Editing Moirai (section)

==Cross-cultural parallels==
===European goddesses===
[[File:Nornorna spinner ödets trådar vid Yggdrasil.jpg|thumb|The [[Norns]] spin the threads of [[Destiny|fate]] at the foot of [[Yggdrasil]], the tree of the world.]]

The three Moirai are known in English as the [[Fates]]. This derives from [[Roman mythology]], in which they are the [[Parcae|Parcae or Fata]], plural of {{langx|la|fatum|Fata, -orum (n)=}},<ref>''Online Etymology Dictionary'', s.v. [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=fate "fate"], [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=fairy "fairy"].</ref> meaning prophetic declaration, oracle, or destiny; euphemistically, the "sparing ones". There are other equivalents that descend from the [[Proto-Indo-European mythology#Societal deities|Proto-Indo-European culture]].

In Norse mythology the [[Norns]] are a trio of female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men, twining the thread of life. They set up the laws and decided on the lives of the children of men.<ref>''[[Völuspá]]'' 20; cf. [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]]' translation for [[The American-Scandinavian Foundation]] with clickable names ([http://cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/PoeticEdda/Voluspo.htm online text]). {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070718115311/http://cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/PoeticEdda/Voluspo.htm |date=18 July 2007 }}</ref>

Their names were [[Urðr]], related with Old English ''[[wyrd]]'', modern ''weird'' ("fate, destiny, luck"), [[Verðandi]], and [[Skuld]], and it has often been concluded that they ruled over the past, present and future respectively, based on the sequence and partly the etymology of the names, of which the first two (literally 'Fate' and 'Becoming') are derived from the past and present stems of the verb ''verða'', "to be", respectively,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hellquist |first=Elof |date=1922 |title=Svensk etymologisk ordbok |url=https://runeberg.org/svetym/ |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=runeberg.org |language=sv}}</ref> and the name of the third one means "debt" or "guilt", originally "that which must happen".<ref>'' Online Etymology Dictionary'', s. v. [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=shall "shall"].</ref> In younger legendary sagas, the Norns appear to have been synonymous with witches (''[[völva]]s''), and they arrive at the birth of the hero to shape his destiny.<ref>''Nordisk familjebook'' (1913). Uggleupplagan. 19. Mykenai-Newpada. ([https://runeberg.org/nfbs/0792.html online text]).</ref>

Many other cultures included trios of goddesses associated with fate or destiny. The [[Celtic polytheism|Celtic]] [[Matres]] and [[Matrones]], female deities almost always depicted in groups of three, have been proposed as connected to the Norns.<ref>{{cite book|first=John|last=Landow|title=Norse Mythology, a guide to the ghosts, heroes, rituals and beliefs|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford, England|date=2001|isbn=0-19-515382-0}}</ref>

In [[Lithuanian mythology|Lithuanian]] and other [[Baltic mythology|Baltic mythologies]], the goddess [[Laima]] is the personification of destiny, and her most important duty was to prophesy how the life of a newborn will take place.<ref>Greimas Algirdas Julien (1992). ''Of gods and men. Studies in Lithuanian Mythology''. Indiana University Press, p. 111. {{ISBN|0-253-32652-4}}.</ref><ref>Related to "Iaksmlka", "mark, sign or token" ([[Rigveda]] X, 71,2): Monier Williams. ''Sanskrit-English Dictionary''.</ref> With her sisters Kārta and Dēkla, she is part of a trinity of fate deities similar to the Moirai.<ref>Bojtar Endre (1999). ''Foreword to the past. A cultural history of Baltic people''. CEU Press, p. 301. {{ISBN|963-9116-42-4}}.</ref> In [[Hurrian mythology|Hurran mythology]] the three goddesses of fate, the ''[[Hutena]]'', were believed to dispense good and evil, life and death to humans.

=== Later European culture ===
In [[Dante]]'s ''[[Divine Comedy]]'', the Fates are mentioned in both ''[[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]]'' (XXXIII.126) and ''[[Purgatorio]]'' (XXI.25-27, XXV.79-81) by their Greek names, and their traditional role in measuring out and determining the length of human life is assumed by the narrator.

[[File:Macbeth and Banquo encountering the witches - Holinshed Chronicles.gif|alt=Two men on horseback meet three women. All are in Elizabethan dress.|thumb|[[Macbeth]] and Banquo meeting the three [[weird sisters]] in a woodcut from ''Holinshed's Chronicles''.]]

In [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Macbeth]]'', the [[Weird Sisters]] (or [[Three Witches]]) are [[prophet]]esses who are deeply rooted in both the real and supernatural worlds. Their creation was influenced by [[United Kingdom|British]] folklore, [[witchcraft]], and the legends of the Norns and the Moirai.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Karin S.|last=Coddon|title='Unreal Mockery': Unreason and the Problem of Spectacle in Macbeth|journal=[[ELH]]|publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]]|date=Oct 1989|volume=56|issue=3|pages=485–501|doi=10.2307/2873194| jstor=2873194 }}</ref> [[Hecate]], the [[chthonic]] [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] goddess associated with magic, witchcraft, [[necromancy]], and three-way crossroads,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Hekate.html |title=Theoi project Hecate |publisher=Theoi.com |access-date=24 January 2013}}</ref> appears as the master of the Three Witches. In [[ancient Greek religion]], Hecate as goddess of childbirth is identified with [[Artemis]],<ref>William Arthur Heidel (1929). ''The Day of Yahweh: A Study of Sacred Days and Ritual Forms in the Ancient Near East'', p. 514. American Historical Association.</ref> who was the leader (ηγεμόνη: ''hegemone'' ) of the [[nymphs]].<ref>Martin Nilsson (1967). ''Die Geschichte der griechischen Religion''. Vol. 1. C. F. Beck, Munich, p. 499 f.</ref>

===Outside of Europe===
[[File:The Weighing of the Heart.svg|thumb|A section of the Egyptian ''[[Book of the Dead]]'' showing the "Weighing of the Heart" in the [[Duat]] using the feather of [[Maat]] as the measure in balance.]]

