What is Destiny?
A Definition by The Destiny Mapper
I am a delightfully odd little magic man. One might call me a psychic or a spiritual worker. Others will call me crazy. Either way, I’ve spent the majority of my life at odds with the Universe in a furious attempt to change my Destiny and, despite the odds, I have succeeded. It’s because of this I have come to receive the title, “The Destiny Mapper”.
Earlier this year, I posted up in public to advertise my services with my cards and a sign that said “Change Your Destiny”. Observing people’s reactions to this taught me a lot about what the population thinks of Destiny.
For a word not used often but said quite flippantly, it certainly has weight to it. Many were amused by it, but I saw the deflection behind their reactions. Many were outright fearful; one older white woman said to her friend “I don’t want to know my destiny…” as they passed by. The silent looks of sheer contempt many middle aged & older white men gave me told me just how much they feared it, especially when I’d meet them with bemused, unshakeable eye contact. They’d quickly glance away. Two white women in their late 20s approached me with excited smiles about ‘tarot reading’, but quickly retreated when they learned the nature of my work. One older Black woman in a motorized wheelchair scoffed at me. “You can’t change your destiny,” she told me staunchly as she waited for the cross signal, not budging when I told her I’d successfully changed mine. I forget her exact response, but I remember her reasoning being how ‘other people’ have to do with it.
I’ve been doing Destiny work for years now and it only barely occurred to me that I have yet to give a proper definition to the term, so I sought to break it down into the most simple terms. I describe it as an equation.
The Destiny Equation
Being + Purpose + Function + Fate + Legacy = Destiny
The ultimate goal is to find Alignment in all areas of the equation and achieve your Most Aligned Destiny. The more you are aligned with your Highest Self, the more your Most Aligned Destiny path becomes distinct and available to you.
Being is your existence. This operates from the assumption that everyone is inherently valuable simply by existing. This contradicts the capitalist rhetoric that many of us are raised with and internalize that one’s existence must be justified by what they contribute to society. I argue your existence in of itself is your contribution to society; even evil is innately valuable, too. How else are we able to define ‘good’ if there is no opposing force to compare it to?
The goal is to Be the most YOU you can be (a.k.a. Aligning with your Highest Self).
Purpose is a triangulation of 3 components: creation, extraction, and fulfillment. This is from several assumptions:
That our Being inherently creates things (material and metaphysical);
That our Being requires the extraction and subsequent consumption and/or usage of things (material and metaphysical) in order to Be;
That our Being innately involves the receiving of things (material and metaphysical) as a form of fulfillment.
For example, humans create material goods, systems, emotions, even other humans; Humans extract natural resources, other people’s emotions, time; Humans are fulfilled by the things we create, the things we extract, and the things we receive from others. Part of Alignment is finding your own personal proper balance of these components.
What do you make? What do you take? What do you receive? The goal is to answer those questions.
Function is how you execute your Being and Purpose; how you move thru the world, how you operate. It’s extremely expansive and fluid. There is no “wrong” way to function, as everyone does it differently according to their abilities and disabilities, especially because it changes as your life progresses. Examples of function:
Skills/talents
Labor/jobs/careers
Knowledge/education
Training/experience
Emotions
Physicality
Relationships/relations to others
How you conduct yourself
Routines & rituals
Your magic
Your goal is to be able to harmonize your function with the rest of the Destiny equation.
Fate is the consequences of fixed points/events/factors in congruence with decisions & choices. Your Being, Purpose, and Function all greatly influence Fate, as do others. This is the frustrating part of Fate; you have control over so much and so little simultaneously. Understanding your sovereignty is a crucial part of developing Fate that is in your favor. You must learn to make decisions for yourself not based on impulse or external influences. This is also where the concept of karma comes into play as all of your decisions build on each other, and while you may not see the results of them in the short term, you will surely see it in the long run. I call the pinnacle of this karmaggedon.
The goal is to discern what you have control of, and exercise that control with intention.
Legacy is all that has come before you, the impact your life has made thus far, and the effects you will have made long after your material body is gone. This involves understanding where and who you have come from— biologically, spiritually, geographically, historically. There are many things you inherit from the past that influence your Being, Purpose, and Function. This influences your Fate, obviously, but this is where exercising your sovereignty and seizing control of your decisions is key. Look at your Legacy thus far in your life; track the patterns you see, observe the trauma that branches out from the past, and take responsibility for what you have done (in recognition of everything—the good as well as the harm). From this work, you can begin to project what your Legacy will look like.
The goal is to leave a Legacy you’re proud of.
Beyond the Equation
This barely scratches the surface of the complexity of all of these moving parts, and each component of the equation deserves extensive attention on its own. The Destiny Equation can be a starting point of Destiny Mapping in that it can help you identify these components in the context of your life, inform your decisions moving forward, and enrich your understanding of your experience of life. To examine one’s Destiny as something that is malleable can be deeply rewarding, and also a maddening process. You’ve been warned! This is not for the weak.
Further in my writing I’ll be exploring what Destiny Mapping is and how I developed it as a cartomancy methodology, followed by my thesis on what Destiny Sabotage is. In addition, I’ll be sharing parts of my personal story all culminating to my journey as an alchemist and spiritual worker. Welcome, dear reader. I’m excited for you to join me.
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