The Jedi Path

• THE 2001 JEDI CENSUS

• 20,000 CANADA• 390,000 UK• 53, 715 NEW ZEALAND• 70,509 AUSTRALIA_______________________________• TOTAL: 534,224 (EXCLUDING USA)

• HOW MANY WERE NOT JOKING? BEST GUESSES…– AUSTRALIAN STAR WARS APPRECIATION SOCIETY ESTIMATES 5000 OUT OF

70,000 - 7.5%– MY RESEARCH RESULTS - 7.9% OF IN- PERSON RESPONSES; 11.4% OF ONLINE

RESPONSES

Impact of Star Wars on Spiritual Lives of Fans

• Categories ofResponses:– No Response/non-

spiritual response(33.5%)

– Spiritual Influence, butprimary religiousaffiliation to otherspiritual path (46.5%

– Jedi Path (20%)

• Jedis as role models– service to others– advocates of peace– Tolerance for diversity

• The Force as model ofGodhood– Holy Spirit within everyone– Ultimate Reality (Brahman)– Goddess/God energy

The Jedi Path

• Jedi Realism– Jedi path as way of life– Not a religion - a spiritual path– The Force as impersonal energy, not personal deity– Rejection of midichlorians

The Jedi Path

• Jediism as a religion• “The golden thread of universal truth that runs through

every major religion…”• Emphasis on inner and world peace• The Force as personal deity - prayer, etc.• Midichlorians = mitochondria? Chloroplasts?

QUI-GON : Make an analysis of this bloodsample I'm sending you… I need a midi-chlorian count.

OBI-WAN : All right. I've got it.

QUI-GON : What are your readings?

OBI-WAN : Something must be wrongwith the transmission… the reading's offthe chart...over twenty thousand.

QUI-GON : (almost to himself) That's itthen.

OBI-WAN : Even Master Yoda doesn'thave a midi-chlorian count that high!

QUI-GON : No Jedi has.

• Midichlorians as introduced inThe Phantom Menace

Midichlorians and the ForceANAKIN : Master, sir...I've been wondering...what are

midichlorians? QUI-GON : Midichlorians are microcopic lifeforms that

reside within all living cells and communicate withthe Force… Without the midichlorians, life could notexist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force.They continually speak to you, telling you the will ofthe Force.

ANAKIN : They do?? QUI-GON : When you learn to quiet your mind, you will

hear them speaking to you. ANAKIN : I don't understand. QUI-GON : With time and training, Annie...you will.

Fan Responses to midichlorians• The Fan betrayed• 22.8% of fans identify midichlorians as George

Lucas’s biggest mistake.• Second only to the 29.8% of fans who identify

everything after 1980 (ie, entire prequel trilogy)as his biggest mistake.

• 68% of respondents to my online questionnaireresponded negatively to midichlorians

• “Oh my God, he destroyed it. The Force weknew is dead.”

• “Midichlorians are BULLSHIT! Theycompletely undermine the spiritual nature of theForce.”

• “Midichlorians raped the youth of most fans.”

Midichlorians - materialism?

– “‘For my ally is the Force. And apowerful ally it is. Life creates it,makes it grow. Its energysurrounds us and binds us.Luminous beings are we, not thiscrude matter…’. Those arebeautiful words describing apowerful idea. This midichlorianclaptrap undermines the entireconcept and reduces it to thespiritual equivalent of catching theflu.”

Midichlorians - racism?

• “Midichlorians are a racist notion… Jedi areJedi because of something in their blood thatenables them to tap into this great power.They’re the god-damned master race.Ouch!”

Beyond Lucas and “Canon”

• Many practicing Jedi believe that Star Wars tapped intosomething authentic and timeless, and packaged it in a storythat works for the modern era.

• That Lucas may or may not have “had his brain eaten byaliens” is a point of debate - but his work is considered tostand on its own - he doesn’t get to undermine what Jedi’stake to be real spiritual insights, even if he does own thefranchise.