The legend of the red thread and predestined encounters

A very popular myth in countries such as China or Japan, about predestined meetings.

In many Asian countries a story known as the legend of the red thread continues to resonate as an echo of oral culture passed down from generation to generation. It is believed to be very old and to express the way in which various Eastern civilizations understood the world of relationships and the role fate plays in them.

Despite the time that has passed since it was first told, or perhaps precisely because of it, the story of the red thread is still deeply rooted in countries such as Japan and China, and in some ways influences the way relationships are perceived.

Whether this interpretation is more or less true to reality is open to debate, and it is certainly not a narrative that should be taken literally; expresses through symbolism how we experience the bonds of affection..

Let's see what exactly the red thread is and how its story is told. But first, it is necessary to understand what exactly this symbol means.

The red thread and fated encounters

Tradition says that every person has an invisible red thread tied to his little finger. This thread remains attached to our body from the moment we are born, since the gods are in charge of fixing it to the finger by means of a ribbon every time a boy or a girl is born.

Thus, from our first days the thread becomes part of us, and will never be untied or broken. It accompanies us throughout our life, more or less taut.

But... what is at the other end of this thin rope? At the other end there is a person we are predestined to encounter and who has tied to a finger the same thread that does not separate from us.

Whether near or far, even if he lives on the other side of the world, the red thread reaches there and remains forever tied to that person. It is the materialization of a very important bond in our lives that exists even before we are aware of it and that is embodied in a mythical story about an emperor.

The story of the emperor who wanted to get married.

It is said that long ago, when stories were told more by oral repetition than through books, there was a very young emperor who, moved by the restlessness of adolescence and anxious about the need to marry to maintain the power necessary to rule and ensure that his lineage would not be lost, wanted to find some way to see the invisible red thread that linked him to his soul mate, the person who was destined to be his wife..

After investigating, he learned that in a distant land lived a mystic whose contact with the supernatural allowed her to see this fine thread, so he ordered her to be taken to his palace.

When the mystic was in the presence of the emperor, he ordered her to use her magical powers to follow the red thread and lead him to his future wife, so they quickly set out. The emperor considered that temporarily abandoning his responsibilities in command of the country was a necessary sacrifice to meet for the first time with his soul mate, the person who would rule beside him.

After traveling for several days along the strangest of roads, the mystic arrived at a marketplace and pointed in the direction of a poor peasant woman who was trying to sell her produce with a baby in her arms.

The emperor was furious after recapitulating and coming to the conclusion that the mystic had decided to mock him for trying to defy the rules of nature from his position of power, and blinded by anger he ran over both the peasant girl, whose baby fell to the ground and injured her forehead, and the mystic, who went headlong into a mountain of apples, and decided to give up the idea of meeting her fate.

Years later, the emperor's court informed him that the daughter of a very influential general wanted to marry and that it would be a good strategic move to perform the marriage bond. When on the day of the wedding the emperor met his bride and removed the veil that covered her head, he noticed a curious scar, he noticed a curious scar on her forehead that reminded him of times past..

Beyond our prejudices and expectations

The Legend of the Red Thread contains a story full of symbolism about relationships, love and destiny, but it also tells us about the way in which, as human beings, we experience these phenomena and accept them as part of our lives. accept them as part of our lives..

Specifically, it speaks to us about the way in which affective and loving bonds are guided by a logic of their own that has nothing to do either with our expectationsIt has nothing to do with what seems most sensible, nor with what we would initially desire before meeting that person or with the kinds of love we expect to give or receive. Even if we believe we do not deserve a particular relationship, love pulls its strings.

If one believes in destiny, this should not be a belief that leads us to think that our future is going to be a complete stereotype, something totally predictable. Soul mates are soul mates insofar as the force that unites them overcomes all the elements of life that, under normal conditions, would suggest to us that such a bond is totally impossible. Otherwise, the concept is meaningless.