Oneupmanship is the underlying aspect of every god.
What could that good do?
Miracles, so can ours. Practically one a week unless he was in the desert contemplating and being recorded even though he was alone.
Virgin birth? Got it and three Kings turned up. Don’t know where they were kings, it was all very mysterious, but they had lovely clobber.
Followers and disciples? We’ve got 12 like the others but add in Mary Mag and his mother.
Persecuted? We are nailing him to a cross and making him drink vinegar, beat that!
Died and came back? Yes, we have a few various conflicting accounts in the same book. Take your pick which version suits your world view.
Miracles? Where do we start, casting out demons, to curing blindness then bringing back people from the dead. Oh and he makes wine from water. Also, can yours feed thousands with a few sardines and half a stale loaf? No, hold my margarine.
Ascends to heaven? Floated up there like a boss.
Muslims, our guy went on a winged horse.
Take already established Myths, steal the pagan holidays and add in other stuff that edges your guy in front. Never worry about credibility because people who want to believe don’t give a shit about that. They’re all in.
And on it goes.
12 in Religion:
The number twelve carries religious, mythological and magical
symbolism, generally representing perfection, entirety, or cosmic order in traditions since antiquity.
Ancient Greek religion
Judaism and Christianity
- The significance is especially pronounced in the Hebrew Bible.
Ishmael - the first-born son of
Abraham - has 12 sons/princes (
Genesis 25:16), and
Jacob also has 12 sons, who are the progenitors of the
Twelve Tribes of Israel. This is reflected in Christian tradition, notably in the
twelve Apostles. When
Judas Iscariot is disgraced, a meeting is held (
Acts) to add
Saint Matthias to complete the number twelve once more. The
Book of Revelation contains much numerical symbolism, and many of the numbers mentioned have 12 as a divisor.
12:1 mentions a woman—interpreted as the
people of Israel, the
Church and the
Virgin Mary—wearing a crown of twelve stars (representing each of the twelve tribes of Israel). Furthermore, there are 12,000 people sealed from each of the twelve tribes of Israel (the
Tribe of Dan is omitted while
Manasseh is mentioned), making a total of
144,000 (which is the square of 12 multiplied by a thousand).
Hinduism
- There are twelve Jyotirlinga (Self-formed Lingas) of Lord Shiva in Hindu temples across India according to the Shaiva tradition.
- The Sun god Surya has 12 names.
- The Monkey god Hanuman has 12 names.
- There are 12 Petals in Anahata or "heart chakra".
- There are frequently said to be 12 Âdityas.
Others
- The chief Norse god, Odin, has twelve sons.
- In the King Arthur legend, Arthur is said to subdue 12 rebel princes and to win 12 great battles against Saxon invaders.
- In Twelver Shi'a Islam, there are twelve Imams, legitimate successors of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. These twelve early leaders of Islam are—Ali, Hasan, Husayn, and nine of Husayn's descendants. Sura 12 in the Quran is sura Yusuf, narrating the story of the sons of Jacob.
- The tribe who Muslims claim their lineage to Abraham came from were the Ishmaelites. Ishmael was Abraham’s first son who he sent off with his mistress into the desert and they headed South to Arabia. Ishmael is said to have had 12 sons.
Why 12?
Through a calendar year from one Winter Solstice to the next, there are 12 constellations:
Constellations are fascinating to explore (even though astrology isn't a science).
www.space.com
There are also 12 Moon phases in a year:
A lunar month is the time it takes the Moon to pass through all of the Moon phases, usually measured from a New Moon the next New Moon.
www.timeanddate.com
In the ancient world, 12 was also used in counting on your fingers.
One finger wasn’t one like we use today, it was three. They counted by using their thumb as a pointer and counted the sections of each finger.
The reason there are 12 Olympians, 12 Apostles, 12 points on the Anahata, 12 months in a year, 12 hours in a meridiem, 12 pennies in a shilling etc. are all because of celestial and physical natural occurrences.
