Let’s say you’re a soldier, ordered into battle where odds are that you will not survive. If this were me, I would probably accept and ultimately embrace this as my fate. I’d follow the order and I would either die or not.
I’m not sure how others feel about this. I know that some feel the can change their fate. I definitely think a person can change their fate. The 22 year old alcoholic who puts down the bottle will probably change his fate.
Judging from these two things, it seems I believe that there are some fates you can change, others you cannot. What do you think?
What’s the astrology?
I absolutely agree that some fates can be changed and others can’t. For example, some people are born with physical disabilities that prevent them from having the same range of experiences as people who do not have that disability. So, that has an element of fatedness. But that person still has options available to them and its up to that person to decide what options to choose. Helen Keller is a great example. There’s no denying she had limited options. But she turned her fate into a ‘destiny’.
I read it somewhere a few days back that we often confuse fate with destiny! Fate perhaps can’t be controlled but destiny can be. The drunkard was fated to be an addict but destined to recover? Going by Transcendence article I believe the idea of fate is something similar. It can’t be controlled and at the same time it can not be known till it happens. Wherever we are given options to choose, for an example going or not going to War, fate is NOT at play. perhaps, unless the outcome is same, be it being alive or being dead.
In terms of Astrology. Outer planets and nodes represent fate and inner ones decide the destiny? How we think(mercury) to how we feel(moon) to how we express(sun) to how we manifest(Mars) to what we do with the manifestation(Venus). Example is Saturn conjunct MC began a journey to change my profession. That’s fate. But whether I remain jobless or work for a better company or own a business is my destiny. Fate invests in you but you invest in destiny?
It seems to me, a person can make a free will choice that seals their fate.
A person can be (or merely seem) destined to greatness and they still fail.
If they fail, does it mean they were destined to fail?
Or did the fail because *they failed.
Hmm true. Fate brings situations and what we do with it is our destiny. Parents died when I was 6 months = Fate. Raised by relatives = Fate. Being Gay = Fate. Being —– = Fate. Being born in a country where it’s a crime = Fate.
Coming out in a fit of rage for being —– = freewill. It sealed the Fate and tied all the previous ones up together to present me with damaged familial emotional ties for life (Finality) and 10 years later it also took away my capacity to defend myself against an argument that “this guy left the ones who raised him, has no family, hence does not know what’s a family. Hence, this immoral guy is trying to steal our Son” (Finality)
Next up is what I’m doing with it? It’s my freewill and it will further shape my fate towards a destiny.
And what about people who seem destined to fail at whatever they try?
Ever known someone like that? I have.
At times, I wonder if all the people who died in, say, that 1945 Atom bomb blast shared a fate and that reflected in their charts?
I can offer a small example of how I hope this works in life- since the whole concept is very confusing:
I had the worst 15 years of my life – when I recently started learning astrology to understand why a happy lucky girl like me is having this bad roll for so long- I found out in my progressed chart that saturn was not aspected with anything- for the last 15 years of my life. mind you I have natal saturn trine jupiter sun- hence me not understanding this bad luck.
I expirienced this as not receiving any support whatsoever.lonesome betrayed devastated.
I think this is fate ( for 15 years).
During this time I did my best to support myself- without feeling sorry for myself- that is surviving through my free will choices.
Wasn’t easy.
About a year ago suddenly my family & freinds started supporting me and coming back from “the cold”-It was awhile until I thought to check it out- and what do you know- progressed mars and mercury are now aspecting my saturn in 10 th house progressed- and will for the next 25 years in my progressed chart- so hopefully now is the time for me to fulfill my destiny of sucsses promised in natal?!!…. and I hope I will in time understand the reason for the horrible expiriences of the last 15 years. are they fate or part of destiny? ….Not sure which. mars in scorpio conjunct my south node in 8th house natal.
…Has anyone else noticed destiny/ fate through transits in progressed chart? would love to hear more stories..
Okay — just because someone “fails” at something doesn’t make what happened a failure does it? I have known people who tried and tried and were kicked and kicked and then “gave up” because they “failed” and ….then did something else that, surprise suited them much better.
The Something Else’s turned out to be blessings in disguise in a host of ways. They found work they actually loved, a kinder partner. They didn’t get the job at the place that laid everyone off two months later, and got something “lesser” instead they grew to love. They were sick, awful, but for the first time had time to reflect, think, slow down and take stock and create good changes….like that.
