Multiples of three...

[Tealight]

A couple of years ago I read a very interesting paper, all about the power of the number three and its multiples (the most common one used to show importance or power is 9) in some mythologies, notably Greek and Norse.

Here are a few examples:
Thor kills the Midgard serpent, but after taking nine steps back, dies from its poison.
The three Norns, the three Fates.
The trios in Greek mythology, for example Core, Persephone, Hecate.
The maiden, woman/mother, crone trio in Greek, Celtic, Norse etc. etc. mythology...

Your thoughts? Do you think it's just a coincidence, or is there meaning behind it? Further examples from other mythologies? A counter theory as to why the number seven is more important worldwide?

I would be very interested to hear!

[danrak]

I've heard this before. Its very intersting indeed. I personaly think 3 is appears more often then 7.

[htmlmaster]

I've found that when people pick numbers at random, they usually pick odd numbers. In certain areas of mythology, maybe five is too many and one isn't enough, so they pick three.

[Harro]

If you ask somebody to say a random number3 and 7 are indeed the numbers people choose the most.
But do we say that because of eg the things in mythologie or does mythology use it aswell because it are just the number people think about the most?

[AcadianSidhe]

Three is also a significant number because it means a group- neither single or pair. I think in Mesopotamia or Egypt, they specify that being the reason.

But you see this all over the world. Notice the number 2 is just as significant, but we don't really acknowledge it because pairs are so commonplace.

[frang]

I think we're experiencing some blinders here. Sure, we grew up in a culture where historically three is significant. But there are plenty of cultures, such as those native to the Americas, where other numbers, such as four, had more significance.

[VS Prasad]

Number 3:

The Hinduism speaks of Trinity of gods, and their wives as trinity of goddesses.
The Wiccan Rule of Three.
Robert Graves's Triple Goddess: Maiden, Mother, Crone.
In Taoism, the Three Pure Ones.
Gurdjieff's Three Centers and the Law of Three.
Luck, especially bad luck, is often said to "come in threes".
Plato split the soul into three parts: the appetitive, the spirited,
and the rational.
Hegel's dialectic of Thesis + Antithesis = Synthesis creates
three-ness from two-ness.
The three Doshas (weaknesses) and their antidotes are the basis of
Ayurvedic medicine in India.
Plato split his utopian city into three populations: laborers,
guardians, and philosophers.
Several polities have been ruled by three persons in a triumvirate.
As well, medieval theory divided society in laboratores (peasants),
bellatores (noble warriors) and oratores (clergy).
Counting to three is common in situations where a group of people
wish to perform an action in synchrony: Now, on the count of three,
everybody pull!
Three is the minimum odd number of voting components for simple
easy redundancy checks by direct comparison.

Several cities are known as Tripoli from Greek for "three cities";
and Tripura in India. Sicilia was known as Trinacria for its
triangle-shape. 3 is the number of words or phrases in a Tripartite
motto. The phrase "Third time's the charm" (or, rarely, "Three time's
the charm") usually means that the third time a person attempts
something, he or she will succeed.

The three Gunas underlie action, in the Vedic system of knowledge.
There is also the concept of Trimurti in Hindu tradition. The Buddha
has three bodies. The three Vedas are called trayi i.e triad. Lord
Shiva is Trinetra-Three-eyed. The confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and
hidden Sarasvati is the famous Triveni-confluence of three rivers.
Buddhism's three refuges are Trisharana- Buddhan sharanam gacchami,
Dhammam sharanam gacchami, Sangham sharanam gacchami.

In Greek mythology, the Three Graces or Charites. Also the number of
heads of Cerberus, the monstrous dog that guards the gate to Hades.

3 (number) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_3)

Number 7:

The number of stellar objects in the solar system visible to the
naked eye - the Sun, the Moon and the five classical naked eye
planets: Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn.
The days of the week are named after these stellar objects.

Seven against Thebes Seven hills of Rome Seven Liberal Arts Seven
Sages Seven Wonders of the ancient world Seven emperors (and period;
Rome, history): Julius Caesar, Augustus, Galba, Hadrian, Nerva,
Sallust, Vespasian. In Breslov tradition, the seven orifices of the
face (2 eyes, 2 nostrils, 2 ears, and the mouth) are called "The
Seven Candles."
The number of heavens in Islamic and Hindu traditions.
The number of Archangels according to some systems.
Sapta Rishis, the Hidu seven ancestor Sages of all humankind.
The Seven Sages of Greece: Solon, Chilon, Thales, Bias, Cleobulus,
Pittacus, and Periander.
The number of ranks in Mithraism.
In Khasi mythology, the seven divine women who were left behind on
earth and became the ancestresses of all humankind.
The number of gateways traversed by Inanna during her descent into
the underworld.
The seven hells in Hindu mythology.
In Guarani mythology, the number of prominent legendary monsters.
Seven Lucky Gods exist in Japanese mythology.
The triod of gods, the triod of goddesses, and Parama Atma
(Almighty) in Hinduism.
The number of notes in the traditional Western musical scale,
and traditional Indian musical scale.

The reason for 7 being a lucky number symbolically (such as in the
Bible) is because it represents the union of man and woman, since the
number for women is 4 and the number for men is 3.
It is traditionally thought that there are seven continents on Earth.
Many cities are claimed to be constructed amidst seven hills -
Seven hills of Rome, and Tirupathi in India.
The number of openings into the human head (mouth, two eyes,
two ears, two nostrils).
The figurative number of seas.
The number of colors of the rainbow.
The number of chakras in Kundalini Yoga.
There were seven wonders of the ancient world.
The seven virtues are humility, liberality, chastity, kindness,
abstinence, patience, and diligence.
The superstitious believe that to break a mirror brings seven years
of bad luck. The cure: to bury the pieces, or run them in a stream.

The seventh son of a seventh son has magic powers, according to Irish
folklore, but is a vampire in Romanian legend.
According to Buddhist legend, after his birth the Buddha rose to his
feet and took seven steps.
In Hindu marriage, the couple are said to become one after they
walk seven steps together around sacred fire.

In Greek mythology, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, were the seven
daughters of the Titan Atlas and the sea nymph Pleione.

The phrase "seven-year itch" was first recorded in 1899. It
characterises a man's urge to roam after seven years of marriage, the
theme of Marilyn Monroe's 1955 film, "The Seven Year Itch".

Netball, handball and water polo are played with teams of seven players.
The opposite faces of a dice add up to seven.

The Seven Summits is the name given to the highest mountains on each
continent.

The heptagram, or seven-pointed star is a traditional symbol for
warding off evil. Most American sheriff's badges are heptagrams.

When asked to think of a number between one and 10, most people pick
seven.

7 (number) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_7)
Seven Magazine (http://www.sevenmagazine.org/)

[fleurish]

Subconciously humans are drawn to three. I heard a bit ago that sientists researched why the number three comes up in everything. Birth Life and death, humans look at everything in three's.

[ArtemisLestrange]

This forum caught my eye because I just finished reading a book entitled Shadow Of The Minotaur. You can look up a sinopsis, and I would recommend the book. Anyhoo, it's aminly about a Greek Mythology Video game that is actually a gateway between the worlds of real life and myth. The "Gamemaster" guy has a secret code laguage that is made of multiples of three, coincidence? Maybe not.


By the way 3 and 9 are my lucky numbers!