Can you say Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia???

“Let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six.” (Revelation 13:16-18)

As the number 666, “number of the beast,” according to the Book of Revelation conjures devilish images for many, so forecasts of evil, even doom are rampant regarding dates or places where the number occurs, including Tuesday, June 6, or 6/6/06.

“Like most superstitions, the avoidance of the numbers 13 and 666 are examples of magical thinking. People everywhere believe that things associated with other things, through actual contact or just some similarity, have causal relationships, even over space and time. Things associated with good events or great people can bring good fortune; things associated with failure, disastrous events or evil people carry some of that negativity with them,” Phillips Stevens, Jr., Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology, explained.

“The mark of the beast, 666, signifies those in thrall to the emperor and thus opposed to Christianity, and is most probably the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew letters for Nero,” Stevens adds.

“Many perceived enemies of Christianity have been labeled the Antichrist, and Nero was one of the first,” Stevens says, adding that there is an ever-growing, ever-changing list of persons considered the Antichrist that features “a long string of mostly historical figures—Saladin was on the list, as was Hitler, and Saddam Hussein. The list varies according to who compiles it. Early Reformation-era Protestants had some popes on their list.”

Some people are taking the concatenation of numerals seriously, with reports of expectant mothers fearing that their babies will be born that day might be the anti-Christ.

Meanwhile Hollywood is trying to capitalize on the date by releasing a remake of “The Omen,” the 1970s horror classic. The film tells the story of Damien, a 666-marked child who is the Antichrist. Marketers of “The Omen” have blanketed the nation with black billboards stating: “You have been warned. The signs are all around you.”