Three

Three is the number of completion, the first number which earns the use of the word “all”. The regular triangle, with three equal sides, is the most stable flat shape, more resistant to pressure and deformation than even a square is. If you are proving that a line is straight, three points are the least possible requirement to indicate that the pattern will hold. By contrast, if you want to indicate a pattern and then break it, then three again is the least possible number of cases. Most jokes work in groups of three – the infamous Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman, for example – for exactly this reason: one to set the example, two to reinforce it, and three to turn it on its head, giving you the punchline.

The Three Gossips by Christmas with a K

Three is also the number of fertile sexual union, one and two, male and female, joined together to produce a third. By extension to the concept of fertility and birth, three is also the number of manifestation, of making something happen. It indicates creative power, moving energy, resolving the conflict of duality, growing and developing. Wishes, petty misfortunes, witches and many more things are all said to come in threes.

Linking back towards completeness, three is the number of the cycle of life: beginning, middle and end; past, present and future. By association, it is often thought of as magical or divine. The Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit are a powerful symbol of tripartite completeness. So too, historically, are the three fates (or Moirai) of Greek mythology – the triple-goddess of Maiden, Mother and Crone (found also as the three Norns of Norse myth) who spin life-thread for each person, measure it, and then cut it. Similarly, the moon is often seen as tripartite, waxing, full and waning, and moon deities (like Hecate) often had three faces; lunar animals were commonly supposed to have three legs.