This essay came about after noticing some interesting connections between the Nordic, Gaelic, and Indo-Aryan god-trinities, and since there are so many Christians within the White race I perceive that it would be prudent for them to understand more about this ancient spiritual conception, and how Christianity developed a very Indo-European trinity as opposed to the traditional semitic systems of Abrahamism, which do not have this spiritual conception. Someone more knowledgeable may be able to pull from the Old Testament threads of this mythological concept, but the triad/trinity/triumvirate is best expressed by the Indo-European religions as those contained the clearest attestations of this concept. This concept is based within nature itself, formulated through countless eons of cosmic life - it was vitally important to the formation of European society and mytho-poetics. Therefore, it would be prudent to understand regardless of your religion.
The Importance of Three:
As far as numbers go, three may be the most interesting and esoteric considering its usage in divine hierarchies and relationships.
*If you have anything to add, please share in the comments below!*
Simply peruse the Wikipedia page on the Tetrahedron and look at its deep study, its many uses, and the mathematical wonders that such a combination of triangles provides. Or, look at the ancient Egyptian pyramids and wonder in awe at the ingenious minds who built such powerful edifices. The square pyramid with four triangular faces is far easier to built than a triangular pyramid built with three faces, however when piling up any material while placing it in the exact same spot (such as salt or dirt) then the material will always take on a pyramidal or triangular shape. This is due to the great natural stability found within the triangle, the balancing point of the spire, so to speak.
To use a well-understood analogy, one can imagine the three principal family members: the Father, the Mother, and the Child - the expansion of the imminent blood and the attainment of continuation, the creation of transcendent Nature within the very physical form of a family. In ancient Greece, they called an unmarried man “the unfinished man” as if to denote that a man was not fully created unless he were married and endowed with children. In ancient Rome there was even a special tax imposed upon unmarried men (the Lex Papia Poppaea, introduced by emperor Augustus to encourage marriage). The only exceptions were those granted to Vestal Virgins - social chastisement of unmarried women who were not virgins serving in some ritual cult was common.
In ancient Ireland under the Brehon Laws, if either spouse was unable to give birth to a child for any reason then it was grounds for divorce due to the fact that the attainment of a child, the creation of new life, the continuance of the reincarnating ancestral spirits, and the expansion of the household was the entire purpose of ancient marriages. The sexual union of two people is supposed to create a third person. In fact, ancient marriage and sexual intercourse were so clearly connected to creating that third body, the child, that it even shows up in mythology - the Dagda is seduced by a goddess and even though he accepts her advances, he cannot perform due to his prodigious belly, so they stop having relations. Here we see that the attempt for pleasure is not enough, the union of two people is simply to provide for a third.
Marriage and intercourse served one vital purpose - to create a union that offers completion, generation, and expansion. This ancient concept of triumvirate unity within the very household and between spouses shows forth the power of three in concrete ways.
In a foundational sense, the number three symbolizes balance, stability, movement, expansion, generation, creation, and attainment. In some of its more common forms (such as the Neolithic triskelion) three symbolizes movement, and in other cases (such as the pyramid) it symbolizes stability and balance; both forms insinuate generation and creation, expansion and attainment.
Beyond from the physical symbolism of three, there is also a strong poetic symbolism found within the tripartite death, or the Threefold Death, which is best preserved within Celtic and Germanic sources. This mythological motif takes form in a number of ways:
1. The person is subjected to three separate deaths and rebirths such as Fintan mac Bochra, Tuan mac Cairill, and Etain.
2. The person is subjected to three lethal events which each play a role in their death such as Odin, Merlin, and Aedh the Black.
The “Commenta Bernensia” also known as the “Bern scholia” are comments made in a 9th-century manuscript. The commentary expands on a reference concerning the Gaulish druidic human sacrifice to Teutates, Esus, and Taranis. The notes state that the victims dedicated to Teutates were drowned, those dedicated to Esus were hanged, and those to Taranis were burned, which encapsulates this Threefold Sacrifice motif perfectly - more on this later.
The Threefold Death has to do with the Tripartite Soul, a concept found in Gaelic and Germanic sources, which denotes a full-being, balance, attainment, and a complete sphere or cauldron. Thomas Rowsell has a very good video breaking this concept down, in relation to reincarnation. I will not go into the specifics of the three elements of the soul, as that is a deep subject worthy of a seperate article.
The domain of three entails not just people, but their very souls. In a Gaelic context, there is a concept of three cauldrons, these being gifts or creations of the Dagda, placed within the person to contain elements of their being - this clearly denotes the concept of the tripartite soul.
Lastly, three is understood by the Germanic esotericist Guido von List as denoting a mytho-poetic process of incarnation and existence:
Arising, coming into being, creator/generator/provider.
