Also called The Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos, Parcae (Roman).
Their story
The Moirai are Clotho the spinner, Lachesis the allotter and Atropos the one who cannot be turned. Hesiod calls them daughters of Night in one place and of Zeus and Themis in another. In Homer, Moira spun each person's thread at birth. In Plato's myth of Er, Lachesis sings of the past, Clotho of the present and Atropos of the future.
Best times to give to them
- At a birth
- At weddings, when brides once offered locks of hair
- At a funeral
- At major turning points in life
What they like being given
- A length of thread or wool
- Honey
- Bread
- Water
How to honour them
- Spin or twist a thread while reflecting on your life so far.
- Accept what cannot be changed, and put your effort into what can.
- Honour them at births and deaths in the family.
How they can help you
- Accepting fate
- Life transitions
- Birth and death
Symbols
- spindle
- thread
- scroll
- shears
The shears of Atropos are a later image; in early sources they spin and allot.
Sources
- Hesiod, Theogony 217-222, 904-906
- Homer, Iliad 24.209-210
- Plato, Republic 617b-621b
More Greek spirits
- The Anemoi The four winds
- The Muses The nine daughters of Memory
- The Charites The Graces of joy and charm
- The Horae Keepers of the seasons and order
- The Erinyes Avengers of blood and broken oaths
- The Harpies The snatchers
- The Gorgons The three sisters of the terrible gaze
- The Centaurs The wild horse-men of the hills