Curiosities and coincidences about the number 12

Twelve (XII). What is so special about this number to be found in the most diverse activities in human history? As you'll see below, it doesn't seem to be just a coincidence.

Twelve is the multiplication of creation, of divine perfection. The number 12 appears since the dawn of civilization. It is recurring and diverse. The Babylonian calendar, for example, was based on the number 12, because time and space are strongly related to 12: our day is divided into 2 periods of 12 hours, day and night. Our year has 12 months, our clock has 2 times 12 hours and even our minutes, which are measured in 60 seconds, are the result of 5 times 12. There are four seasons, divided into periods of 3 months.
3 x 4 = 12.

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The musical notes are 12:

C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B.

...or 12 are the chromatic degrees:

do, do#, re, re#, mi, fa, fa#, sol, sol#, la, la#, ti.

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12 are the primary, secondary and complementary color matrices:

Yellow, Yellow-Green, Green, Blue-Green, Blue, Blue-Violet, Violet, Red-Violet, Red, Red-Orange, Orange, Yellow-Orange.

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The 12 in Astrology

Gathering all the symbology of 12 in different cultures, we arrive at the number of fairness, balance and total, complete elevation. 12 o'clock indicates the zenith of the sun, that's when it reaches its highest point (a clear metaphor for enlightenment, the greatest light that can be obtained).

The zodiac houses are 12, as well as the signs. In this way, the 12 in astrology has a meaning of harmony (associated with the sign of Pisces, the twelfth in the zodiac). The Chinese zodiac also uses 12 as a base: there are 12 animals, each representing a year that will complete a 12-year cycle.

Kabbalah sees great importance in 12, some believe it influences people's sensitivity, while others link 12 to passions and personal renunciation. It also carries a symbology for the worlds of action (development and evolution), creation (health of soul and body), formation (thought and mind), and emanation (the essence of objects and things).

The ancient alchemists, who worked with mixtures of chemical elements, considered 12 a result of the triad of the basic elements mercury, sulfur, and salt with the four elements, fire, earth, air, and water. In the tarot, the 12 is the symbol of sacrifice. The initial 12 arcana are the key to the other cards.
Still, in astrology, we can say that energetic foci are spread throughout the universe and they have a certain direction. The meridians that separate the Earth are divisions for capturing such energies, which can influence everything that lives and exists down here. While there are some things that may be questionable in astrology, there is a concrete basis that symbolically utilizes these 12 sources of radiation (which are the zodiacal constellations). Of course, the energies or trends do not come directly from the constellations and stars themselves, they are just markers on a large map that indicate the Earth's position in relation to interactivity with such energies.

The 12 in Religion

The number twelve has a sacred aura in Judeo-Christian traditions. We can start with the 12 apostles (the followers of Jesus).

Peter, the prince of the apostles;
Andrew, the first Fisher of Men, brother of Peter;
John, the beloved apostle;
James the Elder, brother of John;
Philip, the Hellenistic mystic;
Bartholomew the traveler;
Thomas the ascetic;
Matthew or Levi, the publican;
James the Less;
Judas Tadeo, the cousin of Jesus;
Simon the Zealot or the Canaanite;
Judas Iscariot, the traitor.

Judas, after hanging himself for his betrayal, was replaced by Matthias so that the 12 apostles would continue.

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the number twelve is sacred, a symbol of full meaning, since they were:

• Twelve the apostles, as we saw above;
• Twelve were the tribes of Israel;
• Twelve are the precious stones in the high priest's breastplate;
• Twelve gates have the city of Jerusalem;
• 12 are the angels who guarded her;
• The Bible says that the number of the elect was 144,000 (12 times 12,000), a figure that represents the totality of possible raptures;
• Jesus would have appeared 12 times after being crucified;
• After the multiplication of the loaves, twelve baskets were filled with the surplus;
• In antiquity the rabbis said that the name of God was composed of 12 letters;
• In the Old Testament there are twelve "minor prophets": Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi;
• The commandments are 12 and not 10 ("There were twelve commandments, not ten; two commandments have been lost and will remain hidden until man is prepared to receive them");
• Jacob had 12 sons, from which the twelve tribes of Israel derived. He wore a breastplate inlaid with twelve stones, which, according to tradition, are the bases of twelve cosmic powers.

Other cultures and societies used 12 as the basis of their religion. The gods of the Chaldeans, Romans and Etruscans were divided into 12 groups. Odin the Scandinavian supreme god had 12 names. In primitive Japan, 12 gods were worshiped, just as Plato reports 12 Greek gods on Olympus.

