23 enigma

Origins

Robert Anton Wilson cites William S. Burroughs as the first person to believe in the 23 enigma. Wilson, in a 1977 article in Fortean Times, related the following anecdote:

In literature

The 23 enigma can be seen in:

• Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's 1975 book The Illuminatus! Trilogy (therein called the "23/17 Phenomenon")
• Wilson's 1977 book Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of the Illuminati (therein called "the Law of Fives" or "the 23 Enigma")
• Arthur Koestler's contribution to The Challenge of Chance: A Mass Experiment in Telepathy and Its Unexpected Outcome (1973)
• Principia Discordia

The text titled Principia Discordia claims that "All things happen in fives, or are divisible by or are multiples of five, or are somehow directly or indirectly appropriate to 5"—this is referred to as the Law of Fives. The 23 enigma is regarded as a corollary of the Law of Fives because 2 + 3 = 5.

In these works, 23 is considered lucky, unlucky, sinister, strange, sacred to the goddess Eris, or sacred to the unholy gods of the Cthulhu Mythos.

The 23 enigma can be viewed as an example of apophenia, selection bias and confirmation bias. In interviews, Wilson acknowledged the self-fulfilling nature of the 23 enigma, implying that the real value of the Law of Fives and the 23 enigma is in their demonstration of the mind's ability to perceive "truth" in nearly anything.

In the Illuminatus! Trilogy, Wilson expresses the same view, saying that one can find numerological significance in anything, provided that one has "sufficient cleverness".

In popular culture

Industrial music group Throbbing Gristle recounted in great detail the meeting of Burroughs and Captain Clark and the significance of the number 23 in the ballad "The Old Man Smiled". Their 1980 album Heathen Earth, where this song appears, also features the number 23 on the cover.

Music and art duo The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (later known as The KLF and the K Foundation) named themselves after the fictional conspiratorial group "The Justified Ancients of Mummu" from Illuminatus!; the number 23 is a recurring theme in the duo's work. Perhaps most infamously, as the K Foundation they performed a performance art piece, K Foundation Burn a Million Quid on 23 August 1994 and subsequently agreed not to publicly discuss the burning for a period of 23 years. 23 years to the day after the burning they returned to launch a novel and discuss why they had burnt the money.

The number 23, as well as the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, and 42, serve as motifs in the television series Lost. Series co-creator Damon Lindelof has suggested that the choice of using the number 23 stems from the Illuminatus! Trilogy.

The 2007 film The Number 23, starring Jim Carrey, is the story of a man who becomes obsessed with the number 23 while reading a book of the same title that seems to be about his life.

The plot of tactical shooter video game Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 revolves around stopping a shadowy organization called The 23 Society looking to gain power and influence.

References

References

1. (23 February 2007). "23 fascinating facts about the number twenty-three". [[The Independent]].
2. https://www.soundundergroundmusic.com/2025/01/06/il-numero-23-il-codice-segreto-del-caos/
3. [https://www.theguardian.com/editor/story/0,12900,990935,00.html "Going loco over 'El Becko'"]
4. [http://forteantimes.com/features/commentary/396/the_23_phenomenon.html Robert Anton Wilson on the "23 Phenomena"] {{webarchive. link. (September 28, 2008)
5. ''[[Principia Discordia]]'', pg. 23
6. Robert Anton Wilson sees the [[clustering illusion]] everywhere, not just 23, ''Robert Anton Wilson Explains Everything'' (audiobook), December 2001.
7. (2011). "The Numerology of 23". Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
8. Ford, Simon. (1999). "Wreckers of Civilisation : The Story of COUM Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle". Black Dog Publishing.
9. Cranna, Ian. (1987). "1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?) review". [[Q (magazine).
10. Pilley, Max. (24 August 2017). "The Ice Kream Van Kometh: The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu Return". [[Drowned in Sound]].
11. Ellis-Petersen, Hannah. (23 August 2017). "The return of the KLF: pop's greatest provocateurs take on a post-truth world". [[The Guardian]].
12. Reid, Jim. (25 September 1994). "Money to burn". [[The Observer]].
13. [[K Foundation]]. (8 December 1995). "Cape Wrath". [[The Guardian]].
14. (23 August 2017). "The KLF: Pop's saboteurs return after 23 years". [[BBC News]].
15. (2006-11-12). "All at sea about Lost? Read on ...". The Guardian.
16. (14 January 2007). "Quite a jazzy little number". [[The Los Angeles Times]].