MIA FARROW AND THE OMEN: 666

[RonPrice]

I saw The Omen(2006) two or three nights ago on Australian TV. The movie did not start until 1 in the morning. I was too tired to watch the whole movie and went to bed about 2 and missed the last half. I read the story on Wikipedia out of curiosity the next day. I also read a digest of the other Omen films which have been all over the place in the 40 years from 1976 to 2006. The Omen, Damien: Omen II, Omen III: The Final Conflict and Omen IV: The Awakening as well as The Omen:66. Now you can watch replays on TV. You can watch them on DVD and, if you are into the new technology, on your iPod or iPad. I’m happy to wait until movies come onto TV as The Omen:66 did this week.

Mia Farrow appeared as Mrs. Baylock, the Satanic nanny, in the remake of The Omen:66. Though the film itself received a lukewarm critical reception, Farrow's performance was widely praised, with the Associated Press(AP) declaring "thank heaven for Mia Farrow." Her performance resulted in, as the AP put it: "a rare instance of this new Omen improving on the old one." Filmcritic.com added: "it is Farrow who steals the show", and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer described her performance as "a truly delicious comeback of Rosemary in Rosemary’s Baby. Mia Farrow is chillingly believable as a sweet-talking nanny from hell." -Ron Price, Wikipedia, 17 January 2011.

As I surveyed all these Omens1
I became more interested in Mia
Farrow. All this 666 stuff, this
Book of Revelation playing is a
very old game going way back to
the first century with this piece of
apocalyptic literature. And it is a
game anyone can play with a little
keen interest in the symbolism of..
this 666!!1

1 Wikipedia and several other internet sites provided me with excellent overviews of the entire set of Omen films.
2 I have come to favour ‘Abdul-Baha’s explanation that 666 applies to the first Umayyad Caliph who came to power in the year 666 of the Christian era. Ali was the true successor whom Muhammad publicly named “Leader� (“Imam�) a few months before his death. (See: M. Gail, Six Lessons on Islam 6.29)

After the assassination of Ali in AD 661, Muawiya seized power over the expanding Muslim world, proclaiming himself the first Caliph of the Umayyad dynasty and Empire in the notorious year of AD 666 (vv. 9.11, 13.1–2, 5–6 & 13.18). Muawiya’s destructive edicts crippled Islam spiritually. He made the Muslim capital unholy Damascus instead of holy Mecca, and for good measure desecrated the Mecca birthplace and the Medina tomb of Muhammad. His Umayyad Caliphate carved out the world’s then biggest Empire. See: (1) Robert F. Riggs, “The Rise of the Caliphate,� in The Apocalypse Unsealed, Philosophical Library, NY, 1981, pp. 165-175; and (2) The Revelation History of Muslim Militarism | Apocalypse Secrets. The Umayyad Caliphate of Muawiya (CE 666–749).

Ron Price 17 January 2011