All Things Twelve

Twelve

Plato chose twelve for establishing weights and measures, and coinage. In his ideal state, it represented the enveloping universe. Twelve may have lost out with coinage and weights, but with it so intimately bound to our measurement of time, it certainly continues to represent the enveloping universe.




Words for 12
Cardinal: TWELVE
Hindu-Arabic: 12
Ordinate: Twelveth
Roman: XII
Basic Math: 2x6, 3x4
Roman word duodecim, duodecimus
Greek words of Twelve: dodecca
From Anglo-Saxon: 'Twelf', meaning two leftover

Time and Holiday Associations:

• December is the 12th month
• Twelve Days of Christmas
• Jan 5th (or 6th) is the Twelfth Night

Time, Science, Technological, & measurement:

• 12 months to a year
• Two twelve-hour rotations to each day. 
• 12 inches to the foot
• Magnesium Mg 12, periodic table
• Dozen=12, 12 inches = 1 foot, Two fathoms = 12 feet
• First abundant number (divisors sum is greater than the number) the sum of 12's factors is 16 (1+2+3+4+6), which is also a square number (4).
• 12 cranial nerves
• 12 pairs of ribs
• 12 notes in the chromatic scale
• 12 banks in the Federal Reserve system

Religious Associations:

• Twelve Disciples (Apostles) of Christ: "The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst." Rev. 21:12
• Twelve tribes of Israel
• Twelve Angels of Paradise

Twelve Associations:

• 12 Apostles
• 12 Days of Christmas
• 12 signs of the zodiac
• 12 Virtues (love, wisdom, truth, justice, peace, equilibrium, humility, strength, faith, joy and victory)
• 12 princes of Ishmael
• 12 apostles of Osiris
• 12 sons of Jacob
• 12 Gods of Olympus
• 12 labors of Hercules
• 12 members on a jury

Games, sports:

• Queen card in a deck of cards
• 2 dice have 12 sides – highest sum in dice
• Dice boxcars = 12, 2 dice both showing 6 up.
• Checkers has 12 pieces on each side.

Prophetic references: Twelve is the number of fruition in the manifested universe and an ending to established order leading to reincarnation.

Astrological Association: · House of Pisces. Persons born from February 19 to March 20.

Tarot Divination: The hanged man is card twelve and an upright card means wisdom and prophetic power in spiritual matters or a pause in one's life where decisions are temporarily suspended. It is good to remember self-surrender leads to the transformation of the personality where material temptations conquered. A reversed card indicates arrogance, paying more attention to the physical appearance while ignoring spiritual matters, possibly a false prophecy and a general waste of effort.

Literature, Folklore & art:

• Twelfth Night - play by William Shakespeare
• Twelve Days of Christmas (song)
• Twelve Dancing Princesses (folktale)
• Twelve Foundations of Aristotle
• Cheaper By the Dozen, book by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, made into 2 movies.
• Many novels and music named either 12 or Twelve
• Dirty Dozen - movie
• Twelve Years a Slave - movie
• 12 Monkeys - movie

Common usage:

• Cheaper by the dozen
• Twelve Pack