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Fate vs. Will


I don't do fortune telling with tarot. Predicting the future is the least interesting aspect of tarot I can think of. But if you are inclined to use my deck that way, you might be interested in how I view the concept of Destiny.

My deck is not designed around 22 paths, or 12 signs. It is designed around 9 numbers. I use 9 numbers to label the parts of a fundamental, abstract model of existence breaching the continuum of infinity around it. Like a fish in water, each 9-piece entity moves through a sea of infinity. Some paths don't end until the entity ends. Some paths have a beginning, middle and end that are completed within a lifetime, or a day, or a moment. Whether life-long or moment-to-moment, each completed path becomes an entity itself - an entity whose nature can also be described in 9 parts.

In my 9-piece numerical system, Fate is a 1 and Destiny is a 9. Everything inbetween is what you go through, and what you get on your path of destiny. There is a cause and effect, or reap what you sow, relationship between the two halves of any number line. There are also different kinds of number lines, depending on whether you are talking about Fate vs. Will.

In a traditional tarot deck:

1) The Magician would begin the number line of will, order and determination, ending with The Hermit's culmination of knowledge and experience.

2) The Wheel of Fortune would begin the number line of fate, randomness and chance, ending with the dark unknowns of The Moon.

In a traditional tarot deck:

1) Seeing The Magician as a symbol of will is easy. Likewise, seeing The Hermit as a symbol of the culmination of an ordered path is also pretty easy.
2) Seeing The Wheel of Fortune as a symbol of fate is easy for me, but may lead to arguments from others. Likewise, seeing The Moon as a symbol of the chaos and confusion (or lunacy) of a random path may also lead to arguments.

In both number lines, the 1 and 9 are equidistant partners, and as such share some similarities. Likewise, every number along the way reveals cause and effect similarities. Between each number line (the Magician/Hermit line vs. the Wheel/Moon line) similarities can also be seen, but with an order vs. chaos differences:

The Emperor symbolizes the stability of an ordered path. The Death card symbolizes the changes that occur along a random path. The Lovers card symbolizes the predictable influences that are typical of an ordered path. The Devil symbolizes the unpredictable influences that are typical of a random path. The Chariot symbolizes realizations that occur along an ordered path (the result of stable and predictable influences). The Tower symbolizes accidents that occur along a random path (the result of changes, and unpredictable influences). The Hermit symbolizes culminating order and sanity. The Moon symbolizes culminating chaos and insanity.

I can't show you the entire sequence of each path using a traditional tarot deck. But I can, using The Numerical Tarot deck! In The Numerical Tarot, the two paths of destiny are very clear. In contemplating destiny with The Numerical Tarot:

1) The Will number line is governed by Order.
2) The Fate number line is governed by Chaos.

But I believe that we are not governed exclusively by one or the other as people tend to argue. I believe that:

1) It takes effort to willfully alter the course of a destiny.
2) And it takes no effort to go with the flow and take whatever destiny comes your way.

Likewise, we are not locked exclusively into one destiny. The way I see it:

1) The kinds of destinies that are not forgone conclusions are the ones that begin and end within the realm of order and the exertion of will.
2) The kinds of destinies that are forgone conclusions are the ones that start and end completely within the realm of chaos and taking whatever you get.

Most destinies are a combination of both fate and will.

This combined/hybrid nature of destiny becomes apparent when you consider how impossible it is too maintain a continual and persistent force of will. Eventually you have to sleep, or otherwise divert your attention. Every time you do this you put yourself into the hands of Fate. But you can take back that control with more applied effort, and your destiny will change accordingly. As you fluctuate between these two modes, or number line paths, you create a hybrid destiny.

If I were doing readings I would make it clear to someone that:

1) Applied effort in the form of will can change a destiny.
2) While doing nothing will certainly lead to forgone conclusions.

So, determining the probable outcome of one's destiny would be a matter of determining:

1) Just how much effort or will a person is capable of, specific to the subject matter of the reading.
2) Or, how fatalistic they are, or will choose to be.

If you consider how fundamentally lazy the general population of the world is, then it is no wonder that people tend to perceive destiny as something that is a forgone conclusion and can not be avoided. But it can. It just takes effort.

This is why we sometimes reach situations where we don't always know if it is good to:

1) Exert will
2) Or wait and see what happens.

1) Sometimes too much effort/will can take you right past a golden opportunity - i.e. a fork in the road that could have made all the difference.
2) Sometimes a wait and see attitude can float you down river to a new course where you can resume effort and paddle to a new destiny.

1) Sometimes a willful path can cut right through the fog.
1) Sometimes a wait and see attitude will take you right past a golden opportunity and get you lost in the fog.

By being a hybrid of order and chaos, destiny is both unknown and deserved.

You can look back in regret at each twist and turn. Or look back with delight at every wrong move. You can try and turn things around. Or you can go with the flow.

1) Keep both oars in the water (order).
2) Or don't (chaos).

As long as you remain a 9-piece, manifest, fish-in-water-like entity, breaching the continuum of infinite possibilities that surround you wherever you go, there will always be some kind of destiny "out there." As other 9-piece, manifest, fish-in-water-like entities interact, they contribute to the chaos by continually changing, diverting and otherwise influencing in a random fashion any individual's path (like billiard ball criss-crossing a pool table, we collide, and change each other's destiny).

1) An entity on a willful path will push and shove through the chaos to somewhere predictable and known.
2) An entity on a fateful path will be pushed and shoved through the chaos to somewhere unpredictable and unknown.

But even the most organized, devoted and willful entity can be blindsided by another 9-piece, manifest, fish-in-water-like entity pushing and shoving its way through the chaos. So:

1) Watch out!
2) Or, don't.

And see where it gets you!

Like predicting the weather, the dynamics of Destiny are fluid. Like the weather, systems can become "organized" entities pushing their way across the country. And without notice, that "organization" can dissipate, or be diverted by some other system pushing through from somewhere else. Weather patterns are indeed patterns - i.e. predictable. But still fluid - i.e. random.

I think one reason this question gets so much attention is because people crave easy definitive answers out of life. They want to know if their fate is a forgone conclusion or not, so that they can either stop trying to change it, or, exert the will necessary to make a change. If you can convince people that their fate is out of their hands, they will be comfortable knowing that, and take whatever comes. If you can convince them that their fate is the result of their willful participation in life's matters, then they will take responsibility for what happens or doesn't happen. They just want to know WHICH one it is, so that they know what to do, or not do. My theory says it's both. Sorry. No easy answers. Do something, or don't - your destiny takes shape either way.


All words and images Copyright © 2008 by Guy Palm

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