Some people maybe fail because of self-harm or self-esteem issues, yes. I hope better things are in store for them. Some are so gentle, they can get mowed over in a tough hard world, but is that failure?
What I mean is, I guess I just cannot view all “failure” as “failure.” Being destined to fail at something you choose that is wrong for you…is the maybe, information being handed to you to think about what you are doing? The guideposts to get us to the right place for us. Some of us listen and work with it more quickly so we “didn’t fail”, and some take longer to be willing to think about the signs and course-correct?
I love interviews with known people (be in arts, sciences, business) — they will always tell you about a failure that they wised up to and then, AND THEN, things changed. Maybe those that seem destined just having seen the signpost they need yet?
My remark above was not my judgment or even something I observed. It was something someone told me *about themselves*.
I took them at their word.
I do see what you mean. No worries! I just wanted to offer that clarity.
This person is different from you. They don’t care to spin things up? Down is okay!
I think this is more a comment around how some people have the midas touch…others see everything they touch turn to shit.
People at the extreme poles would be rare but they exist.
Search “anomaly” on this blog. 🙂
….And obviously I am saying all this with an eye to personal charts, those moments when planets move and put up the signposts or take down barriers and we are positioned to learn or find an open gate. After learning a bit about astrology (much from this awesome blog!) I went back and studied historic moments in my life and the planet placements. Absolutely precise connections. My first Saturn return was a doozy and that is when I suddenly hit failures that were actually (looking at other pivotal placements) just the encouragement to change, and point the car in a new direction.
….I do hope you are right villagegirl- since I tend to view life exactly as you described 🙂
Welcome. 🙂
I changed my fate in life. My father was an alcoholic and I could’ve gone down that road, but I learned from it instead. I think you have a choice.
Astrologically, I think my Mars in the 1st house in Libra saved me.
Yes, it can be changed, but some people have hard lessons to learn, and those lessons can’t be changed. I doubt it’s black and white.
Perhaps fate is the cards you got to play with? You can either win or lose, and I’m definitely NOT saying that you can win if you’re a good player. Luck, I believe, is something that determines whether you win or lose. Even if you had a good hand to begin with. Environment plays a massive part in everything as well. But is luck fate?
I don’t believe it’s always about trying hard. Often however it’s about trying hard to do something that doesn’t suit that particular person. Trying hard to be something they’re not cut out to be. Not everyone can succeed at everything even if they put their mind and all possible effort to it. I know rich people often say that everyone can succeed if they work hard, but that is so not true. Somebody always has to be at the bottom of the food chain, because if it weren’t so, then no one would be rich or successful.
Hmm. In fact I have no idea. This is such a big philosophical question for me to possibly ever figure out, but it’s a good one to try to figure out.
In Buddhism they believe the only constant is change…except enlightenment. Enlightenment is considered the only permanent state. Once achieved, it is referred to as the “Thus Come One.” All who experience it experience it in the exact same way. There is no different ways to perceive it. That’s why they call it the Ultimate Reality…Zero Point. These were the words used to explain it when I read about it. Obviously we’re born into this world because we haven’t reached this state of perfection (Christians called it “Christ” consciousness. Same difference). We are, however, expected to strive for it. To experience every angle of perception and every emotion. The successful business man and the homeless drug addict…two sides of the same coin. It’s the point of being here.
I do believe in fate. You can try to take the short cut but fate will still find you on the other end. I believe every birth chart has a predetermined destination even if we have a choice over the route we take to get there 🙂
In the famous story about the Donner Party fate played out beautifully. James Reed was the rich family guy in the group. Nobody liked him because he was a snob…but he was smart. While he was driving cattle, his over-sized carriage interfered with the cattle of the Graves family and their hired cattle hand decided to strike James Reed with a bull whip. Reed ended up killing the guy but the other families considered it murder all sent him into exile. Through a strange twist of fate, it was James Reed who reaches Sutters Fort before everyone else and sends the search party to go look for his wife and kids. So the guy they exiled is the same guy who saved them. If he hadn’t been exiled he would be with the rest of the group and there would be no search party. There is another fated story about a guy who was falsely convicted of a murder. The police officer who accused him (because he was rude to her) went out of her way to bury evidence and he spent 20 years of his life in prison. His sister then becomes a lawyer and digs up that buried evidence to free him from prison. Six months after he is freed from prison he dies in a car accident??? lol That is fate, my friends. So many examples in my own life too but I will digress.