Threesology Research Journal
Examples of 3-oriented Web Pages
page 14

(The Study of Threes)
http://threesology.org


The following are references culled from other websites regarding patterns-of-three that may or may not explicitly nor specifically reference the number 3 as the primary objective with respect to the information presented. Please give all respective authors their due credits. Links to their websites are provided following each section.




Trinfinity!
by Chelsea DeArmond
Open Letter Editor


As the Pythagoreans say, the world and all that is in it is determined by the number three.
~ Aristotle ~

Three factors contributed to Greg Boyd’s recent exploration (obsession?) of "the threefold structure of reality":


  1. His metaphysical argument that God must be triune in Trinity and Process.
  2. The writings of Charles Pierce.
  3. The Christus Victor Ministries discussion board, where people have posted hundreds of threes that occur in religions, Scripture, mythology, philosophy, theology, mysticism, psychology, physiology, art, literature, music, nursery rhymes, sports—basically, everywhere.

We see in all these instances most undoubted trinities, because they are wrought in ourselves, or are in ourselves, when we remember, look at, or desire these things.
~ Augustine ~

The meaning of three—A reflection of the Triune Creator?


So far participants in the discussion have just been cataloguing all kinds of threes—everything from nursery rhymes to Hegel’s Grand Synthesis—without drawing conclusions about what the growing collection might mean. Perhaps a pattern will emerge, or perhaps the threes we have collected might turn out to be unconnected in any meaningful way.


Three is the magic number, oh yes it is, it’s the magic number.
~ De La Soul ~

Boyd has suggested that the project may have evangelistic potential. Many pre-Christian and non-Christian scholars have speculated that there is something special about three since it is so pervasive in the world we know. As Christians, our testimony to the triune God may be the most plausible explanation for this pervasiveness. Perhaps this project will help make the idea of a triune Creator more intelligible to non-Christians. Or perhaps it will give Christians theoretical and practical insight into the triune Creator.


Three ways you can help


Philosopher Charles Pierce believed that thinking is intrinsically communal—- Greg Boyd agrees. He is considering turning whatever conclusions can be drawn from the threes we have compiled into a group article or book, in which contributors would be considered research assistants or co-authors (of course, a disclaimer will state that contributors do not necessarily share Boyd’s views).


Here’s how you can contribute:
  1. Post threes you observe in the Christus Victor Ministries

  2. --- discussion board ---. (Use the search function on the menu-bar to find the "Threefold Structure of Reality" thread.)

  3. Suggest book titles that will appeal to lay Christians and non-Christians.

  4. Help document and substantiate threes that are collected.


©2001 Christus Victor Ministries. (A.R.R.)

--- Threefold Structure of Reality ---
http://www.gregboyd.org/gbfront/Custom/4/Documents/threeness.html



The Power of Three!
Trilogy!

By Aloysius Dalli, ICGN's Founder

What I am about to state is the truth… on my Word of Honor.


I am no genius, not exceptionally smart and not highly educated. (I wish I had a formal education.)


What I am about to share with you is a chain of events which I promise were not planned by me, they just occurred? (I do not know how?)


Do you believe in the Super Natural Power that is some times given to certain people, which cannot be explained? Is there such a thing as the Power of Three? Please read the following…It is rather STRANGE, you decide?


My Creations:


  1. Three years ago I started a business called Dalli International Marketing Inc.
  2. I also Created a Finders Corporation called FIIFA
  3. I also created IICGN… (see --- http://www.icgn.us/ ---)

(Coincidence or was this to be part of the message? The Power of Three?)

Trilogy ( ---http://www.ICGN.us/initiatives.html#beauty ---)

  1. Recently an idea came to me on how to help save the Forests
  2. How to help Needy Children
  3. How to help promote World Peace.

(Coincidence or is this an added indication of the Power of Three?)


The Items that I chose to help promote saving the Forests, Helping needy Children and to help promote World Peace include the following:


1) I created the Pin of Hope, see --- http://www.icgn.us/ ---
2) I chose a certain Pen… added a Logo and text to it in order to promote Trilogy. I refer to this Pen as "The Instrument of Love and Peace" (It may be seen on the same page)
3) I am presently considering a Pendant, an idea that came to me on my birthday, (On May 6 of this Year) that is meant to be worn constantly around the neck, to further promote Trilogy.