According to Japanese mythology, the Creator is seated on twelve sacred pillows and according to Korean tradition, the world is divided into twelve regions. The Table of Emeralds, left by the God Thoth (Hermes) contains twelve essential propositions that it is up to the disciple to discover and study them.

How 3 and 12 coincide

Para entendermos mais a simbologia do número 12, temos que conhecer também a do número 3, umas vez que ambos estão intrinsecamente ligados. 12 vezes 30 graus é a conta para se obter os 360 graus de uma circunferência completa, perfeita, plena. É o significado da perfeição. O primeiro número sob a ótica da geometria é o 3, já que são precisos 3 pontos para se formar um triângulo, a figura geométrica primordial. Deus em toda sua plenitude se dá pelo 3, a chamada Santíssima Trindade. A harmonia total do universo só pode ser alcançada pelo 3, que seria o fim da dualidade, o balanceamento dos contrários.

Nossa realidade tem 3 dimensões e os pitagóricos atribuem ao 3 tudo o que acontece em nossa dimensão. Pitágoras dizia que o 3 era o número do mundo dos fenômenos e fazia parte da natureza da mônada (1) e da diada (2):

1 - monad - active
2 - dyad - passive
3 - sorted - neutral

Unity is the Law of God, that is, of the First Principle, of the Immanent and Pre-Antinomic Cause, the number born from the multiplication of Unity, and through Duality is the Law of the Universe, Evolution, expression of the Law of the Ternary, it is the Law of Nature. (Pythagoras)

The 3 is also strongly present in religions, societies, and sciences as well as the 12:

• The 3 represents the Holy Trinity for Christians;
• The Hindu religion also worships a trinity of deities: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva;
• In astrology, each sign has 3 decans, sub-divisions of the same sign, and among the planets, there are 3 fortunes and 3 misfortunes;
• Still, in astrology, there are 3 groups of signs for each basic element, 3 fire signs, 3 earth signs, 3 air signs, and 3 water signs, totaling 12 signs.
• The Greeks had 3 as the origin of everything. They drank 3 times for the honor of the 3 graces and divided the world under 3 divinities: Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto;
• In ancient Scandinavian religions, the tree that contains the world had three roots and three fairies resided in the abode of the gods. There were three knocks on the door and three are the options most frequently presented to human beings;
• For the Egyptians, the Human Being had 3 bodies: 1) Khet, the physical body; 2) Ka, the fluid or astral body; 3) Ba, the spirit;
• The kingdom of Egypt was divided into three parts: 1) Upper Egypt; 2) Middle Egypt; 3) Lower Egypt. Each of these zones was divided into three provinces and each had the protection of a God, that is, there were thirty gods who were grouped 3 by 3, expressing the ternary conception of reality: 1) natural world; 2) philosophical world; 3) religious world;
• The focus on control and balance of the triad: Body, Mind, and Spirit is the basis of several doctrines found in many cultures around the world;
• 3 Wise Men went to Bethlehem following the star to visit Jesus;
• 3 were the synoptic evangelists and according to these Gospels, Peter denied Christ three times before the rooster crowed.
• In the mathematical principles of the universe, there is a reference to the first three numbers. The number 1 would be the whole, the unit, the only one. 2 represents duality and antagonism. The number 3 is perfection, total harmony.

Considerations

There are those who say that many coincidences together cancel each other out and form a fact. And it is a fact that 12 is an interesting number, 4 to say the least and that it is at the base of many civilizations, building an intrinsic pattern around different themes, scriptures, and symbols throughout history. But how is this done? What's the point? And why 12? It doesn't seem like something relegated to chance, everything points to a single source that seems to have influenced the first civilizations and managed to remain until today: Astrology.

Everything is contained and conserved in the One, everything is modified and transformed into three: the Monad created the Dyad, the Dyad produced the Triad and the Triad shines in the entire Universe. (Ramaseum of Thebes)

Reflecting on this a bit and acknowledging the strangeness of the situation can be a good start to begin to understand the code that is part of the mystery of life - not just in a philosophical sense, as there are some more physical patterns starting to emerge from the same principle. Overall, it looks like something that was actually created or at least taught, a basic and precise mechanics that permeates everything and that may be at the heart of a code left by those who created us (or experimented with us), and all of this seems to derive from astrological mechanics.

All Ramblings aside, there's much more to discover "down the rabbit hole". The world is a place full of interesting mysteries and reflecting on them is part of our self-knowledge process