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One Two Buckle My Shoe...

© Virginia Marin

Three, four, close the door

Five, six, pick up sticks

Seven, eight lay them straight

Nine, ten, a big fat hen.

(From Mother Goose)

The primitive method of counting was by fingers, then simply by placing object by object in a line, but in fairy tales, folktales, legends and mythology certain numbers boldly stand out and have meaning - deep meaning, perhaps even unfathomable meaning.

Pythagoras looked on numbers (one through seven) as influential principles found in unity, diversity, harmony, perfection, nature and art, justice, and in all diseases.

The ancient Romans held the number two to be the most fatal of all numbers. They dedicted the second month to Pluto, and the second day of the month to the Manes - the spirit or ghost of the dead that never slept quietly in the grave until the survivors fulfilled its wishes. So, February 19 was the day set aside when all of the living sacrificed to the shades of dead relatives and friends - a kind of pagan All Souls' Day.

Numbers, numerology - The Three Little Pigs, The Three Sisters, Three Blind Mice, The Three Bears, Three Men In A Tub - rub-a-dub-dub!

The number three is prominent in fairy tales; three signifies the beginning, the middle and the end; the cardinal colors are red, yellow and blue; the Fates are three; the Furies three; the Harpies three. The Muses were three times three. In Scandinavian mythology there are The Mysterious Three who sat on three thrones in Asgard.

Man possesses a body, soul and spirit; the world is denoted as being of earth, sea and air; the enemies of man a the world, the flesh and the devil. There are the three Christian graces of Faith, Hope and Charity. Animal, vegetable and mineral are the three kingdoms of nature.

One, two, three. Four, five, six, seven. Seven - a mystical or sacred number. There are seven days in a week, seven days in creation, the seven virtues of man, and the seventh son of a seventh son is said to possess special powers.

In the Apocalypse there are the Seven Churches of Asia, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven plagues, seven spirits, seven horns, a seven-headed monster, and the Lamb with seven eyes.

Skip over to Greece, and, in Homeric legend, seven cities claimed to be the birthplace of Homer.

In Spanish fable, there is the Island of Seven Cities founded by seven bishops. The legend says that no one visiting the island ever leaves.

The copyright of the article One Two Buckle My Shoe... in Folklore is owned by Larry Low. Permission to republish One Two Buckle My Shoe... in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.