CREEPY: THE “666” MYSTERY AND ME

(Take note of the number of page views of my blog on DECEMBER 25, 2011)

THE “666” MYSTERY

(Note: I wrote the following article long before the invasion of Iraq/Babylon in 2003)

The recurrence of like numbers and names had always been a riddle to me. For many years, my payroll page number was 20, the regional branch number of Al Rahji Bank, through which I sent my salary to a corresponding bank in Manila. 864, the flight number of Saudi Airlines from Riyadh to Manila, is very close to the plate number of my Lancer car, 866. When I subscribed to the Pacific Internet in September 2000, I was amazed to find out that the company’s dial-up line is 635-1388. My telephone number in Saudi Arabia was 255-1388.

Believe it or not, it is only very recently that I learned that Saudi Arabia’s International Telephone code is 966. Although I had been in Saudi Arabia for a very long time, I didn’t see any reason to call anyone in that country when I was on leave. Take note, my car’s plate number is 866. (The 9 is an upright 6)

When I first came to Saudi Arabia, the Sudanese who processed my papers reversed my name. My first name became Khalid. When I tried to correct him, he told me that it was better for me. King Khalid Ibn Abdul Azis was the king of Saudi Arabia when I first arrived in the kingdom. Prince Khalid Ibn Faisal is the governor of Assir province.

The initial title of my book was “Places in Time.” Although one of the interesting topics in the book was the subject of the Biblical Beast [UN Res.666/Gulf War], it never crossed my mind to call it that. I considered Time Travel [Jesus’ Second Coming] and the New Jerusalem [Mecca/Kaaba] to be more critical discoveries, but my publisher saw them differently. I agreed.

My book was printed in 1999, which, when inverted, reads 6661, but the launching date was postponed. It was also in 1999 that the Saudi Government reinstated our salary increments. They had been frozen for several years, and when my salary was computed plus 2%, the amount was, believe it or not, 6664 Saudi Riyals.

In June 1999, the registration of my Mazda car expired. The antiquated system of 7 digits was changed to 3 letters and 3 numbers. I won’t be surprised, I thought, if my 3 digits turned out to be 666, but of course, they didn’t. Amazingly, the 3 letters did. The letters were SKS [in Arabic]. If asked to write the number 6 in words, any Arab will write it exactly in that order because Arabs don’t write the vowels [as in text messaging]. SKS reads 6 either from left to right [English] or right to left [Arabic]. It is 6 every which way. Dr. Kamel Yusef, a Palestinian colleague, was laughing when he received his new plate. We renewed our registration at the same time, but he received his plate one day before I did.

He said, “I feel ashamed of my new plate.”

 “Why?” I asked him.

“My 3 letters read ‘SEX,’” he replied, laughing.

 When I received my plate, we had different numbers but the same three letters: “SKS,” which can also be read as ‘SEX.’

Our helper and my wife’s niece were in the kitchen. I was home in Manila for my annual leave. They were busy preparing early on for the New Year/New Millennium/1999 party. My younger brother Omar and his family were staying with us at the time. They have traveled all the way from Mindanao to give the children a treat. My niece-in-law had the AIWA stereo turned on the FM radio while doing their chore in the kitchen. Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, the program shifted to AM. No one was near the stereo. Annoyed, my niece stopped whatever she was doing and walked towards the stereo. Although she was still wondering how the program shifted to AM, she was determined to bring it back to Fine Medium. When she reached for the tuner, the numbers 66.6 MHz were staring in her face. Stunned, she withdrew her hand and called our helper to see it.

 I was born on the 6th of Ramadan. My mother had no idea what year, but she was sure it was on the 6^th because she fasted 5 days before I was born. It was a time when Moslems in the Philippines didn’t register birth or death. Nobody ever required them to do so. I used to write in my diary when I was in high school. Through this, I discovered the difference between the Gregorian and the Hegira calendar. The difference is 11 days. I wanted to know my Birthday in the Gregorian calendar, so I counted backward, subtracting 11 days each year. I ended up with, believe it or not, June 12, 1952. I was never aware of the significance of this date until January 2000, when my book was released.

Ramadan 6 is 9/6 in the Hegira Lunar Calendar, while June 12 is 6/6+6.

I always feel strange when some people, especially new acquaintances, call me by my first name, NOSCA. In my childhood, friends and classmates used to call me nicknames, and in college, I was always called Khalid and Dr. Khalid after medical school. Because of my interest in prophecies, I laughed when somebody called me NOScadamus. Take special note of the first three letters of my name and NOStradamus.

[Note: I wrote the above in January 2000. In 2007, two years after I returned to Saudi Arabia…our clinic installed new centralized telephone lines. The new phone number in my bedroom is 108. The PIN number of my Saudi mobile phone is (7)108. Stranger still, President Bush Sr., the king who fired the first salvo of the  Battle for Babylon and whose son re-launched the unfinished war, was born on June 12, 1924, or 6/6+6/6+6+6+6… really creepy.)