In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least, it is true that man has no control, even over his own will.
Causality (原因結果) is the principle of cause and effect in the universe. On its own, causality is simply an abstraction and distinct from destiny/fate (運命), which is the powerful enforcement of predetermined events and the inevitable events resulting from such enforcement. It is also unrelated to karma (業), a concept Flora mentions when discussing which places people reach after death.[1]
The Idea of Evil applies causality to dictate humanity's destiny.[2] The God Hand, though aware of causality's flow and possessing great foresight for most possibilities, are not omniscient and cannot anticipate everything.[3]
According to Flora, causality is a spiral, not a circle; while some events may appear to recur, they do not happen exactly as before.[4] She also believes that fate is bestowed by "God", but humans ultimately have the choice to accept or reject it.[5]
Notes
- Both Guts[6] and Griffith[7] have been characterized as having "luck of the devil".
- Guts is especially convinced that Griffith's survival of an assassination attempt due to his beherit protecting him is beyond simple "luck".[7]
- According to the fortune teller in the troupe of traveling performers, humans cannot interfere in "God's grand scheme", especially if it involves the whole world.[8]
- When discussing with Luca the events that led to the Incarnation Ceremony, the Egg of the Perfect World points to how elements like his pseudo-apostle siring or the way Luca took Casca to Albion are part of what humans would call "the guidance of a greater will" or, possibly, "the gears of fate".[9]
- After being told by Jarif that the war between the Kushan Empire and the Holy See domain is but a single event within an "unbelievable, inescrutable, tremendous current" guided by "the Falcon", Silat claims that the Bakiraka have caught glimpses of an "inescrutable current" and wonders whether it is right to yield themselves to something inescrutable.[10]
References
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 24, "Astral World"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume N/A, "God of the Abyss (2)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 13, "Escape"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 26, "Claw Marks"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 24, "Magic Stone"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 3, "Guardian Angels of Desire (6)"
- ^ a b Berserk :: Volume 6, "Assassin (2)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 12, "Promised Time"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 20, "Omen"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 33, "Exodus"
Appendices
| Abyss · Apostle · Astral World · Beast of Darkness · Causality · Eclipse · Evil · Falcon of Light · Fantasia · Forest of Spirit Trees · God Hand · Great Wave of the Astral World · Idea of Evil · Ideal World · Incarnation Ceremony · Interstice · Magic · Mana · Od · Physical World · Prophecy of the Falcon · Pseudo-Apostle · Sacrificial Ceremony · Temporal Junction Point · Timeline · Universe · World Tree |