Mastodawn

Fatalism

Fatalism is the philosophical belief that all events are predetermined & inevitable, making human “free will” basically irrelevant to the ultimate outcome.

Determinism, predestination, & fatalism are often used interchangeably. But there are nuances:

Determinism: The belief that every event is caused by preceding events & the laws of nature. If you knew the position of every atom in the universe, you could predict the future. It’s about cause & effect.
Predestination: A theological concept (like we saw with the Calvinists) where a sovereign God has decreed the end from the beginning. It’s about divine will.
Fatalism: The belief that “whatever will be, will be” (Amor Fati), regardless of the causes or divine decrees. It suggests that even if you try to change the path, you’ll still arrive at the pre-set destination.

In the Greco-Roman world, Fatalism wasn’t a theory. It was a cosmic reality. The Greeks envisioned fate as 3 sisters: Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis (the allotter), & Atropos (the unturnable, who cut the thread). Even the gods were subject to the Fates.

This created where heroism wasn’t defined by changing one’s fate. But by facing it with dignity. For example, Oedipus tries everything to avoid the prophecy that he’ll kill his dad & marry his mom. His very attempt to flee is what ultimately fulfills it.

The Stoics (like Seneca & Marcus Aurelius) practiced a form of “rational fatalism.” They compared humans to a dog tied to a moving cart. The dog can either trot happily with the cart (accepting fate) or be dragged kicking & screaming. The destination is the same. The only thing you control is your internal attitude.

The most famous challenge to fatalism is the Lazy Argument: If it’s fated that you’ll recover from an illness, you’ll recover whether you call a doctor or not. Philosophers like Chrysippus countered this by arguing that certain outcomes are “co-fated.”

It may be fated that you recover. But it’s also fated that you recover because you called a doctor. Your action is a link in the chain of fate, not an alternative to it.

In Islam, the concept of Qadar emphasizes a balance between divine sovereignty & human responsibility, folk traditions across the Middle East & South Asia have historically leaned toward a “written” destiny (Maktub – “it is written”). This perspective often provided a psychological cushion against the frequent tragedies of the medieval world, like a plagues or invasions.

American culture is infamously anti-fatalistic. The famous “American Dream” is built on the idea that you can pull yourself up by your own bootstraps & be the architect of your own destiny/fortune. However, fatalism does exist in American conscienceness in 2 specific ways:

Literary Naturalism
- In the late 19th & early 20th centuries, American writers like Stephen Crane & Jack London moved away from Romanticism toward Naturalism. They portrayed humans as “small, soft things” at the mercy of indifferent forces (biology, heredity, & environment). In Crane’s The Open Boat, the universe is depicted as a giant machine that doesn’t care if you live or die. This is “Modern Fatalism.”
“Appalachian Fatalism
- Often misunderstood as laziness, this fatalism was a cultural adaptation of the Appalachian region, dominated by dangerous coal mines & unpredictable poverty. If your life depends on a mine roof that could at any moment regardless of your skill, or a boom-or-bust economy you can’t control, a fatalistic worldview (“It’s in God’s hands”) becomes a survival mechanism to manage chronic stress.

In modern physics, the Block Universe theory (based on Einstein’s General Relativity) suggests that time is a dimension just like space. If the past, present, & future all exist simultaneously in a “block,” then the future is technically as fixed & unchangeable as the past. If using this view, our perception of “choosing” is just an illusion created by our movement through the time dimension. Essentially this is Scientific Fatalism.

The philosopher Karl Popper once joked that the fatalist is the person who looks both ways before crossing a 1-way street. Deep down, even those who claim the future is a fixed act, though their choices matter.

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myth2myth Nov 3

AI-generated content

Destiny isn’t decided by kings.
It’s spun in silence by the Moirai.

🧵 Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos — their loom shapes the world.
▶ https://youtu.be/15F-vX3emUU

#GreekMythology #Moirai #Fates #Destiny #Myth2Myth #Season2 #AncientGods #Olympians

Spirituality & Religious Studies Oct 18

Graeae

In Greek mythology, the Graeae (also spelled Graiai, means ‘old women’). They’re also called the Grey Sisters & the Phorcides (‘daughters of Phorcys’).

They were 3 sisters who had gray hair from birth & shared 1 eye & 1 tooth among the 3 of them. They were the daughters of the primordial sea gods Phorcys & Ceto &, among others, sisters of the Gorgons.

Their names were Deino, Pemphredo, & Enyo. Not to be confused with the war goddess, Enyo.

The Graeae are best known from their experience with Perseus, who, after getting a hold of their lone eye, forced them to tell him information about the Gorgons. By stealing their eye, while they were passing it among themselves, Perseus forced them to tell him the location of the 3 objects needed to unalive, specifically, Medusa. He blackmails the Graeae for the information, if they wanted their eye back, they had to give him the information.