(Is this a Coincidence or is this the Power of Three? Did you notice the 3 P's above?


Pin, Pen and Pendant?)


If you visit ICGN you would find that I promote the Pen as "The Instrument of Love and Peace"

In regards to the Pen, in ICGN's presentation, I stated, to promote Peace you need to:


  1. Lead with your Heart
  2. Then use your Head (Intellect)
  3. Using your Hand to write what your heart and head dictates. (The Pen is held by Hand)

(Coincidence or is this also the Power of Three? Did you notice the 3 H's above?)

Last but not least, recently an idea came to me, which I am hoping it will help promote FIIFA and DIMI (my two Corporations) and ICGN. See my newest Web Site, "WIN-WIN-WIN" at
--- http://www.win-win-win.us/ --- (Yet another Trilogy!)


Having read the above, and since I admitted to you that I am no Genius or even exceptionally smart or even highly educated…(I did not plan the above) do you suppose a certain unknown Power is advising me to do the above? Giving to me these ideas in Threes to let me know that it is my duty to do this? What else could it be? Coincidence? Perhaps? What do you think?


Sincerely,

Aloysius Dalli

--- The Power of Three! ---
http://www.icgn.us/contest/powerofthree.html



museum 3 crow

www.museumof3.com

Let's go to find the CULTURE of 3!


  • A grand piano has 3 legs.
  • The tripod of a camera has 3 legs.
  • Have you also ever seen a crow or a toad that has 3 legs?
  • Trinity, triad, triangle, trident, pyramid, 3 candles and 3 gates in a cathedral, 3 in Plato's philosophy.........
  • There are so many examples of threes in our human culture.
  • I have studied this phenomenon for over 20 years, and I have named it the "culture of 3 (or 3 culture)".
  • Look around you, and you will easily find many incidences of 3's.
  • If you find any examples, please be so kind as to inform me.

Let's build the "MUSEUM OF 3"


  • I have collected many items that exemplify the '3 culture', but I need even more.
  • Anybody who is interested in the '3 culture' can join us.
  • Could you please donate your data, materials, collections, and anything else related to the '3 culture' to our "museum of 3"?
  • And let's celebrate the culture of 3!
  • I hope you will be a charter member of our society.

from Dr.Young Kyoon Kim
FAX +82-32-327-5505
museumof3@hotmail.com
Copyright 2003 museum of 3, Inc.

--- http://www.museumof3.com/ ---



About Me, Myself, and I

My Personal Theory of Threes

I have long believed that, fundamentally, things come in threes.


There are many examples:

  • In nature there are three primary colors.
  • In religion there's the holy trinity.
  • Our universe has three physical dimensions, so in practice physical things can't stand on less than three points (legs). Ever hear of a two-legged stool?

Thus I reason that since fundamental things all come in threes, there must be three parts to our basic beings. Some psychological theories support this such as Freud's Id, Ego and Superego, and Transactional Analysis' Child, Adult and Parent.


So, over the years, I have come to consider my being to be composed of three facets, simply: Physical, emotional and intellectual.


I call them Me, Myself and I.


I never get bored because I can have a conversation with Myself any time. If you ask Me, life is always interesting since we usually have different ideas about what to do.


This is my personal page. More than you wanted to know, right?


©2004
--- Rich Enz ---


--- About Me, Myself, and I ---
(My Personal Theory of Threes)
http://www.richenz.net/



Enneagram 3 symbol Enneagram: Type Three

The Motivator is the achievement, success oriented person. The Motivator has a compulsive need to be productive and successful, and to avoid failure.


