Editing 3 (section)

==Religion and beliefs==
{{prose|section|date=October 2023}}{{more citations needed section|date=October 2023}}
{{See also|Triple deity}}
[[File:Triple Goddess Symbol.svg|thumb|right|Symbol of the Triple Goddess showing the waxing, full and waning Moon]]

Many world religions contain triple deities or concepts of trinity, including the [[Hindu]] [[Trimurti]] and [[Tridevi]], the [[Triglav (mythology)|Triglav]] ({{lit|Three-headed one}}), the chief god of the [[Slav]]s, the [[three Jewels]] of [[Buddhism]], the [[three Pure Ones]] of [[Taoism]], the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Trinity]], and the [[Triple Goddess (Neopaganism)|Triple Goddess]] of [[Wicca]].

According to [[Pythagoras]] and the [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagorean]] school, the number 3, which they called ''triad'', is the only number to equal the sum of all the terms below it, and the only number whose sum with those below equals the product of them and itself.<ref>{{citation |author=Priya Hemenway |title=Divine Proportion: Phi In Art, Nature, and Science |pages=53–54 |year=2005 |publisher=Sterling Publishing Company Inc. |isbn=1-4027-3522-7}}</ref>

[[File:Shield-Trinity-Scutum-Fidei-English.svg|thumb|The [[Shield of the Trinity]] is a diagram of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.]]

===As a lucky or unlucky number===
Three ({{lang|zh|三}}, formal writing: {{lang|zh|叁}}, [[pinyin]] ''sān'', [[Cantonese]]: ''saam''<sup>1</sup>) is considered a [[numerology|good number]] in [[Chinese culture]] because it sounds like the word "alive" ({{lang|zh|生}} pinyin ''shēng'', Cantonese: ''saang''<sup>1</sup>), compared to [[4 (number)|four]] ({{lang|zh|四}}, pinyin: ''sì'', Cantonese: ''sei''<sup>1</sup>), which sounds like the word "death" ({{lang|zh|死}} pinyin ''sǐ'', Cantonese: ''sei''<sup>2</sup>).

The phrase "[[:wikt:Third time's the charm|Third time's the charm]]" refers to the superstition that after two failures in any endeavor, a third attempt is more likely to succeed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of THE THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20third%20time%20is%20the%20charm |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref> However, some superstitions say the opposite, stating that [[luck]], especially bad luck, is often said to "come in threes".<ref>See "[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-bad.html bad] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302124523/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-bad.html |date=2009-03-02 }}" in the ''Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'', 2006, via Encyclopedia.com.</ref>

One such superstition, called "[[Three on a match|Three on a Match]]", says that it is unlucky to be the third person to light a cigarette from the same match or lighter. This superstition is sometimes asserted to have originated among soldiers in the trenches of the First World War when a sniper might see the first light, take aim on the second and fire on the third.<ref>{{Cite news |last=King |first=Stephen |date=1984-04-12 |title=1984, A BAD YEAR IF YOU FEAR FRIDAY THE 13TH |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/12/garden/1984-a-bad-year-if-you-fear-friday-the-13th.html |access-date=2025-02-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1935-12-07 |title=THREE CIGARETTES. |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17211389 |access-date=2025-02-06 |work=Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref>