Present, past, future… What is time? Is a person a full participant in this "action", or are we just silent "subordinates" of Her Majesty Fate? It is impossible to give a definite answer. Some believe that time is an irreversible movement that flows in only one direction - from the past through the present to the future, and a person is able to independently choose how to swim along this stream … Others believe that the future is a blank sheet of paper, and our desires, thoughts, actions - these are the colors and shades, by mixing which we ourselves create a picture of life. However, there is an opposite opinion - a belief in blind fate, in the fact that all events are already destined for us, and a person is not free to choose. What does fate mean…
The inevitability of fate
Once, between the Roman emperor Domitian (51-96 AD) and the famous astrologer Ascletarion, a conversation took place about the inevitability of fate. The emperor asked what the stars say about the last minutes of the soothsayer's life. The answer was unexpected - his death would come soon, and his body would be torn apart by a pack of dogs. Domitian laughed and immediately ordered the soothsayer killed. That same evening, during a pompous dinner, the emperor boasted to his friends of his resourcefulness and courage, because he managed to wrap fate itself around his finger and change what was destined. All those present supported the ruler with more than one glass of wine, except for one person - the mimic actor Latina. He was sullen and silent. Domitian drew attention to this and asked him what had happened, why did he not share the general rejoicing? To which the actor said that just today he was passing by the square where criminals are usually burned, and saw the brought body of an astrologer. The fire could not be lit. It is constantly extinguished by strong gusts of wind. And after a while, the comedian saw a pack of wild dogs tearing apart the corpse of poor Ascletarion…
So what is our life - fate or freedom?
And if we imagine the life of a single person as a kind of journey, say, by train, from point A to point B? Here the passenger is sitting near the window, lazily sipping tea with lemon, and every now and then changing views rush past - a forest, a river, a bridge, sown fields, cities … He cannot see in advance a lonely tree or a large stone on the side of the road. He will notice them only in that brief moment when they catch up with him. However, this does not mean at all that wood and stone did not exist before that moment. They were always there. It turns out thatthe events that happen to us in the future are not born and are not formed as a result of something or for something, or rather, they really appear for certain reasons. There is a causal relationship, but in any case, all this is already “existing”, like the parallel laid steel rails, so necessary for the movement of the train, and the pre-planned route of the trip, and the landscapes that should be encountered along this path … In other words, it is impossible to influence or to change an event in the future, just as one cannot revise actions in the past. They are uniquely interconnected, but from the moment of birth they have already been written in the script of a person's life. This is where the very concept of fate comes from. This is fate, predestination, both with a plus sign - fortune that brings good luck and joy, and in a negative sense - rock, endowed with malicious intent and deceit.
In the occult sciences consider such elementary properties of fate as completeness, correctness in relation to matter and hierarchy. This is difficult to verify, if not impossible. Therefore, we will consider irreversibility and immutability as the main properties of fate.
What is freedom?
Freedom in the sense that a person understands it - the ability to independently determine, choose their life guidelines, is nothing but an illusion, the greatest delusion, and quite dangerous at that. With the definition of a clear coordinate system for the uninterrupted flow of time - a second, a minute, an hour, a day, a night, a day, and so on - a person was drawn into a kind ofgame. A single picture is fragmented into parts, and we, like children, collect all the pieces of this puzzle together. At first glance, it is fascinating, interesting and helps to navigate the material world. On the other hand, a person is grabbed by the hand, and he involuntarily becomes a hostage to this entertaining "game". It is difficult for him to part with the past, doubts in the present hamper his movements, and relentless fears of the future appear. And no matter how much we convince ourselves that there is nothing to be afraid of, no matter how much we install new, stronger doors with a thousand locks, and cover up the cracks around, various anxieties and fears, replacing each other, still find a loophole and crawl through. Why? If we took responsibility, weighed everything around, measured it, calculated it, and in the end gave a definition to everything that exists, then we are also able to manage this large “economy”. And here, naturally, a trap lies in wait for us. The proud mind has neither the knowledge, nor the spirit, nor the ability to "stand at the helm", and at the same time it can no longer turn back and abdicate the throne of the "ruler of fate", and imperceptibly finds itself in the hands of fate. Is this freedom?
And what if we initially recognize our imperfection, inconsistency, accept it, but not as a disadvantage, but as an amazing and inalienable dignity of ours. What will happen then? Perhaps, then, to be in the power of fate does not mean at all to be under the unbearable burden of being, to shudder at the words "evil fate" or to renounce freedom and become, as they say, a slave of fate, butit means living an amazing life without regard to the past, experience, stereotypes, other people's opinions, and without suffocating fears of the future. Do what you must - and what will be will be. Be responsible for your every step, but not out of fear, but out of love, and then, probably, the power of fate is a powerful, irresistible, but the very “fair wind” that all sailors wish before starting a long voyage.
