‘3’ is a number that appears throughout history, shaping our thoughts, feelings and actions in a way we hardly notice. Culture, as we call it, is a reflection of our everyday habits, behaviours and sometimes our fears. Some question these routines, while others unconsciously continue with them. Everywhere in our collective consciousness you can see this phenomenon.
3 stands for the beginning, the middle and the end; it is symbolically like a triangle reaching infinity in a circle. The 3 and the other numbers linked to 3 showed in our history the reinforcement of what one did or experienced.
The family consists of mother, father and child in the therapy context we have defence anxiety and impulse or emotions thoughts and action, in Christianity we have the creative Father, liberating Son and the life-giving Holy Spirit. These elements complement each other and create a whole that leads to something new.
We have rituals that linked to 3: knock three times on wood, walk three laps around a shrine, say a prayer three times, say one thing three times. The stories we tell often feature creatures/giants with three heads. You drink three sips from a sacred/magical well, and wait three days before making any important decisions. Three wise men come with three gifts. Peter denies God three times, Satan tries to tempt three times. The devil has his own number 666. Jesus is arrested when he is 30 or 33 years old. Jesus is resurrected three days after burial, Jonah stays for three days inside a fish. The god of Islam, Allah, has 99 names.
In ancient cultures, the universe has three layers: heaven, earth and underworld. New attempts are made three times to succeed, the return of the sun is greeted with three prayers, and ceremonies are held in three parts. In ancient Greece, three golden apples fall from the sky and three goddesses compete for beauty. In the world of fairy tales, you are usually given three difficult tasks to solve. You can wish for a maximum of three wishes from the spirit god etc. Three goats, bears, sisters, brothers...
Gods and creatures appear in triads in Scandinavian mythology and in other cultures; the norns, i.e. the goddesses of fate Urd / Skuld / Verdandi, the Greek moirs as in the picture above Klotho / Lachesis / Atropos, the Egyptian Osiris / Isis / Horus... Everything sacred, mystical and great is linked to the number three and variants such as nine, thirteen, thirty, thirty-three, sixty-six etc.
You say ready, set, go. Sound engineers test their microphones by saying, one two three. Things become valid on the third time.
Films, books, paintings, pictures, different artworks and works are presented in three parts i.e. trilogy. Maybe this is the artist's or creator's way of trying to reach their message with a stronger voice. Or reach the end, alternative infinity? You can't know that as a viewer. It's that little secret that you don't share with others.
That's why I was inspired by trilogy when I wrote my ‘Who is afraid’ series. Maybe my trilogy will find its endless life who knows! My first book was ‘Panic Attack’, followed by its sister ‘Social Phobia’ and the youngest sister is ‘Phobia’. My books have become individuals in their own right and take on new life with each new edition. They have their sisters in Turkish and maybe in the future other sisters will come in other languages.
I have new book projects in psychology and psychotherapy as well as literary works. They are starting to take shape or finished and will be published eventually. Maybe even these works will find their ‘three’ and meet you at some point.
So, let's get on with it;
Hasan Durna
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