They were combined together with the Moirai/Fates in Disney’s Hercules.

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Spirituality & Religious Studies Oct 14

Triple Deity

This is a deity/god with 3 distinct, & apparent, forms that function as a singular whole. These deities can sometimes be called: three-fold, tripled, triplicate, tripartite, triune, triadic, or as a Trinity.

In classical religious traditions, 3 separate beings could be depicted as either a triad (who usually appears as a group such as the Greek Moirai, Charites, & Eriyes; the Norse Norns; or the Irish Morrigan), or a single deity (who’s significant for having 3 aspects such as the Greek Hecate or Roman Diana).

Trinitarian Christianity instead recognizes 3 “divine persons” in God the Father, the Son, & Holy Spirit, this is usually distinguished from the belief of independent gods, or aspects.

The trinity of supreme divinity is in Hinduism. They have the cosmic functions of creation, preservation, & destruction are personified as a triad of deities called Trimurti. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu the preserver, & Shiva the destroyer.

The sacred symbol of Hinduism, the Om/Aum, the sacred sound, syllable, mantra, & invocation, is considered to have an insinuation to the Trimurti. The A, U, & M phonemes of the word are thought to point to creation, preservation, & destruction. Phonemes means any of the perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language that distinguish one word from another. The whole representing the transcendent or absolute Brahman is added.

This also shows 3 basic states of consciousness. In addition to which the whole syllable is interpreted as the subject of the consciousness, the self-principle (Atman). This is considered to be identical with the Brahman.

The Tridevi is the trinity of goddesses that are the consorts of the gods in the Trimurti. They’re personified by the Hindu goddesses Saraswati, Lakshmi, & Parvati. In Shaktism, these goddesses are considered the manifestations of Mahadevi, the Supreme Goddess (the female absolute). Also known as Mula-Prakriti or Adi Parashakti.

The Roman goddess Diana was worshipped from the late 6th century BC as diva triformis, “three-form goddess.” Early on, she was confused with the similar Greek goddess, Hekate/Hecate.

The Lake of Nemi was Triviae lacus for Virgil (Aeneid). Horace called Diana: montium customs nemoremque virgo (“keeper of the mountains & virgin of Nemi”) & diva triformis (“three-form goddess”).

Spells & hymns in Greek magical papyri refer to the goddess (called Hecate, Persephone, Selene, etc.) as “triple-sounding, triple-headed, triple-voiced, triple-pointed, triple-faced, triple-necked.”

The Olympian demiurgic triad in Platonic philosophy was made of Zeus, Poseidon, & Pluto/Hades. All were thought to be a monad; the same Zeus who gave rise to the Titanis demiurgic triad of Helios, Apollo, & Dionysus.

The Matres, or Matronae, are pictured as a group of 3. Sometimes with as many as 27 (3x3x3). They were associated with motherhood & fertility.

In the case of the Irish Brigid, it’s ambiguous if she’s a single goddess or 3 sisters named Brigid. The Morrigan sometimes shows up as 1 being, other times as 3 sisters. As do the 3 Irish goddesses of sovereignty – Eriu, Fodla, & Banba.

Nicene Christians profess “1 God in 3 divine persons” (God the Father, God the Son, & God the Holy Spirit). This isn’t a belief, or worship, in 3 gods & isn’t a belief in 3 aspects of God. Both of these ideas are condemned as heresy by the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church also rejects the idea that God is 3 persons & that God is a genus that contains the 3 persons.

A circa 4th century Gnostic text, Trimorphic Protennoia, shows a 3-fold discourse of the 3 forms of Divine Thought: Father, Son, & Mother (Sophia). Micheus, Michar, & Mnesinous, the 3 Heavenly Spirits of Baptism.

Some Christian saints, especially martyrs, are in trios. Because they share a feast day or other day of remembrances.

Modalism is a form of Christian Unitarianism opposed to Trinitarianism. They believe that the 1 God is also just 1 person. But appears in 3 different forms: the Father, Son, & Spirit. Modalism adherents believe that the same 1 God appears in different forms throughout history.

For example, Jesus was 1 form of the same God. They also believe that the Holy Spirit isn’t a separate person from the Father either. But it describes God in action. Modalis is a heresy in orthodox Christianity.

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Spirituality & Religious Studies Oct 13

Moirai

In ancient Greek religion & mythology, the Moirai (a.k.a. in English as the Fates) were the personification of destiny.

There were 3 sisters named: Clotho, who was the spinner; Lachesis, who was the allotter; & Atropos, who was the inevitable, a symbol for death. Their Roman equals are the Parcae.

