Fate, An Essay on Prophecy.

A sharp quill pen In todays modern age, a great number of people, when asked, will say that they do not believe in fate. That they do not like the concept that they are not in control of their own destiny, and are in fact moving relentlessly towards a predetermined outcome from the moment of their birth. People ignorantly see the existance of Fate as an insult to free will and choice.

That the life of every being is fated though cannot be argued. Without predetermination, there can be no prophecy. Prophetic visions, dreams, premonitions, and when applied in reverse - deja vu and what some refer to as "ancestral memory" are endemic throughout recorded history in songs, stories, and myths, and are experienced to this day by the faithful of several gods, Savras cheif among them.

Does this mean though that the gods have taken all choice away from you?

Imagine that your father has bade you take his horse and wagon from your home to a neighboring city. Trusting that you are responsible enough to make the trip on your own, he does not tell you the route you must take, just that you need to be there within two days. The route you take, the stops, people you befriend along the way, beasts you slay to protect yourself. All these things are within your control, and affected by your decisions and actions. So too is the cord of fate that you follow through life.

The decisions you make affect your everyday life, it is true. They are not however destined. It is enough for the gods to say for example that "this man will live a good life, meet a woman that loves him, and die in unfortunate circumstances in his middle age".

When speaking of Prophecy, once again it is unusual for Prophecy to deal in any but the most general and far-reaching events of a man, place, or thing. Every chance meeting in your life is not recorded in the line of your destiny. The coinflips that sometimes seem to direct you this way and that throughout your years are given to you as a gift by the weavers of fate, to honor the free will given to you by the creators.

Knowing the minds of men as they do, the gods understand that it is in our nature to struggle against the final end, and that if choice is given to us to avoid it, we will seize this choice to our breasts with all of our might. All beings would live into their venerable years, some even finding blasphemous means of extending unnatural the years they were given. Loving their children as they do, the gods take this last choice from us, allowing us to find peace in our end, knowing that we have done all we can to forstay the end, and that we have lived the years we were given as we wanted.

Fate is a thing shared by you and the gods. Live your life as you see fit, but be secure also in the knowledge that when the end comes, it is the end chosen for you by a god pleased with your life, and that your reward awaits you in the beyond.

Tal Quin Makabi Sciant Disciple of Savras