The Rocking Chair

The Fates were goddesses who had counterparts in various parts of the world. The Greek poet Homer called them Spinners. Clotho was the spinner of the thread and the birth goddess. Lachesis measured the length of the thread or the amount of time given to each person at birth and Atropos cut the thread which ended life.

In Greek folklore, the Fates would first appear on the third night following a child's birth, at which time the life span and its events would be made known to the gods.

The Roman Fates were called Parcae or birth spirits. They were Nona, Decuma and Morta.

The Three Norns of German and Norse mythology also weave and spin the web of life. Urth is the past, Verthandi the present and Skuld is future. French Fates were known as the Parques.

Why did people die? The ancients had to answer this question. The Fates explained death.

Dubh Sidhe
Edisto Island, South Carolina

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