I am taking a different approach for Friday Faithfuls this week which I hope will make it more fun. The word ternal is an old forgotten obsolete English number adjective that means having three parts or being the third. There are 39 words in the English language that end with the letters “ternal” and the only ones that I am familiar with are external, internal, maternal, paternal and eternal. I find it interesting that the number 39 starts with the first digit being a three and it is followed with a number that is three times three. It is the sum of the first 3 powers of 3, with 31 = 3, and 32 = 9, and 33 = 27, thus 3 + 9 + 27 = 39. The number 39 is also interesting because it is the first number to contain three entirely different sets of three numbers that multiply to the exact same total, as seen when adding (25 + 8 + 6 = 39) and multiplying (25 x 8 x 6) = 1,200. Adding (24 + 10 + 5 = 39) and multiplying (24 x 10 x 5) = 1,200. Finally adding (20 + 15 + 4 = 39) and multiplying (20 x 15 x 4) = 1,200.I would like you to look at the number 3 or the number 39 and write a story about these numbers, or write about an external, internal, or eternal choice, conflict, or mystery, or write about being the third wheel, or how the third time was a charm, or you could write about another forgotten or obsolete word.
Being the Third
Three, Nine and the Astrology of Meaning ✨
For most people, the numbers 3 and 9 might immediately lead to mathematics.
My mind, naturally, went straight to astrology.
Three is already an important number in an astrology chart because we often begin with what astrologers call the Big Three:
Sun, Moon and Rising Sign.
The Sun represents our core identity and life force. The Moon speaks of our emotional and instinctive nature — the part of ourselves that isn’t always visible to others. The Rising Sign, or Ascendant, is the point rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of birth and sets the framework for the houses in the chart.
Three different pieces of ourselves, but together they begin to create a much richer picture.
Perhaps the three-legged stool mentioned in this week’s prompt isn’t such a bad analogy for astrology either. One point tells us something. Two points create a relationship. Add a third and suddenly a pattern begins to emerge.
And then we have 3 and 9.
The 3rd and 9th House Axis
The 3rd house is traditionally connected with communication, writing, learning, siblings, our immediate environment, short journeys and the way we gather and exchange information.
Directly opposite it is the 9th house.
The 9th takes us beyond our immediate surroundings and into higher education, philosophy, spirituality, religion, long journeys, belief systems and our search for the bigger meaning behind life.
I like to think of the 3rd–9th house axis as a journey from knowledge to wisdom.
The 3rd house asks:
What can I learn?
What can I observe?
How can I communicate it?
The 9th asks:
What does it mean?
What do I believe?
How does this fit into the larger picture?
Perhaps that is why this week’s numbers caught my attention so quickly.
But there is also a very personal reason why the 3rd house has always fascinated me.
“You Will Write Lyrics”
When I was studying astrology, some students who had already finished their training came back to look at our charts.
One of them studied mine and noticed my retrograde Mercury in Capricorn near the beginning of my 3rd house and my North Node in Aquarius toward the end of the house, using the Placidus house system.
He looked at me and said something along the lines of:
“Your Mercury is very musical. You will write lyrics.”
I laughed.
“I don’t know how to write lyrics!”
He then pointed toward my North Node in Aquarius and told me that ideas would come to me in flashes — inspiration arriving when I least expected it.
At the time, I couldn’t really imagine what he was talking about.
Well…
Sixteen years later, here I am. 😂
I’m writing lyrics and making music, and I’ve also found my way back to something I loved during my teenage years — writing poetry.
Ideas really do sometimes arrive like flashes. A sentence, an image, a melody or just a few words can suddenly appear, and from there something begins to grow.
Every now and then I remember that conversation at astrology school and smile.
Perhaps my 3rd house had more to say than I realized.
From Information to Wisdom
Astrology itself works through relationships and patterns. A single planet never tells the whole story. We consider its sign, house, aspects and relationship with everything else in the chart.
One point gives us information.
Two points create a connection.
Three points begin to reveal a pattern.
And perhaps somewhere along that road between the 3rd and the 9th house, something else happens.
Information becomes knowledge.
Knowledge becomes understanding.
And eventually, if we’re lucky…
understanding becomes wisdom.
With love, coffee, poetry, and stardust,
— Maggie The Afterlove Voice 💫
My new single is out
https://ditto.fm/silenced-but-not-broken
Lyrics video
🌙 Beneath the Northern Stars – My New Album
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