--- Enneagram: Type Three ---
http://www.lessons4living.com/enneagram3.htm



Triskelion design

The triskele is a three-legged pattern. The triple form represents the female principle, and is particularly sacred to the Celts, who used a triple cycle for the seasons, and for many magical patterns. Celtic goddesses frequently appear in triple form. From ancient times, the great earth mother was a trinity, representing her three aspects, maiden, mother and crone. The Triskelion is the triple-triangle form of fate (or the fates). Three rings were supposed to invoke the three fates in several ancient traditions. There are many examples of triskele patterns on pictish stones and in the Celtic manuscripts, the pattern may be used as a magical charm-probably to avert evil. Spirals are among the most sacred signs of Neolithic Europe, symbolizing the womb, death and re-birth. They appear on megalithic monuments, entrances to caves-sacred places of worship, all over the continent and the British Isles, such as Newgrange in Ireland. The spiral was a particular symbol of the goddess faith. Spirals also symbolized the coiled serpent or dragon, both regarded as sacred on the old religion, representing the natural energies of the earth and sky.


--- Triskelion: Triple Goddess T-shirt ---
http://www.irelandstreasures.com/triskelion_t_s.htm



Re: Strieber Knocks & Folklore Answers - Aubeck
15 March 2001


List, interested parties:


What interests me right now is whether it can be demonstrated that reports of the 'nine sounds' phenomenon were published in the UFO literature prior to 1985. Can you help? (If not, I will be forced to ask the question "_Why_ can't you find evidence of it?".)


Not necessarily in the UFO literature, this particular phenomenon of knocks or beeps or chirps, in multiples of three, often three sets of three, is well known in the demonic literature. See, for example:


  • The Haunted by Robert Curran (St. Martin's Press, 1988)
  • The Demonologist by Gerald Brittle (Berkley Books, 1980)
  • True Tales Of The Unknown by Sharon Jarvis (Bantan,1985)

This is not to suggest in any way that abductions are tied up >in the occult or demonology, but only to point out that this idea of the three knocks, six knocks, or nines knocks (three sets of three) does appear in wide spread areas of occult literature.


Hi Kevin,


Thanks for the note on the three 3s. These are my thoughts about what you and others have commented on UpDates.


  1. 1) I know about the demonic tradition of 3-3s but it’s very important to find the earliest UFO reference. It’s like finding the first mention of a Grey in UFO reports. Whether folkloric references to Greys exist or not ­ and they do, I can tell you ­ is neither here nor there. Willingly or unconsciously experiencers and witnesses absorb published material and regurgitate it in their stories or under hypnosis. The job of a historian ­ that is, the task of anyone doing serious research ­ is to seek out the earliest reference to an element within the context he or she is investigating.


  2. The 3-3s question is a puzzle in that this particular phenomenon coincides in time and space with the earliest UFO reports but the first UFO mention of it apparently dates to the 1980s. I would deem a lack of 3-3 reports in pre-Strieber UFO literature highly indicative of _something_, and I doubt any analytically-minded researcher would think otherwise.


  3. Kevin, you list several books wherein 3-3 experiences are mentioned. I am unlikely to get the chance to consult them for a long time. Could you send me photocopies of any relevant pages in those works? I would gladly reimburse for any cost involved.


  4. The number nine is often thought to be Satanic as it represents Christ’s death on the one hand (he spoke his last words at 9:00, according to Mark 15:34-37) and, on the other, as W.W. Wescott says in his book on the mystical meaning of numbers, it stands for “the earth under evil influences.” It is also an inversion of 6 (as in 666), the difference between the two numbers being 3 (as in 3 threes).


  5. In a sense this is an irony in Strieber’s books as he tries to show the Greys are more goodly than evil, although their traits are clearly demonic even in his descriptions of them. If you visit his website you find so much doom-and-gloom news coverage that it is obvious that he sees the ‘visitors’ as our salvation in a rotten world.


  6. It seems to me that Strieber tries hard to entangle the reader in lofty thoughts about meaning and occult symbols in a bid to steer us away from the more down-to-earth task of deciding whether to believe him at all. 200 years ago this kind of thing would have quickly turned him into a mystic, someone like Swedenborg or Jane Lead.


Chris Aubeck

--- UFO Updates ---
http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/2001/mar/m15-016.shtml



The Rule of Threes
by Matthew Arnold Stern

"...faith, hope, and charity..."

"...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..."

"...of the people, by the people, for the people..."

Why do so many speakers say things in threes? There are several reasons for this. Well, three to be exact:


  • Threes are how we normally organize information.
  • Three force us to focus on important details.
  • Threes amplify the importance of a concept.

