What is the shape of fate-and how has it been imagined, reasoned, and practised across time?

The Shape of Fate offers a wide-ranging philosophical exploration of one of humanity’s oldest and most enduring concerns. From Plato’s cosmic harmonies to modern debates on determinism, this book examines how thinkers across centuries have defined, defended, and challenged the idea of fate.

Central to this inquiry is the astrological tradition, which demonstrates its historical entanglement with philosophical and theological thought. Here, astrology is treated as a conceptual framework through which questions of freedom, causality, and cosmic participation have been explored.

Both scholarly and reflective, this book invites readers to consider fate not as a static doctrine, but as a shape-shifter across contexts, cultures, and centuries, yet persistently present in the human endeavour to find meaning in one’s life.

Author Biography

Bernadette Brady holds a PhD in Anthropology (2012) an MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology (2005), and an MA in Egyptology from Manchester University (2022). Since 2008, she has been a tutor in the Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, UK. Her research interests include various forms of cultural astronomy, primarily Egyptian religious astronomy, sky mythology, and the cultural implications of star phases. In 2019, she served as the course director of the BBS Summer School in Luxor, focusing on Ancient Egyptian Astronomy. In her astrological capacity, she is a published author and co-director of Astro Logos Ltd. She was awarded the Charles Harvey Award for “exceptional service to astrology” in 2006. In 2008 she received the Regulus Award in ‘Theory and Understanding in Astrology’, UAC 2008 in Denver, USA. In 2024, she was awarded the Golden Jupiter Award from the German Astrological Association, DAV. She teaches Sacred Skies as well as Sacred Geography at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

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