Triads and Paganism

(It seems that in all of the ancient civilizations the gods were in groups of three. As in ancient Sumer where the three sky dieties are considered to be of great importance
Nanna, the god of the moon; Utu, the sun god; and Ianna, the Queen of heaven, spoken of in the Bible.
Nanna was the father of Utu and Ianna. And Ianna was also the goddess of love.)

Funk and Wagnall Encyclopedia
article Egyptian Mythology
"From the myth of creation came the conception of the ennead, a group of nine divinities, and the triad, consisting of a divine father, mother and son. Every local temple in Egypt possessed its own ennead and triad. The greatest ennead, however, was that of Ra and his children and grandchildren. This was the group worshipped at Heliopolis, the center of sun worship."

(Ra fathered Shu and Tefnut [brother and sister]
The children of the brother and sister were Nut and Geb.
Incestous unions continued among the deities until there were nine major gods.)

(In ancient Greece, though Zeus [Roman = Jupiter or Jove] is called the father of the gods and men, he had a beginning. Cronos [Roman= Saturn] was his father, and Ops [Roman+ Rhea] was his mother. But Zeus was worshipped as part of another truimvirate; himself, with his consort Juno and daughter Minerva.)

(There is as account of the creation in which Earth, Erebus and Love were the first of beings.)

(In Japan there was Izanagi [father], Izanami [his sister-wife] and Ameterasu [their daughter] the sun goddess.
And there are many, many more....)

The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt p. 124
"Several groups of triple deities existed at certain major cult centres in ancient Egypt. The trio is usually composed of father, mother and son. It is possible that the triads grew up as a convenient theological answer and means of bringing together deities of an area previously separate. The major triads were extremely powerful, or more correctly, thier priests were. At Thebes there were Amon, Mut and Khons (their moon-god son); at Memphis, Ptah, Sekhmet and Nefertem; at Edfu, Horus, Hator and Harsomtus (Horus the Younger); and at Elephantine the were Khnum, Anukis and their daughter Satie. The mostly widely worshipped of the triads, Osiris, Isis, and Horus (later Harpocrates) did not have a joint cult centre or specific area of worship but individual major shrines at Abydos, Philae, and Edfu respectively."

The Two Babylons p.18 by Alexander Hislop
"The recognition of a trinity was universal in all the ancient nations of the world."

(Many theologians deny any connection between the modern idea of the trinity and the ancient trinities, but many of the customs and beliefs of Christianity today are definitely adopted from paganism. Originating long before the birth of Jesus Christ. Many of the Christian customs, such as Christmas, Easter, Sunday observance, the concept of hell, the symbol of the cross, etc... were adopted by the early Christian church in their blending of paganism with Christianity.)