Three, as emblematic of the Trinity, has always been considered a sacred
number, and long before the Christian era God was worshiped as a triple
Deity. This is true not only of the Assyrians, Phœnicians, Greeks,
and Romans, but also of the ancient Scandinavians, the Druids, the
inhabitants of Mexico and Peru, as well as the Chinese and Japanese.
So from earliest times the Hindus have worshiped their triad of Brahma,
Vishnu, and Siva. In Holy Writ we find three sister virtues, Faith, Hope,
and Charity; and in classic mythology are trios of Graces, Fates, and
Furies, the three-forked lightning of Jupiter, the three-headed dog,
Cerberus, and the trident of Neptune. The tripod was anciently a symbol
of prophecy and of divine authority, and the triangle was originally the
pagan emblem of a holy triad.
The peculiar significance of the number three was due partly to the fact
of its being the first uneven number containing an even one; and from the
importance formerly attributed to it may have originated the familiar
saying, “The third time never fails.”
In the several codes of ancient Welsh laws are numerous so-called triads,
of which the following are curious examples:—
Three things which a villain is not at liberty to sell without
permission of his lord; a horse, swine, and honey. Three things
not to be paid for though lost in a lodging-house; a knife, a
sword, and trousers. There are three animals whose tails, eyes,
and lives are of the same worth; a calf, a filly for common
worth, and a cat, excepting the cat that shall watch the king’s
barn.
Among the ancient Irish, also, considerable importance was attached to
the number three. Thus we read that among the household officials of the
High King of Erin were three royal jugglers, three jesters, three head
charioteers, three equerries, three swineherds, three janitors, and three
drink-bearers.
Multiples of the mystic number three were much employed by witches in
their incantations, and they are even now favorites with the Chinese, who
have a saying that one produced two and two produced three, while three
produced all things. This partiality is illustrated in the dimensions of
the Temple of Heaven in Pekin, where three and nine constantly recur.
In a book entitled “Varieties,” by David Person (London, 1635), being “a
surveigh of rare and excellent matters, necessary and delectable for all
sorts of persons,” the author comments at some length on the significance
of certain triads. Among others he mentions three things incident to
man,—to fall into sin, which is human; to rise out of it again, which is
angelical; and to lie in sin, which is diabolical. Again, three powerful
enemies, the world, the flesh, and the Devil, which constantly assail
man, should be opposed by three efficient weapons, fasting, prayer, and
almsgiving. Thomas Vaughan, in his “Anthroposophia Theomagica,” has much
to say concerning the virtues of numbers. “Every compound whatsoever,”
he says, “is three in one and one in three.” In speaking of a natural
triplicity, however, he does not wish to be understood as referring to
“kitchen-stuff, those three pet principles, water, oil, and the earth,
but to celestial hidden natures, known only to absolute magicians.”
In Northumberland smooth holly leaves, gathered late on a Friday, are
collected in a three-cornered handkerchief and carried home. Then nine of
the leaves are tied into a handkerchief with nine knots, and placed under
the would-be diviner’s pillow, and, as a result, interesting revelations
from dreamland are confidently anticipated. In another magical ceremony,
a maiden before retiring sets three pails of water on the floor of her
bedroom, and pins three holly leaves on her left breast. She will then,
conformably to the popular belief, be awakened from her first nap by
three loud yells, followed by three horse-laughs, whereupon the form of
her future husband will be revealed to her.[519]
The supposed efficacy of these rites doubtless depends chiefly upon
the use of the magical holly, but the repetition of odd numbers is also
characteristic of charms, incantations, and mystic procedures in all ages
and throughout the world.