The Moirai’s role was to make sure that every being, mortal & divine, lived out their destinies. For mortals, this destiny went their entire lives & is pictured as a thread spun from a spindle. A spindle is the thing that Sleeping Beauty touched to become Sleeping Beauty.

Usually, they were considered to be above even the gods, in their role as enforcers of Fate. Zeus was even scared of them. Even though, in some stories, Zeus is able to command them. But these are rare.

The word Moirai (also spelt Moirae or Moerae) comes from Ancient Greek. This means “lots, destinies, apportioners.” It also means a portion, or lot of the whole.

In Dante’s Divine Comedy, the Fates are mentioned in both Inferno & Purgatorio by their Greek names. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the Weird Sisters (or 3 Witches) are prophetesses, who are deeply rooted in both the real & supernatural worlds.

The Moirai are:

Clotho, the spinner. She spun the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle. Her Roman equal was Nona (“the 9th”), who was originally called upon in the 9th month of pregnancy.
Lachesis, the allotter or drawer of lots. She measured the thread of life allotted to each person with her measuring rod. Her Roman equal was Decima (“the 10th”).
Atropos, “inexorable,” or inevitable,” literally “unturning.” She was the cutter of the thread of life. She chose the manner of each person’s death. When their time has come, she would cut their life-thread with her shears. Think about the end of Disney’s Hercules, when our main man, Herc, went to save Meg from Hades’ domain. Herc’s life-thread turned gold when he saved. Her Roman equal was Morta (“the dead one”).

In the Republic of Plato, the 3 Moirai sing together with the music of the Seirenes. Lachesis sings the things that were, Clotho the things that are, & Atropos the things that are to be. Pindar, in his Hymn to the Fates, holds them in high honor. He calls them to send their sisters, the Hours (Eunomia, “lawfulness”; Dike, “right”; & Eirene, “peace”), to stop the internal civil strife.

In the Theogony, Hesiod describes the Moirai as daughters of the primeval goddess Nyx (“night”), & the sisters of the Keres (“the black fates”), Thanatos (“death”), & Nemesis (“retribution”). Later in the poem, Hesiod instead calls them daughters of Zeus & the Titaness Themis (“the Institutor”), who was the embodiment of divine order & law. This places them as sisters of the Hours.

In the cosmogony of Alcman (7th century BC), first came Thetis (“disposer, creation”) & then simultaneously Poros (“path”) & Tekmor (“end post, ordinance”). Poros is related to the end of all things.

Later, in the Orphic cosmogony, first came Thesis, whose ineffable nature is unexpected. Ananke (“necessity”) is the primeval goddess of inevitability who is entwined with the time-god Chronos, at the very beginning of time. They represented the cosmic forces of Fate & Time. They were sometimes called to control the fates of the gods. The 3 Moirai are daughters of Ananke.

In the Theogony of Hesiod, the 3 Moirai are personified as the daughters of Nyx & are acting the gods. Later they were daughters of Zeus & Themis, who was the embodiment of divine order & law. In Pluto’s Republic, the 3 Fates are daughters of Ananke (necessity).

The Moirai were supposed to appear 3 nights after a kid’s birth to determine the course of its life. At Sparta, the Temple to the Moirai stood near the communal hearth of the polis. Polis means “city” in Ancient Greek.

As the goddesses of birth who even prophesied the fate of the newly born, Elieithyia, the ancient Minoan goddess of childbirth & divine midwifery, was their companion.

The Erinyes, a group of chthonic goddesses of vengeance, served as tools of the Moirai. Chthonic means concerning, belonging to, or inhabiting the underworld. They inflicted punishment for evil deeds, particularly upon those who sought to avoid their rightful destiny. The Morai were confused with the Erinyes, as well as the death-goddesses, the Keres.

In earlier times, they were pictured as only a few, or perhaps only 1, individual goddess Homer’s Illiad speaks generally of the Moira, who spins the thread of life for men at their birth. She’s Moria Krataia, “powerful Moira,” or there are several Moirai.

In the Odyssey, there’s a reference to the Klothes, or spinners. At Delphi, only the Fates of Birth & Death were revered. In Athens, Aphrodite was called Aphrodite Urania, the “eldest of the Fates.”

In the older myths, they’re daughters of primeval beings like Nyx (“night”) in Theogony, or Ananke in Orphic cosmogony.

The Moirai could be placated as goddesses. Brides in Athens offered them locks of hair, & women swore by them. They may have originated as a birth goddesses & only later their reputation as the agents of destiny. The Moirai were also credited to be the inventors of 7 Greek letters – A, B, H, I, T, & Y.

The Fates had at least 3 known temples: Ancient Corinth, Sparta, & Thebes. The temple in Sparta was situated next to the grave/tomb of Orestes.

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