and interior of the globe." The author speculated that the importance of mining to the community gave rise to the localized belief.[9][10]
Abram George (1916?–?), Mohawk faith healer from Akwesasne, claimed in contemporary news reports to have been the seventh son of a seventh son.[12][13][14]
Archille Noé Baillargeon (1889–?) from Tecumseh, Ontario was the seventh son of a seventh son and was believed to have extraordinary healing powers.[15]
Although singer Perry Como claimed to be a seventh son, he had two older sisters and only one older brother who survived to adulthood plus three preceding siblings who died in infancy.[16]
Pro American Football Hall of Famer Len Dawson was the seventh son of a seventh son, born the ninth of 11 children.[17]
Ivor Powell, Welsh football player and manager said that "people used to keep pointing it out, but it didn't mean a lot to me"[18]
^"Indian Healer Returns Home"(PDF). The Massena Observer. Massena, St. Lawrence County, New York. March 20, 1930. Retrieved April 20, 2016 – via NYS Historic Newspapers. Some have attributed the boy's miraculous power to his descendancy. He is the seventh son of a seventh son and from this circumstance is believed to have been endowed with a sort of sixth sense.