Becoming, fulfilling being, viking/carrier/bearer.
Passing away, towards new arising, death/destiny/target-end.
Largely unrelated to Europe and mythology, but relevant to the conversation of 3, we have the concept of the Tri-Force. Here is a fun little article about the Tri-force from Legend of Zelda, and its history within Japanese culture, specifically its relation to the Hōjō Clan. The Japanese name for the Tri-force is “Toraifosu” implying “three powers” and the “three as one” denoting unity within inter-dependence, and harmony between constituent parts. This pyramidal symbol of three is an ancient symbol with far-reaching modern influence and manifested power, going so far that it entered into a children’s game that has influenced thousands if not millions of children across the globe.
Clearly, the number 3 can be understood in a myriad of significant ways.
Indo-European Triads, Trinities, and Triumvirates:
I will be covering northern Indo-European pantheons and triads in depth over the coming months. For the purposes of expanding on the divinity of three beings together, I will simply show a list of certain divine triads, along with some artifacts and depictions which should drive this home. Trinities are Indo-European.
Nordic and Germanic mythology both have the primordial trinity of Odin, Vile, and Ve, the three Gods who first embodied kingship, authority, and priestly knowledge. Odin represents inspiration, wisdom, authority; Vile represents consciousness and the will to power; Ve represents a sort of breath of life, a spiritual energy that resides within nature. Together they form an Odinic triad.
Similar to this triad would be the Gaelic Three High Kings: the Dagda, Nuada, and Lugh. The Dagda is the grandfather who represents creation, wisdom, and authority through seniority; Nuada is the father who represents regeneration, authority lost through wounding and regained through healing; and Lugh who is the champion son who represents vitality, justice, and the turning of old power to young hands. Together they form a kingly triumvirate.
Continental Celts had a famous trinity known as Lugus the Three-Faced God, which was composed of the gods Taranis, Teutates, and Esus. These are often related to the Gaelic High Kings, although the identification of Lugh, Nuada, and the Dagda with the Gaulic three has been contentious to a degree. I will go into greater detail concerning my own theories on this subject in future articles.
Sometimes Cerunnos the Wild God is related to this trinity due to his relation to Esus (who is also something of a wilderness god) but this relation comes to a head(!) with this depiction of Cerunnos with three faces:
Common across the Indo-European world would be what the Romans knew as the Three Matres, the Three Mothers, who have clear cognates with the Germanic and Nordic “Norns” who weave the threads of fate, or Wyrd. Similar to these would be the Gaelic “Three Morrigna” or the Morrigan; these are three goddesses who are tied to fate, destiny, time, justice, warfare, and life and death.
Further afield, we find that the Indo-Aryans have a rather famous trinity known as the Trimurti meaning “three forms, trinity” which is generally composed of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer, although variations of the trimurti are common in different sects and schools.
The “Om” symbol is sometimes said to depict the three qualities of the Trimurti, where the combined symbols of A/U/M are supposed to represent creation, preservation, and destruction.
Three was clearly important in this Vedic religion, and has remained so throughout the generations of its expansion and change. Although I am reminded of ant-hills or dung-piles, these temples pictured below call to mind the natural power of three in a very tactile sense.
Hail Victory, and good-end! o///
Thanks for the interesting string of connections! Various triplets come to my mind. One is the Indo-European hero called Trita ('Third') in Indo-Aryan branch. He was the third of three brothers and killed a tricephalous creature called Thraetona, who was dragon-like and using fire. Trita has the epithet Aptya in the Vedas which means 'watery' so there seems to be a fire-water duality alongside the triplicity. In Rome the story was turned into a legend about the three brothers Horatii fighting the three Curiatii. Two brothers were killed but the remaining one killed all three enemies.
Of course, the elephant in the Rome when it comes to IE triplets is Georges Dumézil. He saw three classes everywhere, much to the annoyance of British scholars (young Mary Beard went ballistic about it). This was based on the Medieval ideal of the three classes (oratores, bellatores, laboratores) and the Vedic varna system (Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya). He may be exaggerating his threesomes (one of his examples is Paris' choice between the three goddesses) but there is enough parallelism in his work to show that this was a significant part of Indo-European ideology.
The warrior dance of the Salii (tripudium, parallel verbal formation to the Greek tripod) is also very interesting and has to do with ritual auguries (birds seems to have three supports when they land and peck) and probably the three cosmic steps of Vishnu.
Not to seem like a debooooonker but I've read somewhere (can't remember where) that this 'tripartite Indo-European' schema is:
(1) not unique to the Aryans;
(2) not found among *all* Aryan peoples
I mean so what but there ya go what say you?