the Fates

[Sage Rainsong]

I am curious if anyone has ever worked with the Fates, Norns or any other gods of fate before. Many pagans don't believe in fate so there dosen't seem to be a whole lot of experiences with them. If you do believe in fate how much does it control your destiny? thanks in advance.

[aluokaloo]

I am curious if anyone has ever worked with the fates or the Norns before. Many pagans don't believe in fate so there dosen't seem to be a whole lot of experiences with them. If you do believe in fate how much does it control your destiny thanks in advance.


I am learning to honor and work with the Norns, I don't know alot about them, I have a friend who is also discovering The Fates, as far as the Norns, three white candles, and put a runic ring, around the altar. Here is some info on The Fates.




Although the MOERAE are three, fate is one; and although each man has his own fate, it is nevertheless this one Fate that affects each and everyone of them in different ways. Fate means mainly death and all circumstances leading to death, given that it does not seem to be any strict predetermination of happenings, except the unavoidable departure from this world, which is the ultimate and inescapable destiny of all living beings. This is why the MOERAE have been called mighty, compelling, or overwhelming; and what they have spun concerning the limits of life is conclusive and final in most cases. And although it appears that a man may die before his time, it does not seem likely that he could go on living beyond the time allotted to him by these three sisters, or violate in any way what is meant to be his own personal fate.
Fate is spun by the MOERAE at birth, so that the flourishing life will be limited by Necessity. This is why Alcinous, the king of the Phaeacians, said about Odysseus:
"Nor shall he meanwhile suffer any evil or harm, until he sets foot upon his own land; but thereafter he shall suffer whatever Fate and the dread Spinners spun with their thread for him at his birth, when his mother bore him." [Alcinous on Odysseus. Homer, Odyssey 7.195]
The many ways in which life may be lived or enjoyed are not encompassed by the MOERAE. That depends on the gods, or as others would say, on the disposition of the soul. On the other hand, the MOERAE set a limit to what a mortal may or not achieve in his life, and set a limit to life itself: death.


The ways in which events occur is known by the gods. But mortals have difficulties in understanding the interlaced design of the sisters' fabric; and whereas some events seem unavoidable, others may be conditioned. For the oracle of Delphi told Laius 1
". . . if you beget a son, that child will kill you . . . ." [Euripides, Phoenician Women 20]
... and had he abstained from having a child (his son Oedipus), he would have saved his own life. But as he negligently chose the wrong path, he met the predicted fate. Similarly, Uranus and Gaia warned Zeus, saying that if his first wife Metis 1 would bear a son, this son would become the lord of heaven. But Zeus, being wiser than Laius 1 and having learned the criss-cross of the MOERAE, swallowed Metis 1, thereby choosing a better fate for himself.
And also when the MOERAE declared that Thetis' son would be greater and more famous than his father, Zeus, remembering what he had done to his own father Cronos, and fearing that he would be robbed of his power by his own son, gave up his desire to wed Thetis, who later became Achilles' mother. But he could have done otherwise. But others, having heard Achilles declare:
"As for my own death, let it come when Zeus and the other deathless gods decide." [Homer, Iliad 22.365]
and Penelope say:
". . . for the immortals have appointed a proper time for each thing upon the earth . . ." [Homer, Odyssey 19.590]
. . . have believed that Zeus is above destiny, and have accordingly called him 'the Bringer of Fate' and the 'Guide of Fate', for knowing the affairs of men, and all that the MOERAE give them, as well as all that is not in their fate.
Yet others have described occasions in which the gods came to terms with the MOERAE, as when Apollo obtained from them that they should accept in ransom for the life of Admetus 1 the life of whosoever would consent to die in his stead; and later Alcestis proved to be the only one willing to die in her husband's place. Or when Demeter lost her daughter Persephone, and because of her grief and wrath all the fruits of the earth were perishing. Here Zeus sent the MOERAE to Demeter, who listened to them, moderating her grief and anger.
The MOERAE are also remembered for having declared, when Meleager was seven days old, that he should die when the brand burning on the hearth was burnt out. On hearing their prophecy, his mother snatched up the brand, and deposited it in a chest and carefully preserved it. But later, from grief at the slaughter of her brothers, she kindled the brand and Meleager died. That is why some sang:
"For chill doom
He escaped not, but a swift flame consumed him,
As the brand was destroyed by his terrible mother, contriver of evil." [Quoted by Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.31.4]
It is also said that they sang Meleager's fate thus: Clotho said that he would be noble, and Lachesis that he would be brave, but Atropus looked at the brand burning on the hearth and said: "He will live only as long as this brand remains unconsumed."
The MOERAE are reported to have fought with clubs in the war between the GIANTS and the OLYMPIANS, killing a couple of GIANTS. Likewise, when Typhon attacked Heaven, they deluded him by giving him to taste of the ephemeral fruits in the persuasion that he would be strengthened thereby.
The MOERAE are also said to have invented seven of the letters of the alphabet: alpha, beta, eta, tau, iota, and upsilon [one of the seven letters is missing, Hyg.Fab.277].
If that were so, then it could be read in the records of all that happens, which they keep on tablets of brass and iron. For these, it is said, are neither shaken by warfare in heaven, nor lightning, nor any destructive power, being eternal and secure, as they themselves are.
The MOERAE represent the three sections that are attributed to Time (present, past, and future): Clotho ('The Spinner'), the youngest, puts the wool round the spindle, and sings of the things that are; the middle-aged Lachesis ('The Allotter') spins it and sings of the things that were; Atropus ('The Never-turn-back'), the eldest, sings of the things that will be, and cuts the thread when Death arrives.

