Con Ocho Basta

I'm noticing that eight o'clock is the only hour of the day that stands ambiguously outside the clear classification of late or early regardless of where it lands in the a.m. or p.m. Seven and nine as well as all other hours can be considered closer to early or late in at least one pole of the 24-hour period.

While I would argue that eight years-old stands the closest to the in-between childhood and adolescence, the Latter-day Saints see eight as the official point of accountability.

The Noble Eightfold Path in Buddhism leads ultimately to the cessation of suffering.

Jewish traditions circumcise the man-child on the eighth day and celebrate Hanukkah for eight days.

Every major religion appears to revere eight in some way; including Christianity's association of eight as representing that which is beyond time, and Hinduism's identification of eight as the number of wealth and abundance. In Christianity there are also eight beatitudes of Jesus.

As a boy, my disappointment at the local cancellation of afternoon showings of the Brady Bunch was somewhat overcome by Eight is Enough, a show eventually canceled by ABC along with seven others and replaced with eight new shows.

The 8 is the only number with no clear beginning and no clear end; it's "endlessness" makes it the obvious choice to represent infinity.

As in Hinduism, eight is often associated with wealth in Asian culture and counted as lucky in Japan.

Numerology alternately associates eight as related both to building and to destruction. Astrology is the number of "unmoving stars" and symbolized the perfection process of incoming planetary energy.

The octave in music is the interval between notes of the same letter.

In more recent literature, the Symbol of Chaos consists of eight arrows emanating from a radial pattern.

No finite point has meaning without an infinite reference point. -Jean-Paul Sartre