Nemesis.

It was the name of the goddess who dispensed justice, more precisely the Greek goddess who punished injustice. The idea behind her was a sort of balance between the fortunes and misfortunes of humankind. She was a well-defined divinity, one that everyone expected to encounter sooner or later. She was loved by Zeus (no surprise there!), and to escape him, she transformed herself into various animals. In the end, she gave herself to the Lord of Olympus in the form of a sea bird—a goose. From this union, Helen was born from an egg, sister of the Dioscuri, and in this myth, Leda is merely her nurse.

In later eras, this goddess was depicted alongside the Erinyes, with Tyche (Justice), Victory, and Psyche. Her attributes were borrowed from similar deities: the scales, the wheel, the wings, and so on. The root of her name is Nemesis—“to distribute.” She thus distributes fate to each of us.

She can also manifest as a period of negativity (bad luck) that, following a very fortunate phase, descends upon a person or a family, balancing their destiny. It is therefore a world governed by equilibrium between good and evil, forever chasing each other in obedience to a single law: harmony.

In literature, her name came to mean indignation, but also vengeance or punishment. In some stories, her name was tied to that of a character, embodying their dark side. In short, we are not dealing with a friendly goddess—but the harsh and cruel ones are necessary, too!

We often go through extremely negative periods, almost certainly followed by more fortunate ones. When nothing seems to go right for days, the advice others often give is: “Leave this path, go home, and think about it tomorrow.” That’s good advice—follow it!

I’m reminded of casino players who, after a streak of winnings, instead of collecting their chips and walking away, keep playing—and betting big. By the law of large numbers, they’ll lose everything they won, and more. That’s Nemesis. At this very moment, in every open casino, you can be sure that’s exactly what’s happening.

We could also speak of sailors who today find themselves in a dead calm and tomorrow with a favorable wind—there too, balance will be restored. A wise man once told me: “If you flip a coin a hundred times, it may come up heads a hundred times, but if you flip it a million times, balance will return.”