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Religion

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"I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion!"

―Din Djarin^[1]

Areligion, sometimes referred to as acult, was an organized belief system. Some beings inthe galaxy held to religions.

Description[]

"I don't believe it!"
"That is why you fail."

―Luke Skywalker and Yoda, after the latter uses the Force^[2]

Jedha City was a pilgrimage place for many religious traditions.

Religion usually referred to a being's spiritual beliefs and might include some belief in anafterlife.^[3] They also might include the belief in agod orthe Force, though this was not always the case.^[4] For instance,Mandalorian adherents to theWay of the Mandalore appeared not to show any reverence towards a god or the Force, and instead cherished weaponry, honor, and their armor.^[1] The people ofSerenno worshiped seven gods.^[5] TheCentral Isopter, on the other hand, worshipeddeath.^[6] Many religions followed some form of creed or code.^[7] TheJedi Order adhered to itsJedi Code,^[8] while their enemies, theSith, followed theCode of the Sith.^[9] Likewise, many religions followed a foundational set of scriptures,^[10] such as thesacred Jedi texts observed by members of the Jedi Order.^[11] TheOrder of the Esoteric Pulsar followed theBook of Stars.^[4]

Whenever a religion fell outside the mainstream, it was often referred to as a "cult." Many of the known cults inthe galaxy adhered to thedark side of the Force, making following them even more stigmatized. In the aftermath of theBattle of Endor, multiple Sith cults emerged to worship the deposed and presumed deceasedSith Lord Darth Sidious and his apprenticeDarth Vader. Among these were the theAcolytes of the Beyond,Alazmec of Winsit, and theSith Eternal.^[10] Similarly, it was possible for splinter groups to form within religions who disagreed with the orthodox members of their orders. An example of this was theOrdu Aspectu, aJedi heresy, who sought eternal life through technological means, a pursuit that resulted in open conflict with the Jedi Order.^[12] The orthodox Jedi and Ordu-sect eventually made peace. TheEternal Rur laterdestroyed both the breakaway sect and all orthodox Jedi present in theCitadel of Rur.^[12]

Many religions had sites scattered throughout the galaxy that were holy or sacred to them.Jedha City was a gathering place for a plethora of the galaxy's Force-based religions, including theNinn Orthodoxy, theGuardians of the Whills, thePhirmists, and theZealots of Psusan, until the city's destruction by thefirst Death Star.^[4] Jedha's importance to various Force religions had led to the establishment of theConvocation of the Force, which presented common leadership for all non-dark side faiths who joined during theHigh Republic Era.^[13]Ilum was a sacredplanet for the Jedi Order, where they would harvestkyber crystals for theirlightsabers;^[14] andMoraband was a dark but sacred world to the Sith and was home to theirburial grounds.^[15]

History[]

Ancient past[]

"Once we were brothers in the Force. But from the Hundred-Year Darkness were born the Sith."

―A Jedi^[16]

Darth Bane carried on the Sith religion after it was thought to be eradicated by the Jedi.

At some point in the ancient past, thePrime Jedi created the Jedi Order onAhch-To.^[17] Thesacred Jedi texts, written at the dawn of the Jedi Order, contained some of the earliest religious texts to reference the Force. TheRammahgon in particular contained a number of conflicting origin stories for both theuniverse and the Force.^[10] Soon, the Jedi Order took to the stars, settling onOssus andTython among other worlds.^[17] At some unknown point, Ahch-To was abandoned by the Jedi and left in the hands of theCaretakers.^[18]

The ancient enemies of the Jedi, the Sith, were born from a schism in the Jedi Order led by arogue Jedi during theHundred-Year Darkness^[16] as the rogue Jedi and his followers believed that the true potential of the Force laid in using thepowers of the dark side of the Force.^[19] Conflict between these two Force religions led to countless wars that resulted in theSith Empire in control of the galaxy. Ultimately, however, the Jedidefeated the Sith and thought them to be extinct.^[20] Afterwards, theGalactic Republic sought to scrubhistory clean of all mentions of the Sith religion,^[10] even forbiddingprotocol droids from translating theirrunic language.^[21] However, the SithLord Darth Bane secretly carried on the Sith religion in the form of theRule of Two, allowing the Sith Order to survive its supposed extinction.^[15]

In ancient times,^[22] the Jedi once also fought aseries of conflicts^[23] against the Mandalorians,^[24] who subscribed to a martial religion.^[25] TheMandalorian crusades^[26] were undertaken byMandalorian crusaders, which put them at conflict with the Jedi Order.^[27] Ultimately, however, theMandalorian cataclysm between Mandalorianwarlords and the Jedi Order^[28] left the surface of Mandalorianhomeworld ofMandalore^[29] devastated, rendering it uninhabitable outside ofdomed cities.^[30] It was after these conflicts that the Jedi fought against the Sith and thought their ancient order to be extinct.^[31]

The Temple of the Kyber, a holy site in the Holy City on Jedha.

