Why has the concept of fate become so offensive to the modern Western reader? Why does it imply for us a lack of free will, a loss of control, a sense of powerlessness, humiliation and impotence? Why has the meaning of fate become so disconnected from its sister concept, karma? In this masterwork by the author of Relating, Liz Greene confronts and questions the issue of fate head-on, and renders a broader perception of just what fate is: an unfoldment of natural processes rather than predestined or preordained events in the individual's life. Greene argues that we have lost touch with Nature and natural law, and that understanding our fate is understanding our relationship to the natural laws of the universe. The original concept of fate did acknowledge it as a cause and effect principle, but postulated that we humans are generally too blind to see the results implicit in our actions. Whenever there is a concern with fate, there is also a concern with astrology, for the concept of fate evolves from a vision of an orderly interconnected cosmos. Through the use of myth, legend, dreams, fairy tale and literature, Greene amplifies the meaning of fate and of astrological transits and natal configurations. She explores the Zodiacal signs as portraying a mythical journey, the hero journey, wherein the mythic meanings are connected to the individual's fate. Free will is the ability to do gladly that which I must do. -- C.G. Jung