The 23 Enigma

How 23 will win Hawthorn the 2012 flag

It’s a truism to say that the number 23 carries great significance at Hawthorn, and I’m not just referring to the three Cs: Crawshay, Collica and Crawford (Justin).  Of course we all recognise it as the number worn by some of our most celebrated champions: John Peck, Don Scott, Dermott Brereton and now, Buddy Franklin.  All of them great players as we know, but more than that, all four of them epitomise individual flair, and play or played with an aura of unpredictable brilliance carrying match winning potential. It’s fair to say that in each of our great eras we’ve had a great number 23.

Of course then you consider the great number 5s (5 being 2+3); Peter Crimmins, Andy Collins and Sam Mitchell, add in Leigh Matthews (who originally wore number 32, which of course is 23 in reverse) and you start to appreciate the full power of the number 23 and realise that it is more than just two digits slapped on the back of a jumper.

It is not only at Hawthorn where the number 23 is seen as having special life-changing properties. There is in fact a school of belief – more a cult really – that all significant events and incidents are related in some way to the number 23 – for some it is a good omen while for others it signifies disaster. This phenomenon is known as the 23 Enigma. In this post I’ll look at some of the factors that contribute to this ‘enigma’ and demonstrate just how this means Hawthorn will be premiers in 2012. That’s 2012 – 20 + 1 + 2 = 23.

American author William Burroughs is widely thought to be the original proponent of the 23 Enigma. He relates the story of a Captain Clark who ran a ferry between Tangiers and Spain. Captain Clark told Burroughs that he’d been running the route for 23 years without an accident. On that very day the ferry sank and later that evening, Burroughs heard a radio report about the crash of Flight 23 on the New York-Miami route. The pilot was another Captain Clark. 

From that moment, Burroughs started collecting occurrences of 23s, an activity since taken up by many others, most relentlessly by science fiction writer and futurist Robert Anton Wilson in his book, with Robert Shea, The Illuminatus Trilogy. More recently actor Jim Carrey has championed the 23 Enigma, starring in a film called The Number 23 about this phenomenon and naming his production company JC23 Entertainment. So that makes a comic actor, a cosmic conspiracy theorist and octogenarian junkie – there’s a trustworthy trinity if ever there was one.  And Burroughs, I need hardly point out, died at the age of 83…a Hawthorn premiership year.

The subculture who follow these beliefs, of which Hawks fans must count themselves, refer to themselves as twenty-thirdians. Their belief in the magical properties of number 23 stem from a series of cosmic crossovers and occurrences that suggest a pattern and even a model for human existence – that’s if you need any further evidence than the Scotty, Dermie and Buddy triumvirate.

Seventeenth century scholar Archbishop Ussher published a chronology of existence showing that the Earth was created on Sunday 23 October  4004 BC. He’s quite specific about the Sunday, though he doesn't say if the job was done in time to catch Modern Family that night. The Mayans, meanwhile, believe that the world will end on 23 December 2012 (and just in case you’ve forgotten, 2012 is 20+1+2 =23). This remains to be seen of course, but crucially, it gives the Hawks time to squeeze in one last flag before the place blows.  In any case, you’d be well advised to wait until Christmas Eve to do your Christmas shopping this year.

So this theory isn’t based on trivial coincidences, but the very existence of the planet. The number 23 is central to the creation and destruction of Earth. But between these two cataclysmic events, while it’s still spinning, (and though this ostensibly takes 24 hours, I’m sure there’s a calculation involving leap years, daylight savings and depreciation to show that it’s really 23) the Earth itself tilts on an axis of 23.5 degrees. Not only that, but the tropic of Cancer is located at 23.5 degrees north while the Tropic of Capricorn is at 23.5 degrees south. And if you think these .5s throw out the theory, remember that 5 is 2+3, 23.

Not only is the number 23 intrinsic to our host planet, but also to the life that thrives on its surface – until 23 December that is, if the Mayans are to be believed. Each parent contributes 23 chromosomes to the fertilised egg, while it is the 23^rd chromosome that determines gender.  Furthermore the physical human biorhythm cycle is 23 days, plus it takes 23 seconds for blood to circulate through the human body. Now I haven’t measured these obviously, and certainly my own blood feels more sluggish, but on this, like global warming and why left-footers are better kicks, I’m just going to have to trust the experts. Which means, not to put too fine a point on it, that without 23 there is no humanity – which may sound a tad hyperbolic, but it’s not news to Hawks fans.  

In numerology the number 1 represents the individual or the leader; number 2 represents balance and duality (right/wrong, black/white, and dare we say, brown/gold), while number 3 is the product of 1 and 2, the innovative creative force, the best of individualism and balance – sounds like Buddy on the run lining up a long range goal really.

There are of course other signs: Michael Jordan and Shane Warne, the two best practitioners of basketball and cricket respectively, both wore 23. Kurt Cobain was born in 1967 (1+9+6+7 = 23) and died in 1994 (1+9+9+4 = 23) and with Nirvana, released his landmark album Nevermind on 24 September 1991 – Grand Final week in a Hawthorn premiership year.

All of this is fascinating, but how does the 23 Enigma necessarily relate to the AFL, and more importantly Hawthorn? Well to extrapolate some of the more obvious connections; there are 18 teams in the AFL from 5 different states: 18 + 5 = 23. In season 2012 (which of course is 20+1+2 = 23) there are 23 rounds of football and each team is named with 22 players + 1 coach – 22+1 = 23.

So having established that the number 23 is intrinsic to the AFL, let’s now look at how this reveals Hawthorn as the 2012 premiers. Firstly, Hawthorn won the premiership 23 years ago, in 1989. In fact  Hawthorn has won 10 premierships: 1961, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991 and 2008. If you add the single integers together, ie, 1+9+6+1+1+9+7+1 etc, you get 229, and then divide by the number of premierships we’ve won, 10, you get 22.9, which by any calculation equals 23.

It’s also worth noting that the distance from Hawthorn’s home in Wellington Road Mulgrave, to the MCG on Punt Road, Richmond, where the Grand Final is played, is, you guessed it, 23 km.

And do I need to add that the 23^rd Prime Minister of Australia was Bob Hawke, who not only has a name that is evocative of Hawthorn, but was elected in the Hawks premiership year of 1983 and left office in another Hawks premiership year of 1991, thus encompassing our most successful era, and in fact the most successful era of any club in the history of football.

And talking of the history of football, there have been 115 premiers between 1897 and 2011. 115 is 1+1+5 = 7, add in the 5 times Hawthorn has been Runner-up , and you’re up to 12, then add the number of premierships we’ve currently won, 10, which equals 22 and add one more for this year, and lo and behold you get 23. And I don’t think that’s drawing a long bow, do you?

Oh, and we’ve got Buddy.

And as I post this, we sit at 2 wins and 3 losses - not ideal but possibly another harbinger of a Hawthorn flag in 2012.