- “We can't know how the future will come about. We can't know the meaning of what she said, how it will be true! Or if. Not until it happens! Only then can we know what it means, and deal with it.”
- ―Richard Rahl, on prophecy
Prophecy is the art of predicting the future. This is done by a very rare group of wizards known as prophets. These prophets have visions of the future, which they translate to words based on instinct and magic so that future generations can heed their warnings. They record huge volumes that fill massive libraries for prophets to reference. Prophecy plays an integral part of the plot throughout the Sword of Truth series, introduced as something implicit in Wizards First Rule and not understood by Richard, he comes to learn much more of the true nature of Prophecy which is actually Underworld magic caused by Regula. After Richard Rahl changed the world by performing a star shift and prophecy disappeared from the world of life.
In Legend of the Seeker, prophecies are received in the form of engravings on the walls of the Hall of Prophecy in Palace of the Prophets, magically put there by the Creator. This, of course, takes out the problem of the prophet's interpretation.
Regula and the End of Prophecy[]
In the language of Creation the symbol for "prophecy" also means "the voice of the dead". When a prophet has visions of the future they are actually channeling these voices, Regula regulates the voices of the dead, the eternal now, in the Underworld. This is the function in which Prophecy propagates in the real world and the reason why Richard has always instinctively hated Prophecy. From Warheart Richard discusses Regula in more detail:
“In the eternal now of the underworld, those events, which all take place in the eternal now, all happen together and are the purview of a power known as Regula. Regula, you might say, is the sum of everything–everything that can happen, everything that will happen. Once the power of Regula was sent to this world, imprisoned in that case buried in the People’s Palace, it compressed the future–what we know as prophecy because it hasn’t happened yet–into the now, our present, because to Regula there is no future, no past. Regula, being an underworld power, can’t differentiate between today and tomorrow, or today and a year from today. It only knows everything that will happen, the totality of events, but since it’s an underworld power it has no real concept of time, so it doesn’t know when those things will happen, or which one of them will happen for that matter, because everything is in a state of constant flux. So, to Regula, when it says the ceiling will fall in, that event has already happened. It’s not predicting, it’s reporting. Prophecy is a compression of the future into the present. Everything that takes place continually alters the totality of what Regula knows. It contains events without the quality of time. Without time there is no ‘future’ so it is all happening now. That’s the specific power that Regula controls: the eternal now. That’s why I’ve always instinctively hated prophecy–because prophecy is actually a component of the underworld. Prophecy is an element that in its natural state does not contain an element of time. It belongs in the world of the dead where it came from, where there is no time. It is part of death itself. I’ve always instinctively recognized prophecy as carrying death within it. The reason I instinctively recognized that, is because I’m the one.”
Richard brings and end to Prophecy which causes Prophets and Witch Womans abilities to stop working. Richard did this by performing a star shift (same magic that Richard used to banish the Imperial Order) and banished Regula and Emperor Sulachan, ending Prophecy and restoring the half-peoples souls to them but this also starts the events of the Children of D'Hara series.
Ambiguity and Forks of Prophecy[]
The wording of prophecies is often extremely ambiguous, and rarely ever refers to individuals by name. Interpreting prophecies is therefore an unpredictable and unreliable business. Prophecies are always fulfilled, but are more often self-fulfilled, carried out because their existence influenced their subjects. Moreover they are usually fulfilled in ways other than those that would be conventionally expected.
"Fork prophecies" are prophecies that are essentially if-then statements. They predict the outcomes of two or more mutually exclusive events occurring, creating several "forks" that the future can follow. Fork prophecies are the most precarious of all, for pursuing the events predicted by a false or unfulfilled fork can allow them to become self-fulfilling, making false predictions seem true. Many believe that prophecies are not be trusted in the slightest due to the considerable probability that all current prophecies are the "thens" of a false fork of a fork prophecy perverted thousands of years ago.
Believers in Prophecy[]
In the Sword of Truth series, prophecy plays a huge part. Several characters, like Annalina Aldurren, believe whole heartedly in the truth of prophecy. However, Richard Rahl chose early in the series not to let prophecy dictate his life, choosing instead to trust his own judgement and reason. Ironically, as a part of his gift as a war wizard, Richard can understand prophecy and has even had his own visions of future events.
Known Prophets[]
† indicates confirmed dead.
- Nathan Rahl
- Warren †
- Gillaume †
- Richard Rahl (A war wizard with partial gift of prophecy)