Moirai (The Fates): Greek Incarnations Of Destiny And Personification Of A Single, Unavoidable Fate

Angela Sutherland  - AncientPages.com - The first forms of religion appeared in prehistory because humans understood that there are many natural phenomena, such as floods, drought, thunder, and lightning, that no one could stop or control.

It was believed that everything beyond human capabilities controlled it due to the existence of a "higher power." Thus, the first forms of "gods" emerged in the human mind.

People worshiped impersonal supernatural forces, deprived of personality and even names, or even dead objects believed to have magical power. At one point, deities were worshiped under the animal's figure, symbolizing different forces of nature.

Later, the deities were depicted as people with individual names, appearances, and attributes, including the power to dominate people and the world of nature.

The gods decided about the fate of people and revealed their will and ideas using signs, prophecies, oracles, and fortune-telling. However, above the all-powerful gods, there were Moirae (sometimes one or three of them).

They were the goddesses of fate, destiny, and irrevocable necessity. Ancient Romans identified them with the Parcae. In Norse mythology, the Norns were spinning fate goddesses; in Slavic beliefs, the Sudice were considered the spirits of fate and judgment.

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