Whatever happens to a person is a result of things they have done. This concept is famous and widely known as karma. However, the ability for an action to produce a result rests upon a cosmic force called kāla, “time.” Without the passage of time, causes cannot produce effects.

Time is identical to the transformation of a cause into an effect. It is, therefore transformational, which further implies that it is most easily inferred and measured by transformations in the world. The simplest, most obvious transformation is a change in position: motion. Hence motion is intimately related to time. The simplest, most universally observable and steady motion is the Sun’s daily movement of roughly one arc degree through its apparent orbit.

The Sun’s apparent orbit is the ecliptic, and the twelve ecliptic zones describe its basic position in that orbit. Thus the twelve ecliptic zones describe time, which in turn describes change, which in trun describes effects generating causes, which is the outcome of karma, which many call “fate” or “destiny.” This is the rationale behind the concept that destiny can be inferred by study of the twelvefold ecliptic.