[Windsmith]

Oooh. The Norns. The Norns were "the Deities" of the first Witch Camp I went to. We worked with them and their stories all week. They aren't Mysterious Ones that I have a personal relationship with, but I have a great respect for them.

After that week, the understanding of the Norns I came away with is this: their power is not in controlling your Fate, but in knowing what it may be, down to the last detail.

At the moment of your birth, the Norns held in their hands not one thread, but an infinite number of threads - all the possible outcomes of your life. As you move through life, each choice you make eliminates one of these threads as a possibility. To view your own reflection in the Well of Erd is to be shown the destiny your life holds for you right now - but come back in a year, or a month, or even tomorrow, and you might see something completely different, because you've made new choices and taken new actions that have moved your life in a different direction. So they strike me as particularly beneficial Deities to talk to when you have difficult decisions to make; they can show you the forking paths all of your possible options would lead you down. Ultimately, though, the choice remains up to you.

[Sage Rainsong]

These posts are very insightful so far.

[Sage Rainsong]

bump

[Malcolm]

I believe in fate. I don't really consider it anything I can name other than fate. Sometimes I refer to it as "the fates".

I believe in fate but not determinism. I believe everything in your life is predestined but your path isn't set. You have the ability to choose which predetermined path you will travel.

Its like you come into this world in the middle of a pre-spun web of possibility. Each strand takes you further into the web but its your choice what strand you will take.

I'm really not very good at explaining things like this, guess its cause I don't talk about them much.

[Windsmith]

Ack! I can't believe I forgot the "Nornettes"! We also worked with these beings during that week at camp. I'm not entirely sure if they're an accepted part of the Norse mythology, or if they're particular to our group. They're sort of like "mini-Norns" or Norns' assistants. The idea is that at birth, every child is assigned 3 of these beings as their personal Norns who stay with them throughout their lives. These Nornettes are gift-givers. But the gifts they give are not the ones you want - they're the ones you need to move through life and learn its lessons. It meshes pretty well with what some others have said here: Fate may be inevitable, but it doesn't have to control your life. The Nornettes give you these gifts whether you like them or not. But how you react to them - what life lesson you draw from them and how you allow them to impact (or not impact) the rest of your life remains entirely up to you.

[Amber Wynd]

I believe in fate. I don't really consider it anything I can name other than fate. Sometimes I refer to it as "the fates".

I believe in fate but not determinism. I believe everything in your life is predestined but your path isn't set. You have the ability to choose which predetermined path you will travel.

Its like you come into this world in the middle of a pre-spun web of possibility. Each strand takes you further into the web but its your choice what strand you will take.

I'm really not very good at explaining things like this, guess its cause I don't talk about them much.
I love working with The Fates in my meditations, and I think this is a great explanation of a something that's very hard to define. Great imagery with the web and deciding which strand to follow. That's pretty much how I view fate, but I didn't know how to explain it.

A few years ago I bought a book called Goddess Meditations by Barbara Ardinger. One of the suggested meditations in this book involves The Fates and invoking them to help you cut ties to negative influences and people in your life. That was my frist experience with them and it was very helpful.

[tiamat-4]

I believe in fate but not determinism. I believe everything in your life is predestined but your path isn't set. You have the ability to choose which predetermined path you will travel.

Its like you come into this world in the middle of a pre-spun web of possibility. Each strand takes you further into the web but its your choice what strand you will take.

I'm with Malcolm on this. That's exactly how i feel as well. I believe in a general direction; that some things are very much meant to occur - but it isn't determined. We use our will to conduct ourselves down the paths of our choosing and sometimes I wonder about the relevancy of the allegory of the strands in the web as compared with the idea that all paths lead towards the same goal. The web provides so many options - areas we are likely to tread across - numerous times, but somehow things still happen, and we still wind up in those places, convinced that there are few to no coincidences in life.

I have often been drawn towards further introspection into the study of the Norns but never seems to be the right time for me. I have heard that Urd is connected to Hel: that is an area I absolutely need to research.