Is Destiny Swapping Real, or Are You Star-Crossed?
The enlightened way to say, 'That bitch was weird to me and tried to steal my life.'
Can you really swap fates with someone else? You've probably seen the buzz online lately about destiny swapping. It's back in the conversation thanks to our annual revival of the Selena vs. Hailey drama, plus a few tweets referencing the euphoria trailer, where Cassie swaps destinies with Maddy by taking her life—and her man. Now, everyone’s discoursing on the dangers of destiny swapping!
Destiny swapping happens when two people energetically trade fates, often triggered by an intense or obsessive connection. Depending on who you ask, the details of how this switch happens may vary, but the core idea remains the same: two people meet, and one decides they want the other person’s life for themselves.
Some believe these swaps are always malicious, stemming from someone ingratiating themselves into another person's life—learning about them, mirroring them, and ultimately manipulating the situation to shift their destiny.
Others believe it can happen unknowingly, where an evil eye transforms a harmless obsession into a case of full-blown spiritual identity theft.
But is it real?
Certain astrology placements shape our connection to fate and define our karmic cycles. Some are tied to the patterns we’re destined to repeat, the lessons we must learn, and the soul’s debt we carry—each uniquely ours to master.
Destiny swapping is often framed as someone stealing your life, thriving while you’re left to suffer in the shadows. But if fate were truly exchanged, wouldn’t the thief also inherit your burdens? What happens when someone without your karmic history takes on lessons they were never meant to carry? Could they steal something they don’t understand on a soul level? I’m skeptical.
While I’m not convinced you can trade fates, I do believe in the enduring forces of jealousy, envy, and sabotage. It’s a harsh reality, but some astrological aspects in the birth chart can attract relationships with those who seem intent on tearing you down.
These people might tell others they hate you, that you’re nothing—while secretly fixating on your every move, idea, flaw, and success. They project their desires onto you, wanting to be you while working to diminish you.
They show up as the friend who steers you away from someone only to chase them in secret, the coworker who mocks your ideas so they can steal them, a lover who plants doubt to keep you from outgrowing them, or the parent who withholds praise because you dared to do what they never could. This isn’t destiny swapping—it’s resentment.
Astrology placements that attract betrayal, sabotage, or control:
12H placements: Hidden enemies are plotting against you
Pluto/Chiron in 12H: Unseen betrayals lurking in the shadows
Chiron/Pluto in 11H: Friends turning on you, left in isolation
Chiron + MC/Pluto MC: Professional rivals playing power games
Venus in 12H: Misunderstood and stabbed in the back by lovers
Pluto in 8H: Financial wounds inflicted, power and control tactics
Pluto-Venus aspects: Manipulative power struggles in love or money
Saturn/Chiron/Pluto + Nodal Conjunction: Block to one's life path or potential.
Destiny swapping fascinates me because it contradicts many of the astrology community's beliefs about karma, fate, and destiny. Your birth chart is uniquely yours—no one else has the same experiences as you…until someone steals them?
It also raises a bigger question about fate: Is life something that happens to you or something you create? And if it’s truly yours, can it ever be taken? If you had the power to claim it once, couldn't you do it again?
More importantly, can a destiny thief ever keep what was never theirs? Something they lacked the soul, the wisdom, or the alignment to get on their own—something they had to trade for from the start?
To me, destiny swapping feels like a spiritual woo-woo way of saying that bitch was weird to me and tried to steal my life—which, honestly, I respect.
Lauren Ash is the Editor-in-Chief and founder of DREAMWEAVING. See more of her work on her personal website and connect on social media.
Wonderfully written piece. I came across your piece trying to understand the rave around the term destiny swapping and found this insightful, so thank you.
I also didn’t expect to see my 12H Venus mentioned, and I have a history of “friends” and even partners secretly resenting me.
I feel like Selena won by not being with Justin. He has no business being married