The main reason for using the rule of threes is that it makes a speech easier for us to remember and deliver. And when a speech is easy for us to remember, it is easy for the audience to follow and retain.


Threes are how we normally organize information

We are used to events having three parts, a beginning, middle, and end.


In science, we create a hypothesis, research, and present our results.


In fiction, we start with an inciting incident, create rising action, and end with a climax. Look at the story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." (See?) The inciting incident is when Goldilocks goes to the bears' house. The rising action is when she tries out the porridge, chairs, and bed. (Notice that there are three events.) The climax is when the bears find her and chase her out of the house.


In speeches, we also use three parts: we say what we're going to say, say it, then say what we just said.


By using threes, we use a pattern to which listeners are accustomed. We also use a logic that is easy for us to follow and remember.


Threes force us to focus on important details

When putting together a speech, we are confronted with a choice of dozen of ideas and hundreds of supporting facts. Which ones do we use? All of them?


The problem with including as many ideas as possible is that we wind up bombarding the listener of a laundry list of facts. The listener can't absorb the information, and we can't present each concept in sufficient detail to support our subject.


By limiting ourselves to three ideas to present in our speech, along with three supporting facts for each idea we present, we can focus on the key points we want to make and develop them in more detail.


Think of it as the "In-N-Out Burger" approach to public speaking. In-N-Out Burger is a fast-food chain in the western United States that has only a few items on their menu – burgers, fries, and shakes – so they are able to make them with exceptional quality.


Threes amplify the importance of a concept

Say something once, and the audience may or may not hear it. Say it twice, and they may conclude that you're just repeating yourself. Say it three times, then the audience knows the point is important. By saying something three times, you have convinced the audience you're consciously emphasizing your point.


Parents seem to know this intuitively, don't they? Have your parents ever said to you, "If you're not quiet by the count of three, I'll give you a spanking you won't forget!" (That's back when parents can spank their children.)


Threes provide a familiar pattern of emphasis, which helps us remember the points we are to cover as well as helping the audience retain those points in their minds.


Conclusion

Threes help us organize, prioritize, and emphasize the subjects of our speech. Threes provide a familiar and memorable pattern. Threes help us remember our speech, which consequently, makes it easier for audiences to retain what we said.


So, in public speaking, three is a magic number. Use it make your speech more memorable.


Sources:

--- Kirby Tepper's Power Public Speaking ---
http://www.powerpublicspeaking.com/rule_of_threes.htm

--- Think on Your Feet ---
http://www.thinkonyourfeet.com/Tipdec.html

--- Lyrics: "Three is a Magic Number" by George R. Newall ---
http://www.schoolhouserock.tv/Three.html


--- Matthew Arnold Stern -- The Rule of Threes ---
http://www.matthewarnoldstern.com/speeches/ruleofthrees.html



Threes!
by Bill Long


Something About the Human Mind....

When I entered law school in 1996 I took a course, like most law school students, entitled "Legal Research and Writing." The purpose of the course was not simply to train me in techniques of legal research but also to teach me how to persuade a court or jury. In making a legal argument, I was told, try to divide the subject matter into three points. I realized immediately this advice was identical to what I received twenty years previously in theological seminary in my homiletics class--when giving a sermon, generally make three points, with appropriate introductory and concluding material. Though I think that this method will gradually erode under the pressure of more limited attention spans/desires for shorter materials in our post-modern culture, I believe that "thinking in threes" and "presenting in threes" still has a lot to be said for it.


Thus, as I have been studying words, I have been particularly attentive to the way that they might be grouped in "threes" in order to convey shades of meaning to us. For some reason as I do this, Dr. Seuss's story "I can Read with My Eyes Shut," comes to mind. In that cute book he says:


"You can read about trees,
and bees and knees.
And knees on trees!
And bees on threes!

With Dr. Seuss ringing in our ears, let's turn to "threes" in this and the next two essays.

