As a tech geek and data analyst, I‘m fascinated by the ways we use metaphorical language to express complex human emotions. Phrases like "cloud seven" and "cloud nine" have become idiomatic shorthand for that feeling of total bliss and elation. But where did this cloud imagery come from, and why has it persisted across languages and cultures as a symbol of euphoria? Let‘s journey into the history and science behind these soaring symbols of happiness.
A Meteorological Origin Story
The use of numbers to classify cloud types dates back to 1803, when French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck developed an early taxonomy of cloud forms. Higher numbers were given to tall, vertically developed clouds reaching high altitudes. This hierarchy was expanded in the late 19th century by international meteorological conferences, which defined ten basic cloud types denoted by the Latin prefixes cirro-, alto-, nimbo- etc. combined with common cloud names like cumulus and stratus.
The tallest thunderstorm clouds were designated nimbostratus on the meteorological scale. So metaphorically, someone on "cloud nine" was imagined to be soaring as high as the big puffy cumulonimbus clouds rising vertically into the heavens. The adjacent "cloud seven" evoked a similar floating euphoria just shy of the tallest eigth, ninth and tenth cloud varietals.
Seventh Heaven and the Evolution of Cloud Nine
The use of numbers to denote escalating happiness predates the meteorological cloud classifications. The phrase "seventh heaven" has its origins in ancient Jewish and Islamic belief systems describing levels of heaven, with seven being the highest and closest to God. This religious conceptualization of seventh heaven as a superlative paradise seems to have influenced early euphemistic references to cloud seven in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
However by the 1980s, "cloud nine" usage became predominant over "cloud seven" as the go-to phrase for communicating elation. Perhaps the pleasing assonance of "cloud nine" plays a role in its popularity. And the obvious visual metaphor of imagining yourself happily traipsing across the highest of cloud peaks is simply more relatable and memorable.
Floating on Air and Rising with Elation
What is it about clouds specifically that lends itself to symbolizing emotional elevation? Literal feelings of uplift and expansion in the body are commonly associated with happiness and joy. The sensation of walking on air or ballooning with pride mirrors the floating quality of wispy, vaporous clouds. Clouds also represent freedom, unrestraint and dreaming, so figuratively transporting someone to the clouds implies a freeing of burden and inhibition.
There may also be links to the regulating role of the hypothalamus, which governs both emotions and the body‘s barometric equilibrium adjusted through the lungs and heart relative to air pressure – keeping our internal biology metaphorically and literally "in the clouds".
The Science of Euphoria
From a neuroscience perspective, human euphoria and bliss are regulated by endogenous compounds like dopamine, endorphins, oxytocin and serotonin. These neurotransmitters and hormones generate pleasure and feelings of reward when released, typically in response to experiences like laughter, sex, music, exercise, meditation and fulfilling social connections.
The sensation of intense joy has evolutionary origins relating to motivating survival activities like bonding, eating and reproduction. Psychologically, the pursuit and attainment of euphoria satisfies a deep human craving for meaning, security and contentment. Capturing these pinnacle feel-good emotions with the poetic symbolism of "cloud seven" and "cloud nine" acknowledges our shared desire to experience life‘s peaks.
Blissful Cloud Imagery in Pop Culture
References to floating on cloud seven/nine permeate modern song lyrics as musical artists frequently evoke clouds to sing about lovesick euphoria or drug-addled elation. Lovestruck lyrics describe "floating down on cloud number nine", feeling "fluffy cloud high", or being "way up on cloud nine". Drug references include Pink Floyd‘s "head in the clouds" and The Temptations crooning "I‘m up on cloud number nine" on the psychedelic "Cloud Nine".
Clouds and vertical ascent also symbolize transcendence in film and literature. James Cameron floats among luminescent jellyfish clouds in Avatar‘s Pandora. Tom Cruise breaks free from technology‘s grip when escalating to the literal cloud line in Oblivion. Common dream images of flying, floating and puffy clouds represent freedom from constraint. We instinctively look to the sky and clouds to inspire imaginings of aspirational joy and limitless possibility.
Cultural Variations on Cloud Euphoria
While English predominately uses clouds seven and nine to denote peak happiness, other cultures incorporate different skyward imagery. In Farsi, the phrase "autumn cloud" (aabre paez) evokes a blissful state. Russians describe bubbly effervescent joy as like the Popovich sparkling mineral water brand. Germans capture an airy feeling with "luftgeschlagen", or "beaten by air". The French phrase for walking on air is "sur un petit nuage", riding happily at altitude on a little cloud. There are infinite cultural variations on conjuring billowy air and sky to metaphorize contentment.
The Appeal of Cloud Imagery Across Time
Despite technological advances leading to deeper scientific understanding, we still gravitate toward elemental nature symbols like clouds to articulate emotional experiences. The airy translucence of shifting clouds allows imaginative associations to take shape. Looking contemplatively to the skies and clouds induces quiet calm, expansiveness and possibility – the perfect canvas for daydreaming reverie.
Maybe we are hardwired to associate the sky with potential and promise. Cloud seven and cloud nine distill natural wonder into folksy idioms that humanize the emotional peaks and valleys of this thing called life. Whenever happiness lifts our spirit, we can find ourselves pleasantly afloat on cloud seven or nine.
