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I'm three, yet each part's the same; in the end I'm only one.
I surround & protect all life on Earth, even those who still worship the Sun.
In the heavens I am holy, I'm sure you've heard of the notion,
So the people of my beginning have to use quite a lot of lotion.

Maia-who am I?

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    $\begingroup$ Has a correct answer been given? If so, please don't forget to $\color{green}{\checkmark \small\text{Accept}}$ it :) $\endgroup$
    – Rubio ♦
    Commented Feb 28, 2019 at 1:03

2 Answers 2

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You are

Ozone

I'm three, yet each part's the same; in the end I'm only one.

Made of three identical Oxygen atoms, and the word's suffix is "one" (Thanks @Chris Cudmore for the wordplay)

I surround & protect all life on Earth, even those who still worship the Sun.

The Ozone Layer protects the Earth from the Sun's harmful radiation

In the heavens I am holy, I'm sure you've heard of the notion,

Referring to the notion of a hole (holy) in the Ozone Layer

So the people of my beginning have to use quite a lot of lotion.

To prevent sunburn, people apply sun-tan lotion, particularly those from Oz(one), i.e. Australia. (Thanks to @osdavison for the Australian connection)

Maia-who am I?

This is a reference to a repeating lyric in the song Dragostea Din Tei by Moldovan group O-Zone, which spawned the ancient (14 years old!) meme Numa Numa. (Thanks to @El-Guest for spotting this)

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  • $\begingroup$ nice answer, i was also thinking about ROT13(ngzbfcurevp ynlref ) just didn't pinpoint on one.. $\endgroup$
    – Shahriar Mahmud Sajid
    Commented Aug 9, 2018 at 10:25
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    $\begingroup$ That was quick! The answer is correct, of course, but it seems that my wordplay clues have gone unnoticed; maybe try to find those as well? (There's also an obscure reference to an ancient viral internet video from the days of yore, but that's not really something I'd expect anyone to solve) :-) $\endgroup$
    – Bass
    Commented Aug 9, 2018 at 12:16
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    $\begingroup$ Great answer! It's worth noting too the reference behind Maia-who...one of the catchiest tunes I know, sung by a band with the same name! $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Commented Aug 9, 2018 at 12:16
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    $\begingroup$ "the people of my beginning" -> rot13(crbcyr bs Bm) $\endgroup$
    – user44966
    Commented Aug 9, 2018 at 12:31
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    $\begingroup$ First line after the comma completes the wordplay from the fourth line. $\endgroup$
    – Chris Cudmore
    Commented Aug 9, 2018 at 13:53
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God.

I'm three, yet each part's the same; in the end I'm only one.

The Holy Trinity, the godhead three-in-one.

I surround & protect all life on Earth, even those who still worship the Sun.

Omnipresence and omni-benevolence are traits usually associated with God.

In the heavens I am holy, I'm sure you've heard of the notion,

I shouldn't have to explain how this applies, right?

So the people of my beginning have to use quite a lot of lotion.

Jewish men practice circumcision as a part of their religion, which results in decreased lubrication to the penis, and thus requires the use of lubricating lotions during certain activities.

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    $\begingroup$ Ah, that's quite a clever way of explaining the lotion bit! I thought the fourth line would be different enough to tell that the apparent style of the first three lines is a ruse, but after seeing this answer, it clearly isn't. Glad I added the obscure internet reference to the question line, and the obvious contradiction with this guy's top rule to the end of the second verse, otherwise I'd have no chance but to accept this answer as well. +1 to you! $\endgroup$
    – Bass
    Commented Aug 9, 2018 at 12:46
  • $\begingroup$ "the obvious contradiction with this guy's top rule to the end of the second verse," I mentioned omni-benevolence for a reason. ;) $\endgroup$
    – nick012000
    Commented Aug 9, 2018 at 12:54

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