The notion of a universal principle of natural order has been compared to similar ideas in other cultures, such as [[Asha|aša]] ([[Asha]]) in [[Avestan language|Avestan]] religion, [[Rta]] in [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic religion]], and [[Maat]] in [[ancient Egyptian religion]].<ref>Cf. Ramakrishna (1965:153–168), James (1969:35–36)</ref>

In the [[Avestan language|Avestan]] religion and [[Zoroastrianism]], aša, is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of "truth", "righteousness", "order". Aša and its [[Vedic]] equivalent, Rta, are both derived from a [[PIE]] root meaning "properly joined, right, true". The word is the proper name of the divinity Asha, the personification of "Truth" and "Righteousness". ''Aša'' corresponds to an objective, material reality which embraces all of existence.<ref>{{citation|doi=10.1086/462470|last=Duchesne-Guillemin|first=Jacques|title=Heraclitus and Iran|journal=History of Religions|volume=3|issue=1|year=<!--(Summer,-->1963|pages=34–49| s2cid=62860085 }}</ref> This cosmic force is imbued also with morality, as verbal Truth, and Righteousness, action conforming with the moral order.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Mary|last=Boyce|title=Zoroaster the Priest|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies|publisher=University of London|location=London, England|volume=33|issue=1<!-- In Honour of Sir Harold Bailey-->|date=1970|pages=22–38|doi=10.1017/S0041977X00145100| s2cid=170473160 }}</ref>

In the literature of the [[Mandaeans]], an angelic being ([[Abatur]]) has the responsibility of weighing the souls of the deceased to determine their worthiness, using a set of scales.<ref>{{cite book|first=Matthew|last=Bunson|title=Angels A to Z|publisher=Crown Publishing|location=New York City|date=1996|isbn=978-0517885376|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/angelstozwhoswho00buns}}</ref>

In the Vedic religion, Rta is an ontological principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe. The term is now interpreted abstractly as "cosmic order", or simply as "truth",<ref>Mahony (1998:3).</ref> although it was never abstract at the time.<ref>See the philological work of Own Barfield, e.g Poetic Diction or Speaker's Meaning</ref>

It seems that this idea originally arose in the [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] period, from a consideration (so denoted to indicate the original meaning of communing with the star beings) of the qualities of nature which either remain constant or which occur on a regular basis.<ref name="Oldenberg1894">[[Hermann Oldenberg]] (1894). ''Die Religion des Veda''. Wilhelm Hertz, Berlin, pp. 30, 195–198.</ref>

The individuals fulfill their true natures when they follow the path set for them by the ordinances of ''Rta'', acting according to the [[Dharma]], which is related to social and moral spheres.<ref name=Brown373>Brown, W. N. (1992). "Some Ethical Concepts for the Modern World from Hindu and Indian Buddhist Tradition" in: Radhakrishnan, S. (Ed.) ''Rabindranath Tagore: A Centenary Volume 1861 – 1961''. Calcutta: Sahitya Akademi. {{ISBN|81-7201-332-9}}.</ref> The god of the waters [[Varuna]] was probably originally conceived as the personalized aspect of the otherwise impersonal ''Ṛta''.<ref>Ramakrishna, G. (1965). "Origin and Growth of the Concept of ''Ṛta'' in Vedic Literature". Doctoral Dissertation: University of Mysore Cf.</ref> The gods are never portrayed as having command over ''Ṛta'', but instead they remain subject to it like all created beings.<ref name=Brown373/>

In Egyptian religion, maat was the [[ancient Egypt]]ian concept of [[truth]], balance, order, [[law]], [[morality]], and [[justice]]. The word is the proper name of the divinity Maat, who was the goddess of harmony, justice, and truth represented as a young woman.

It was considered that she set the order of the universe from [[Chaos (cosmogony)|chaos]] at the moment of creation.<ref>Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt, Robert A. Armour, American Univ in Cairo Press, p167, 2001, {{ISBN|977-424-669-1}}</ref> Maat was the norm and basic values that formed the backdrop for the application of justice that had to be carried out in the spirit of truth and fairness.<ref>{{cite book|first=Siegfried|last=Morenz|title=Egyptian Religion|translator-first=Ann E.|translator-last=Keep|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, New York|date=1992|isbn=0-8014-8029-9|pages=117–125}}</ref>

In [[Egyptian mythology]], Maat dealt with the weighing of souls that took place in the underworld. Her feather was the measure that determined whether the souls (considered to reside in the heart) of the departed would reach the paradise of afterlife successfully. In the famous scene of the [[Culture of Egypt|Egypt]]ian ''[[Book of the Dead]]'', [[Anubis]], using a scale, weighs the sins of a man's heart against the feather of truth, which represents maat. If man's heart weighs down, then he is devoured by a monster.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=John H.|editor-last=Taylor|title=Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: Journey through the afterlife|publisher=British Museum Press|location=London, England|date=2010|isbn=978-0-7141-1989-2|pages=209, 215}}</ref>