Summoning the Fates: A Woman's Guide to Destiny

The Fates, also called luck or destiny, are three goddesses who rule over the challenges and opportunities we face in our lives. So powerful that even the other gods and goddesses cannot defy them, the Fates are said to control the thread of each life. The ancient Europeans knew the secrets of communicating with the three sisters who preside over our daily lives, but such arcane knowledge has been lost in modern times.

In Northern Europe the Fates are known as the Norns: Urdh, Verdandi, and Skuld. The sisters correspond to the past (what has been), the present (what is now), and the future (what must be). The three in turn rule our lives in thirty-year cycles--childhood and young adulthood are ruled by Urdh, adulthood by Verdandi, and the crone years by Skuld. The Fates are especially active at the major life turning points, when we receive new missions for our life's work. These main turning points occur in the early thirties and late fifties when restlessness with your previous life can take on a sense of extreme urgency. At such times, the Fate who oversees your next destiny is reaching out to you. Summoning the Fates is the first book to show how to interact with these primal forces to fulfill the destiny that awaits you. Z. Budapest gives spells, rituals, and prayers to bring the psychological and material support you need into your life.

Z. uses folk stories from her native Hungary and many other countries, personal anecdotes from real women, historical facts, and "fate works"--exercises that teach you how to recognize, interact with, and ultimately summon the Fates. With the Fates on your side, you will be able to understand and better your life.

Z. Budapest is one of the founders of the Goddess Movement and a well-known leader in the feminist spirituality movement. Z. has organized hundreds of conferences, gatherings, and workshops. She has been the subject of articles in Ms. magazine, the San Francisco Examiner, and a PBS documentary of her work entitled Gathering the Goddess.