Heavenly Restriction
On limitation and limitlessness
Dear Bolu,
The world of Jujutsu Kaisen is ugly. Most humans leak cursed energy uncontrollably—negative emotions like anger, sadness, malice, and jealousy—which pool together to form Curses. These Curses take the form of malevolent spirits that wreak havoc. Humans who can control and harness cursed energy train as sorcerers, using special skills to fight and exorcise these spirits.
Generally, to be a Jujutsu Sorcerer, you must be able to see Curses. This requires a base level of cursed energy that most humans lack. Yet, there are people with little to no cursed energy who can operate at a sorcerer’s level. One such way is through a Heavenly Restriction.
A Heavenly Restriction is a binding vow forced upon a person at birth that trades one attribute for another. They have no say in it; they can neither opt-in nor opt-out. One example is a restriction on one’s cursed energy: in exchange for having zero energy, a person’s five senses are sharpened to a superhuman level. In another case, a person might be given a fragile, failing physical body in exchange for vast, copious amounts of cursed energy.
Heavenly Restrictions, therefore, comprise two parts: a limitation and a limitlessness. While one attribute tends toward zero, the other tends toward positive infinity.
In both scenarios I described, there is an exchange, but one seems more favourable than the other. The person with superhuman senses is so overpowered they can go toe-to-toe with the highest-ranked sorcerers. They also benefit immensely from their peak physical prowess in their ordinary lives. On the other hand, the one whose restriction leaves them in perpetual physical pain has little to be grateful for. Fighting Curses, and even simply living day to day, takes a constant toll on them.
Were I in the Jujutsu universe, I would certainly prefer superhuman senses over infinite cursed energy. I wager you’d do the same. We are not, however, in the universe of sorcerers and curses.
Here, in this world, “heavenly restrictions”—the conditions into which we are born—often come with only the limitations. We aren’t automatically given a compensatory limitless ability for being born with an affliction or a congenital disorder.
Nevertheless, I find the framing of Heavenly Restrictions useful for modelling our lives: the idea that we can, by limiting ourselves in one scope, aim to be limitless in another. That we can starve one habit to nurture another. That we can give up on one goal to achieve another. That greatness is found at the altar of sacrifice. That we may be one restriction away from peaking.
We may not articulate it as such, but our lives are shaped by restrictions. As kids, they were imposed on us by adults: no TV after 8 pm; no phones until homework is done. As adults, we impose them on ourselves. We stop stocking soda in favour of healthier options: fruits, or a smoothie bowl. We set app timers to reclaim our focus. We may even go as far as deleting the app altogether.
This idea that we must restrict ourselves in one area to flourish in another seeps into our speech when we say, “Ah, if only I could stop doing X, I would be unstoppable.” That is hardly different from a Heavenly Restriction; the only difference is that it is self-imposed.
Perhaps this is where it all lands: that we identify our X’s. That we restrict them, if we cannot stop them. That I restrict mine, if I cannot stop it.
I think now of the Heavenly Restrictions I would willingly accept. Would I trade my sense of smell for the height to go pro in basketball? Would I give up the use of my limbs for telescopic vision, so that I may see the finer details of the sun, moon, and stars without aid? Would I swap my vocal cords for a memory that holds, my taste buds for an ear for music, or my heart for a love that stays? Would I give my days to see you forever?
Wouldn’t I, dear friend?
Fin.
P.S.
Yes, you should pick up Jujutsu Kaisen if you haven’t already.
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Write you soon, merci!
- Wolemercy