This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. 21 I will when possible avoid using the '-ism' Valentinianism, in order not to add to the reification of a fixed theology or social category, and instead refer to Valentinian traits or texts. 22 For details on Valentinus' life and works, see Christoph Markschies, Valentinus Gnosticus?Untersuchungen zur valentinianischen Gnosis mit einem Kommentar zu den Fragmenten Valentins

Weaving and femininity are historically intimately connected withthe concept of Fate. In antiquity Fate was portrayed as a powerfulfemale principle controlling the cosmic system humans inhabited.However, as the antique religious world gave way to a new era,the role of Fate subsided under Christian dominance. This articleexamines how this change played out, and how the worldview thatwon prominence as Christianity prevailed gradually lost touch withthe presence of powerful female cosmic principles. It shows that thedisappearance of Fate from the prevailing world was seminal in thebirth of a new ‘technology of the self’. In conclusion, the article placesthe disappearance of Fate in the context of a discussion of how theview of the self changed in the aftermath of Christianity, which hadbecome dominant. This discussion is related to the scholarship ofPeter Brown, among others, as well as a newly published posthumouswork by Michel Foucault (2018).

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