The Psychology of the Trinity (Why '3' Shows Up Everywhere in Religion)

The number 3 shows up in every religion. Often, it is associated with one of - if not THE - highest deity in each religion (Christian Trinity, Egyptian Trinity, Supernal Triad in Kabbalah, etc). Is there a reason for this? Or is it a coincidence? The psychoanalyst tradition has some things to say about this occurrence, and their discoveries might not only blow your mind, but disturb you.

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Sources:

Jung, C.G. "A Psychological Approach to the Dogma of the Trinity."
Edinger, Edward F. "Trinity and Quaternity."
Levi, Eliphas. "Transcendental Magic." (first four chapters)
Scholem, Gershom. "Origins of the Kabbalah."
Friedman, Russell F. "The Trinity and Metaphysics: The Formal Distinction, Divine Simplicity, and the Psychological Model."

#religion #trinity

[allan]

In a story you have the protagonist, the antagonist, and the plot that links both in a struggle. The protagonist casts light upon one aspect of the theme, the antagonist argues about the opposite being better. However, they cannot interact without the plot. Finally, the trio wraps up the theme being discussed perfectly, except there is a fourth, ever-changing, unpredictable part: the reader, the embodiment of free will, also the one that really changes (because the story is immutable, the person reading isn't). It is basically the thesis, antithesis, synthesis, and the reader.

[DJTS]

This might have been one of your greatest and most important videos you've ever made, Max.
Well done!

[chrizzel]

I've skipped a fair few videos because I simply don't know the source material when it comes to the games you analyse, so this video was a very pleasant surprise. Dropped just about everything else I was doing to watch it, and I wasn't disappointed. It's always difficult to find where one's pattern recognition is reasonable and where it overstates the case, but I think you navigated the difficult subjects here well.

[SeiichirouUta]

A general question, not critisising this video:
Where does this come from that yin = chaos? My best friend's (from childhood days) mum is from China (later moved to Taiwan where she studied acupunture and worked with things like Yin/Yang her whole life) told me about these things - in a very simplified way of course. What she taught me was that (Edit: Typo) yin and yang came from chaos, but never that any of them represented chaos. And that they should not be seen separately, but as something that should be brought into balance. While I do know that there are philosophies and religions out there that see the feminine as chaos, I've never heard this in connection to yin from someone who practises/knows Daoism. Could it be that it got mixed up with other things like it happened so often in the West? Can someone please explain this, maybe even name sources?

[skyman]

Crazy idea maybe it has something to do with we are 3D beings so we might inherently always try and break things down into 3 parts. Idk just a thought that occurred to me

[ilregiallo]

Last year I've read "The unconscious as infinite sets" by psychoanalyst Ignacio Matte Blanco. The book was a bout the difference between the concious logic (aristotelic logic) and the unconcious one, the logic we can see in dreams and delusions. There was a part in which he discussed the role of numer three in the formation of thoughts: he said that in order to form a proposition (a phrase, which can be said out loud or just thought), in order to think about ... well... anything, the human mind needs to consider 3 elements:
-Something
-Something Else
-the Relationship between the two previous elements
Each part of this triad cannot exist without the other two. We cannot define anything without thinking about something different from it, and if we think about two things we always have to consider the relationship between the two.
This was just a very little part of the book, however it really made me think, since I too have alwasy been interested in the role of number three in mythology and religions.

[soulstealera]

Anybody else have "Three is a Magic Number" stuck in their head?

[francozagarra]

Each time you release a new video Max is a full learning experiencie with no doubt. I love all your content related to videogames but my favourites are the Aion and Answer to Job series. Hope you still making that kind of content in the future man. You're a treasure among the sea of Youtube Channels. Greetings from Argentina!

[danmcmurphy]

i actually got a notification for once

[troyeteryx]

Yes Max, Order is masculine and Chaos is feminine.
In hindu shastras and puranas, 'Om' the masculine form of brahman and the frequency of space calmed down 'Shakti' the feminine form of brahman. 'Om' resembles the order (creation, preservation and destruction) in the universe and 'Shakti' resembles chaos or unpredictability with the sense of individuality.
Note (for those who are confused with the difference of Brahman and Brahma): - Brahman is the One that Pythagoras references, the absolute divine consisting both good and bad. And Brahma is manifestation of brahman's creation aspect.
Every higher god Vishnu ji, Mahadev or Shiva, Brahma, Lakshmi maa, Parvati maa and Saraswati maa (the wife of the trinity and Shakti's vessels to help Om's vessel or the trinity).
All the theories of Carl and Pythagoras are followed by our beliefs, just a large part of information were lost due invasions and other shenanigans.
Love you from India Max.

[totallynotaspy]

I actually knew a fair amount of what you brought up in this one! My first exposure to Jung was when I happened to stumble upon a copy of a more obscure text (Psychology and Religion, a Terry lecture given in 1938) which is basically a crash course in his explanation of color theory, and I remember the exact moment he pulled the curtain back on the significance of the color blue feeling as if someone had just blown my head off with a shotgun.

[kukukachu]

There was 4 I found while researching the Tree of Life. A lot of people don't know this, but there is a flip side of the Tree of Life called the Qliphoth. The Qliphoth (The Tree of Death) is basically the evil side of the Tree of Life (Kabbalah) where the Sefirot are all just empty husks with each, their own demon. Anywho, while looking into this, I found something interesting.

It didn't hold a trinity, but a square:

In the top left: Astral Body
In the top right: Mental Body
Bottom left: Vital Body
Bottom right: Physical Body.

Anywho, I thought you might find this interesting. Like I said, not a lot of people know about the Tree of Death.

[jackrobertson]

"a unity can only be one thing if there are 2 things being united by a third force" wow that did blow my mind, the Trinity makes so much more sense to me now!!

[TheBelovedDesirableIsland]

This was a great freaking video. I’m currently doing a cultural media analysis for class that I’m sort of playing with the inspirations and morals of games like Zelda and early jrpgs that really speak to who I’ve become as a person today, very much studying the ways of life and philosophies that inspired these games, transferring this sacred knowledge to us without us even knowing. My essay seeks to explore this and I look forward to using you as a resource. Thank you so much for your time and energy ❤

[atrocitasinterfector]

I remember identifying this pattern back in 2003 when i was 16, super stoked to watch this

[FlanuerNexus]

Yet another fantastic video man. You are by far my favorite YouTuber. You deserve all the popularity I’m sure you’ll get soon!!!

[DietmarEugen]

I guess "Me Myself & I" is the psychological source.

[OrginoftheDeep]

I saw the author of this video claim that he was nervous about this upload, this is the most original, well thought out, and helpful video I’ve seen in a while. You’re tackling a very complex topic and make is as easy as possible to digest. If nothing else, I appreciate your contribution

[thekernel]

Thank you so much Max for posting this. I've been going down a philosophical and religious rabbit hole recently, and wahla you come out with this. The lore of Earth is truly insane.

[cbbcbb]

I would go with the psychological.
I read about an experiment test of people's ability to perceive how many of a specific object they were shown. They were put in a dark room and allowed to see a number of candles just for a second or two. The subjects could always accurately tell when they were shown one candle, two candles, or three candles. Once the number of candles exceeded three candles, it became more difficult to perceive how many candles the subject saw. I do not remember what was the max number of candles where some could perceive the count. Even with four candles, most people did not instantly see four candles. What they saw were three candles plus one more. They had to isolate three candles so that they could perceive the fourth one.
If the spiritual world is so stable, why did it deliberately destabilize itself by inventing the physical world?