Getting Started

There is no better way to launch a new literary topic than to begin with the Bard. He encourages us to focus on threes in a brief exchange in Twelfth Night. The "boy" Caesario has appeared at Viola's home bringing a message from her self-absorbed and self-appointed lover Count Orsino. Viola wants to rebuff the advances of Orsino but is intrigued by the "boy" who comes to visit. She asks her steward Malvolio to describe his features and age. Malvolio says:


"Not yet old enough for a man, nor young enough for a boy;
as a squash is before 'tis a peascod, or a codling when
'tis almost an apple. 'Tis with him in standing water
between boy and man."

TN 1.5.165-170.

Malvolio has both piqued and sated our desires for precision about who this "boy" Caesario is [really a girl dressed up as a boy]. We are given a "three," with Caesario in the middle, and we have as precise a description of the time between boy- and manhood as any technical scientific description--and, a much more visual and entertaining one, too!


Our First Three --- The Sense of Touch

Those who have developed their sense of touch learn to make precise distinctions between and among sensations. Three words to distinguish the outer surface of something are coriaceous and membranous, with pergameneous in the middle.


Let's start with pergameneous.

It may be defined as "of the nature or texture of parchment; parchmenty." The word pergameneous derives from the City that gave birth to parchment--Pergamum, a city (and kingdom) of significance in the Hellenistic world of the 4th-2nd century B.C.E. We need to turn to "parchment" for a more precise definition.


The OED (Oxford English Dictionary) defines parchment as "The skin of the sheep or goat, and sometimes that of other animals, dressed and prepared for writing, painting, engraving, etc." Thus, it is an animal skin specially prepared for writing. It was a sort of rough or thick paper.


The word pergameneous was invented in English in 1826 to describe this parchment-like consistency. But something that is rougher to the touch than parchment, a thing tougher than pergameneous, is coriaceous.


Coriaceous derives from the Latin word "corium/corius" which means "the thick skin covering of an animal."


It can also refer to the outer covering of a fruit (the skin, peel or rind) as well as the "shell" of an earthenware pipe. Coriaceous is defined by the OED as "resembling leather in texture; leathery." Its use is chiefly in natural history (description of nature). Thus, though leather can be as smooth as parchment, it seems tougher and more durable.


Then, on the other side of pergameneous is membranous.

In botany something that is membranous is "thin and more or less translucent." A membrane is a "thin pliable sheet-like tissue (usually fibrous), serving to connect other structures or to line a part or organ."


Conclusion

These terms, in general, find their origin and primary use in botany and natural history. But it is not too big a stretch to loose them from this confinement and possibly to connect them with the nature of the human life or heart. We might describe a person as coriaceous or membranous and not simply obdurate or pliant. The terms would also help us go beyond the "thin-skinned/thick-skinned" characterization that we have for people. Why not have all kinds of skin in between, that remind us of leather, parchment or a membrane?


--- Words and peascod and pergameneous and membranous and coriaceous and shakespeare ---
http://www.willamette.edu/~blong/Words/ThreesI.html



Threes -II
by Bill Long

Grouping Rhetorical Terms

I have long been fascinated with public speaking and the tradition of rhetoric, going back to ancient Greece, that gave it birth. The Greek rhetorical tradition was a product of the Fifth Century (B.C.E) Athenian efflorescence in the wake of their victory in the Persian Wars. Not only was there development in political theory, architecture and drama, but the sophistic movement claimed to be able to train people to speak effectively in the new world of democratic Athens. Rhetorical techniques (with accompanying terms), which were generally attacked by Plato even as he used some of them in his dialogues, then entered into our Western heritage. Because rhetoric bulked so large also in Roman civilization, and was discovered by eager Renaissance scholars, the sheer number of rhetorical terms that have come down to us is staggering. In addition, there often is little distinction between and among terms, because at least two or three languages generated them (thus macrologia is identical to perissologia, the former being the Latin and the latter the Greek for "long-windedness").


Yet sometimes we can group the words in threes or (as here, fours--I am just so eager that it is hard to confine myself to threes!) to expresses grades of feeling or verbal response to common life situations. By having words to describe the graded array of our reactions, we think more precisely about our emotions and thoughts.


Four Verbal Reactions to Someone

The words I give here represent four ways to respond critically to someone. We can respond with charientism(us), asteism(us), myterism(us), or sarcasm.


(H.O.B) Note:

This reference to a "four" can be viewed as another example of a 3- to- 1 ratio...


