Destiny Ties You. Will Unties You

Art in general is a metaphor for the human condition. Shibari, with its strong artistic value, is no exception. Its rope dynamic shows us that, while destiny ties you, will unties you, as we will see.

The old Greek philosophers defined Destiny as the life circumstances given to each person. Nobody had control over these. All you could do was acknowledge them and accept them the best you could. For example, if someone was intelligent or beautiful, it was because that was their destiny. The gods provided each person with their own destiny. And, of course, some destinies were good, like beauty, wealth, and intelligence; while others were bad, like ugliness, illness, and poverty.

Destiny had to be accepted, you couldn’t refuse it nor change it. This sounds terrible to our modern ears, so used to doing what we please with our lives. But the Greeks had very different ideas.

The important thing, then, was to avoid being passive. Destiny, as important as it was, was just a starting point. What mattered was what each person did with it. In the end, the most important thing was how you took advantage of the good portions of your destiny. Also, how you overcame whatever shortcomings or obstacles it included.

Shibari expresses this in a simple, yet beautiful way. Tying is like destiny. It is something that is put on your shoulders, which you have to acknowledge. Untying, on the other hand, is how you respond to that burden – your achievement. In this way, a Shibari scene becomes a metaphor of a person overcoming whatever obstacles are in their way. Coupled with its already strong psychological and artistical significance, it makes Shibari all the more interesting.

That’s why, in a metaphoric way, destiny ties you; will unties you. And that’s why Shibari is so great!