11/11/11: Rare Alignment Of Numbers Makes For Unusual Day

Today is the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year, a rare alignment of the calendar that will only happen 12 times this century.

For Hindus, the number 11 carries a special spiritual significance, so much so that pregnant Hindu women are clamoring to have caesarean deliveries to ensure their children are blessed with good luck.

A horror film, out on Friday, has taken advantage of the date for its title... as well as being a handy tool for marketing the flick.

There are exactly 50 days until Christmas, while the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the day Germany signed an armistice with the Allies in the forest of Compiègne, France, ending the First World War.

Around the world, the superstitious are taking advantage of the day's apparent magical qualities. Marjaneh Peyrovan plans to buy 11 lottery tickets while fans of the film This Is Spinal Tap are planning to pay homage to guitarist Nigel Tufnel, whose amp went up to 11.

Speaking to the Washington Post, numerologist Vikki MacKinnon said she expected a "cosmic wake-up call".

"Eleven is a number of illumination and enlightenment, a number of insight, blinding flashes of the obvious, and a number of transformation," she said.

"I think really good things will come out of tomorrow."

Watch the 11/11/11 trailer below: