Origins of the number 3

The number 3

what ever the hell this means

Three is the first odd prime number,^[1] and the second smallest prime. It is both the first Fermat prime (2²ⁿ + 1) and the first Mersenne prime (2² − 1), as well as the first lucky prime. However, it's the second Sophie Germain prime, the second Mersenne prime exponent, the second factorial prime (2! + 1), the second Lucas prime, the second Stern prime.

In Buddhism

• The Triple Gem - Buddha, Dhamma (Buddha's teaching) and Sangha (the preachers of Dhamma)
• The Triple Bodhi (ways to understand the end of birth)- Budhu, Pasebudhu, Mahaarahath

Abrahamic religions

The Shield of the Trinity is a diagram of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity

• There are three main Abrahamic religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
• In Muslim devotional rites, certain formulas are repeated three times, and others thirty-three times
• A devout Muslim tries to make a pilgrimage to all three holy cities in Islam: Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem
• Noah's three sons:Shem, Ham and Japheth (Sons of Noah)
• The Holy Trinity in Christian doctrine (or trinity in general), is God both as a single being and three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is also known as Tripartite division or the Godhead.
• According to the Gospel of John, Jesus spread Christianity for 3 years.
• Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his death.
• Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him three times.
• The Wise Men who visited Jesus after His birth left Him three gifts.
• King Solomon states in Ecclesiastes 4:12: "A three-ply cord is not easily severed." Examples of this concept of three-ness in Judaism are:
  • The three Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
  • The three pilgrim festivals (Sheloshet HaRegalim): Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot
  • The three leaders of the Jewish nation during their 40 years of wandering in the desert: Moses, Aaron, and Miriam
  • The Tanakh has 3 sections: Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim
  • There are 3 daily prayer services: Shacharit, Mincha, and Maariv
  • There are three divisions of Jews: Kohen, Levi, and Israel
  • Shimon Hatzaddik taught: "On three things the world stands: On Torah, on prayer, and on acts of kindness" (Pirkei Avoth 1:2). Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel taught: "The world continues to exist because of three things: justice, truth, and peace" (ibid. 1:18)
• The three Theological virtues referred to 1 Corinthians 13.
• In Roman Catholicism, a group of three martyrs, collectively known as Faith, Hope, and Charity (named after the Theological Virtues).
• Three realms of the afterlife: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory (or Limbo).

Neopaganism

According to historian Ronald Hutton, the concept of the Triple Goddess with Maiden, Mother and Crone aspects and lunar symbology was Robert Graves' contribution to modern pagan witchcraft.^[1] Many witches and other neo-pagans believe in the "Triple Goddess" of maiden, mother, and crone that originated with the first neo-pagans in mid-twentieth-century England. In their view, sexuality, pregnancy, breastfeeding—and other female reproductive processes—are ways that women may embody the Goddess, making the physical body sacred.^[2]

Triple Goddess

Wiccan "Triple Goddess" symbol of waxing, full and waning moon^{[citation needed]}

• The Maiden represents enchantment, inception, expansion, the promise of new beginnings, birth, youth and youthful enthusiasm, represented by the waxing moon.
• The Mother represents ripeness, fertility, sexuality, fulfillment, stability, power and life represented by the full moon.
• The Crone represents wisdom, repose, death, and endings represented by the waning moon.

Many neo-Pagans and Wiccans believe that women can identify with the deity in ways unachievable by patriarchal religions by echoing the normative model of the female life-cycle which is represented by the Triple Goddess.^[3] This model is also seen to encompass a personification of all the characteristics and potential of every woman who has ever existed.^[4] Other beliefs held by worshippers, such as D. J. Conway include that reconnection with the Great Goddess is vital to the health of humankind "on all levels" and that the Goddess stood for unity, cooperation, and participation with all creation, while in contrast male gods represent dissociation, separation and dominion of nature. ^[5] These views have been criticised by some neopagans and scholars as re-affirming gender stereotypes and symbolically being unable to adequately face humanities current ethical and environmental situation. ^[6]

Most neopagans assert that the worship of the Triple Goddess dates to pre-Christian Europe and possibly goes as far back as the Paleolithic period. Consequently, many believe that their religion is a surviving remnant of ancient beliefs. They believe the Triple Goddess is an archetypal figure which appears though various different cultures at throughout human history, and that many individual goddesses can be interpreted as Triple Goddesses.^[4] This multiplicity of identity has led to neopagans adopting the images and names of culturally divergent deities for ritual purposes.^[7]

[edit] Drawing Down the Moon

One of the graver rituals of Wicca, "Drawing down the Moon", involves the high priestess either going into a reverie and speaking as the Goddess, or recites dramatic prose (different branches of Wicca have different rationales and methodologies). Slightly different rituals are performed at the different phases of the moon. The priestess is assumed to be functioning as a prophetess of the Goddess or her corporeal form. Mel D. Faber explains this in psychological terms of attempting to re-unite with the protective mother fantasy of the psyche.^[8]