Poodle's comment in a thread about 144,000 Jews converted the others reminded me of a question I've been wondering about for a while. Firstly, why is 12 an important religious number? We had a lecture in medieval literature mentioning the importance of 5 and 12, but I was wondering, why those numbers? I remember there was something about 144 (12x12) virgin brides of Christ (I think, maybe just virgins), but where does the importance of 5 come from? It shows up a lot. And the one that bugs me the most: why 3? Why is 3 such an important number? Nay, the MAGIC number? 3 princes, 3 bears (and thus, 3 bowls of porridge, 3 chairs, 3 beds,) 3 balls for cinderella, her and her two ugly sisters make 3 daughters, before her mothers death there were 3 in the family Does it all relate back to the holy trinity, and biblical influence? I'm pretty sure there's a lot of talk of 3 in earlier texts, but I don't remember.And if so, for those willing to question the creation of the bible, why was a trinity decided on, rather than just two, or four? Oh, and there's the pentagram as well. In summary; 5 3 12
Twelve Apostles? Three Wise men? Five Men in Mary's bed giving rise to poor illegitimate Jesus? Who knows....
There's something about three that appeals to the human brain. It is enough to be interesting but not so much that it is a chore to track. The Marine Corps structures its units so that the most any one person has to directly supervise is generally three people. And in art two tricks to designing a painting are to have "a light, a bright, and a dark" and to have a triangular composition.
Grab one, Grab the other, watch the third... I guess we're designed to be able to readily keep track of three... That makes sense, if three is readily found in nature, much more than other numbers, it's got the comfort factor...
I'm looking up wikipedia (how could I forget wiki?!) and like I thought, there's extensive recordings of it being important far before then. # 3 Indian Gods: Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara (Shiva) # 3 Greek gods: Zeus~ Poseidon~ Hades (Air~ Water~ Earth) # 3 Roman gods: Jupiter~ Neptune~ Pluto (Air~ Water~ Earth) # 3 sons of Zeus & Europa: Minos~ Rhadamanthus~ Sarpedon # 3 forms of Odin in Eddic Mythology: Har~ Jafnhar~ Thridi # 3 mysterious figures amongst Norse gods: Hoenir~ Lodurr~ Mimir
Three is also the basis of the simplest two-dimensional geometric figure, the triangle. It's the smallest number of lines you can use to enclose a space.
A triangle is structurally a very sturdy construction that is fairly simple to build. Or a pyramid, for that matter. Oh, and in storytelling, you need a beginning, middle, and ending; an introduction, a conflict (or challenge/setback), and a resolution.
The importance of the number 12 in Judeo-Christianity stems from the 12 tribes of Israel, who, by tradition, are begotten from the 12 sons of Jacob.
Yes, but that's just how we've organised time. We could have organised it as something like I dunno, the now, the known now, the future, the past, and the unexperienced past.
Ah, but it takes considerable mental gymnastics to come up with a different way of viewing time. It's pretty basic to think of time as what has happened, what is happening right now, and what is going to happen. One could argue that you could simplify it into what has happened and what is happening, or even just down to the "now", but I would submit that being able to remember the past and learn from experiences--as well as being able to plan for the future--is a key element of being a human.
"All Minbari belief is around three. Three castes – Worker, Warrior, Religious. Three languages – Light, Dark and Grey. The nine of the Grey Council, three times three. All is three. As you are three. As you are one. As you are the One. You are the One who was. You are the One who is. And you – you are the One who will be. You are the beginning of the story, and the middle of the story, and the end of the story…that creates the next great story."
Which is in turn preceded by Babylonian geometry, dividing the circle and especially the circle of the sky into the 12 partitions of the zodiac, each with 30 degrees of 360 (12*30) degrees, the simple calendar that has a 360 day year divided into 12 months of 30 days. The three is the minimum of any constellation. Anything (1) that is anything (2) is so by virtue of something (3). For much more on this, see the guy in my sig.
Ooh. Our modern calendar is 12 months long. The year (at least in temperate climates) is comprised of 4 seasons of 3 months each. There are three states to matter: solid, liquid, gas.
Protons, neutrons, electrons Single, double, and triple bonds Acids, bases, salts Ionic, polar, polar-covalent Endoderm, Mesoderm, Ectoderm Roots, stems, leaves Morning, day, and night 12 days of Christmas Petals are often arranged in multiples of 3 Pistils (a flower part) are arranged in groups of 3 All the stupid geometric triangle proofs (SSA, SAS, etc.) are 3's... Looks like Wiki's got a good list of 3-things.