1 of 3. Charientism (us)
2 of 3. Asteism (us)
3 of 3. Myterism(us)
1 of 1. Sarcasm

etc...(meaning other arrangements can be made depending on definition, intent of usage, ...)


Charientism is the hardest of the four for me to specify because the definitions don't always agree with each other. The OED has "gracefulness of style, expression of an unpleasant thing in a pleasant style." Anyone who has ever studied New Testament Greek can see the word "Charis" behind it, which is the central NT term for "grace." So, charientism appears simply to be an ability to speak graciously, and even to "cover over" the rough spots or unpleasant realities of the moment with smooth speech. Thus, a diplomat would need to practice charientism regularly. In classical Greek the term charientismos describes a person who is a wit or jester.


It can also refer to someone who is "charming." One who is a charientismos is opposite to someone who speaks in a piercing, sharp, hasty or earnest manner. In his online rhetoric, Professor Burton defines the term as "mollifiying harsh words by answering them with smooth and appeasing mock." Maybe. The root concept, however, seems to be the "charm" of the person responding, who is able by the calm and even gently ironic or humorous manner to "take the sting" out of what has been said. It is a very valuable verbal skill to have.


Asteism(us)

Literally, asteism means "town bred," and then, by extension, "witty" or "charming" or "refined" or "elegant." It is meant to contrast with someone as we would say "from the sticks," who doesn't really know the finer points of refined living, much less speaking. The OED defines it as "genteel irony, polite and ingenious mockery." One 18th century source defines it as a "handsome way of deriding another." It is a harmless way of criticizing another in which a person may throw back a word first spoken by another by giving an unexpected twist to it.


Thus, I tend to distinguish charientism from asteism in that the former stresses the charming nature of a person's bearing and response, or his/her ability to calm a rough situation with mollifying words, while the latter suggests to me a technique of gentle criticism of another by using refined language and interesting turns of phrase to expose disagreement with /inconsistency of/muddleheadedness of the other. Whereas charientism tends to diminish or drain the emotion out of a potentially difficult situation, asteismis a skill that subtly provokes emotion through gentle criticism.


Mycterism

But not all criticism is gentle or subtle. Mycterism may be defined as a disdainful gibe or scoff. The origin of the word creates a picture that captures its essence. The Greek word underlying mycterism is "mykter," which means "nose" or "nostril." Thus mycterism is that motion of the face in which the nose is employed to express a sneering disdain. Look at people's faces when they speak. Look at how the nose moves when a person derides another. Mycterism then is the word that originates in this nose movement but is meant to suggest a harder, more unsympathetic and more disdainful assessment of another person, manifest perhaps in the scrunching up of the nose or twisting of the facial features. One iluminating example of its usage from 1900 is helpful: "a kind of derision which is dissembled, but not altogether concealed." Thus, there may well be an element in mycterism that still wants to hide itself a bit, even though it is not fully able to do so. Unlike asteism, where a person's "urbanity" tends to cover over or obscure the ridicule or scorn in which the speaker holds another, mycterism doesn't permit such concealment.


Sarcasm

Sarcasm is the most familiar of these four rhetorical devices and actually is the most verbally severe. It derives from two Greek words meaning "cutting flesh," and so the sarcastic person in engaged in "sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark." Sarcasm is a "bitter gibe or taunt." None of the attempted concealment in asteism or mycterism is present here.


The two most vivid biblical examples of sarcasm are:


  • The taunts of Christ on the cross, that if he is the son of God, that he should come down from the cross and prove it and,
  • The taunts by Elijah of the prophets of Baal in I Kings 18, where he upbraids them mercilessly for not being able to get Baal to ignite the fire of the sacrifice. Maybe Baal has even "turned aside" (is going to the bathroom) and thus does not answer. The sneer of the mycterist is here intensified through the bitter jibe, the amare irrisio, of the sarcast.
--- Words and mycterism and sarcasm and sarcast and asteism and asteismus and charientismus and charientism and sarcasm ---
http://www.willamette.edu/~blong/Words/ThreesII.html



Your Questions, Comments or Additional Information are welcomed:
Herb O. Buckland
herbobuckland@hotmail.com