Three is the Magic Number

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The past and the present and the future.

Three has always been one of my favorite numbers. And so many interesting things come in threes - the primary colors, trilogies, strikes, basic rock formations, Freud's division of the psyche, the wise men, the triple goddess, the Triforce in the Legend of Zelda games ... oh, I could go on and on! And I will. Just give me some more time. This lens is still very much a WIP.

What else possessed me to create a lens all about the number three? Well, it is the third lens I'm creating from scratch. And as they say, the third time's a charm.

Three is a Magic Number by Bob Dorough 

Three is a magic number,
Yes it is, it's a magic number.
Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity
You get three as a magic number.

The past and the present and the future.
Faith and Hope and Charity,
The heart and the brain and the body
Give you three as a magic number.

It takes three legs to make a tri-pod
Or to make a table stand.
It takes three wheels to make a ve-hicle
Called a tricycle.

Every triangle has three corners,
Every triangle has three sides,
No more, no less.
You don't have to guess.
When it's three you can see
It's a magic number.

A man and a woman had a little baby,
Yes, they did.
They had three in the family,
And that's a magic number.

3-6-9, 12-15-18, 21-24-27, 30.
3-6-9, 12-15-18, 21-24-27, 30.
Multiply backwards from three times ten:

Three time ten is (30), three times nine is (27),
Three times eight is (24), three times seven is (21),
Three times six is (18), three times five is (15),
Three times four is twelve,
And three times three is nine, and three times two is six,
And three times one is three of course.

Now take the pattern once more:
Three! . . .3-6-9
Twelve! . . .12-15-18
Twenty-one!. . .21-24-27. . .30

Now multiply from 10 backwards:
Three time ten is (30 - Keep going), three times nine is (27),
Three times eight is (24), three times seven is (21),
Three times six is (18), three times five is (15),
Three times four is twelve,
And three times three is nine, and three times two is six,
And three times one...
What is it?!
Three!
Yeah, That's a magic number.

A man and a woman had a little baby.
Yes, they did.
They had three in the family.
That's a magic number.


The song was originally written and performed by Bob Dorough, back in 1973, for Schoolhouse Rock. His version can be heard on the video below.

Schoolhouse Rock - Three is a Magic Number

The FIRST Schoolhouse Rock! The one that started it all! '70s learnin' music video cartoons! (below the video, look for a 'VIDEO RESPONSE' to my next Schoolhouse Rock video! :-)

Runtime: 179
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curated content from YouTube

Three is a Magic Number by Blind Melon 

Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks

The version of "Three is a Magic Number" that I remember best is the one redone by Blind Melon for the Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks CD in 1996. It is a tribute album based on the original animated TV series.

Mathematically speaking ... 

Buy at Art.comTaken from its Wikipedia article, 3 (three) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4.

Three is the first odd prime number, as well as the first lucky prime. In number theory, a lucky number is a natural number in a set which is generated by a "sieve" similar to the Sieve of Eratosthenes that generates the primes.

Begin with a list of integers starting with 1:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 ...

Every second number (all even numbers) is eliminated, leaving only the odd integers:

1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 ...

The second term in this sequence is 3. Every third number which remains in the list is eliminated:

1, 3, 7, 9, 13, 15 ...

The third surviving number is now 7, so every seventh number that remains is eliminated:

1, 3, 7, 9, 13, 15 ...

As this procedure is repeated indefinitely, the survivors are the lucky numbers:

1, 3, 7, 9, 13, 15, 21, 25, 31, 33, 37, 43, 49, 51, 63, 67, 69, 73, 75, 79, 87, 93, 99 ...

Anyone want to go buy lottery tickets now?

Maiden, Mother, Crone 

Below is a wonderful lens by fellow Squid WhiteOak50 that describes the Triple Goddess much better than I could. Besides her personal experience and designs, she has several links to other websites with more information.

The Power of Three 

"By the powers of three times three, make them see, make them see."
-Schmendrick the Magician



Several movies involving witchcraft have used the power of three. Below are links to a few of my favorites.

Charmed 

Charmed - The Complete Series

Charmed is the story of the three Halliwell sisters, Prudence, Piper and Phoebe, discovering that they are the world's most powerful good witches, The Charmed Ones; each gifted with innate magical powers they must collectively use to defend the "innocents" of San Francisco from demons, warlocks and other evil beings. During their fight against the forces of evil, eldest sister Prue is killed, breaking the united Power of Three. However, the Charmed triple-destiny is restored with the introduction of a long-lost fourth half-sister, Paige Matthews, who is half-witch and half-whitelighter.

Read more about Charmed on its Wikipedia article.

Third Time's a Charm 

Buy at Art.comWhere did the phrase "third time's a charm" originate?

Although it's not certain where the belief that trying something for the third time would be more successful than the first two attempts, The Phrase Finder has some pretty interesting suggestions stemming from the phrase "third time lucky," used in the UK.

My favorite and "The most common is that it alludes to the belief that, under English law, anyone who survived three attempts at hanging would be set free. This is probably from the story of John 'Babbacombe' Lee. Lee was a West Country sailor who was convicted of the murder of Emma Keyse at Babbacombe Bay in 1885. He was sentenced to hang at Exeter prison and three attempts to execute him all failed. The Home Secretary of the time, Sir William Harcourt, commuted the sentence to life imprisonment and Lee was later freed. He was known thereafter as 'the man they couldn't hang' and went on to live a long life, dying sometime in the 1940s. Fascinating story though it is, the use of 'third time lucky' predates it and thus it can't be the origin. Nor is any earlier reference to the supposed English law on freeing those who survived three hanging attempts. This legal ruling never existed in any general sense and is restricted to isolated cases like Lee's."

The most likely origin is that it's related to the other idioms "practice makes perfect" and "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again," which are all used to encourage people not to give up.

Threes in Fairy Tales 

featured lenses by fellow Squids

The Guestbook 

Do you have a fascination with the number three, too? Suggestions for more sections are welcome, as this lens is an ongoing project. All feedback is appreciated!

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