The ancient Jedi also fought a religious civil war with a splinter group, the Ordu Aspectu, who disagreed with the orthodox members of the Order over the violence they perceived was perpetrated by the Jedi. Galactichistorians differ on what ultimately caused the conflict between the two sects of the Jedi Order, but, in the end, the rogue JediRur and his followers were wiped out by the orthodox Jedi.^[32]

Around the same time, more than 5,000 years before theGalactic Civil War, the holy city ofNiJedha was built on themoon ofJedha.^[33] The city hosted theTemple of the Kyber and came to be a site of pilgrimage for a plethora of Force religions. The Jedi Order eventually established itself on Jedha, as well, taking up in the Temple of the Kyber.^[4] Despite its religious pluralism, the moon became so associated with the Jedi that it was proposed by historians as a possible location for thefirst Jedi temple.^[17]

Republic Era[]

A Great Peace, yet with continued conflicts[]

"For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times. Before the Empire."

―Obi-Wan Kenobi^[34]

With the Sith seemingly defeated, the Jedi established theirmain temple on the galactic capital ofCoruscant, capping off an ancientSith shrine, which had also been the site of worship for a number of religious cults throughout the centuries.^[35] A number of religions prospered during theRepublic Era. Though the Sith were gone, the dark side had its adherents in the form of theYacombe^[5] andapostate members^[36] of theSorcerers of Tund. Many of their relics came to rest in theArchive of Forbidden Artifacts, aBogan Collection in theJedi Archives on Coruscant.^[5] The Yacombe would later abandon the dark side.^[13] Religious tension on Jedha eventually boiled over into riots that helped kick off theBattle of Jedha. While the peace that followed the battle was uneasy, the people of Jedha also rallied together to rebuild their home after the conflict.^[37]

Dooku killed the Presagers of Hakotei with Force lightning.

ThePresagers of Hakotei—a dark side cult that was obsessed with sacrificing living beings in order to receivevisions of the future—were also active on theOuter Rim planet ofAsusto, which was strong in the dark side of the Force. The Jedi had long thought the Presagers extinct, but some of the witches survived, and traded Sith artifacts on theblack market in the hopes of luring a powerful Jedi to them. They succeeded in roping in a youngDooku, as well asJedi Master Lene Kostana and herPadawan Sifo-Dyas. Dooku ultimately wiped out the coven, marking his first significant step down the dark path.^[5]

Resurgence of the Sith[]

"Once more the Sith will rule the galaxy, and we shall have peace."

―Darth Sidious, to Darth Vader^[3]

In32 BBY, the hidden Sith revealed themselves during theInvasion of Naboo whenDarth Maul appeared toQui-Gon Jinn onTatooine. Though Maul was defeated and thought dead during theBattle of Naboo, the Jedi knew there to be at least one more Sith Lord waiting in the shadows.^[8] This Sith Lord was, unbeknownst to them at the time, the newly electedSupreme Chancellor of the Republic, Sheev Palpatine, secretly known asDarth Sidious.^[3]

Death Watch continued the martial religion of Mandalore during the Clone Wars.

Sidious and his second apprenticeDarth Tyranus, the Sith identity of Dooku,^[38] engineered theClone Wars to draw the Jedi into atrap.^[39] At the end of the war, Sidious declared himselfEmperor and reorganized the Republic into theGalactic Empire. He then used his new apprentice,Darth Vader, who had previouslykilled Tyranus, and theclone troopers of theGrand Army of the Republic^[38] toextinguish the Jedi Order.^[3] TheNightsisters ofDathomir were also driven to near extinction by Sidious as a result of the war,^[40] though afew individuals,^[41]^[42] and at leastone clan survived the purge.^[43]

The Way of the Mandalore, a Mandalorian religious sect, was implied to have been around at the end of the Clone Wars. Members ofDeath Watch raised the youngfoundling,Din Djarin, in "the Way" after saving him from theSeparatist Droid Army.^[7]

Imperial Era[]

"The Jedi are extinct. Their fire has gone out of the universe. You, my friend, are all that's left of their religion."

―Grand Moff Tarkin, to Darth Vader^[34]

The Emperor and Darth Vader continued their purge of the Jedi after the formation of the Galactic Empire, forming theInquisitorius to aid inhunting down any survivors.^[44] Sidious also orderedProject Harvester to gather up theForce-sensitive children of the galaxy in the hopes of training them as dark side adherents to his will.^[45] Even so, some Jedi survived the purge and went on to join other religions. For instance,Eeth Koth, though he was later murdered by Vader, became apriest in theChurch of the Ganthic Enlightenment.^[46] The Jedi teachings also lived on in the form of theChurch of the Force, an underground faith of worshipers of the Force that revered the Jedi Order and sought to see the Jedi restored to the galaxy in the wake of the Emperor's purge.^[47]

However, despite the persecution of the Jedi Order, a number of religions existed and prospered under the Empire. The cult of the Central Isopter was among the more notable. The cult consisted of Force-sensitive members who received visions of great death and went to those sites to revel in the carnage.^[6] They were present at arguably one of the greatest religious catastrophes in galactic history when the holy city on Jedha was destroyed by theDeath Star.^[48] The blast eradicated centuries of religious history and destroyed a number of sacred sites.^[4]

In theSeswenna sector, there were over three hundred distinct religious traditions with active practitioners, all of which were officially recognized by their Imperial administrator.Admiral Conan Antonio Motti, a native of the sector, described himself as a "man of faith."^[49]

In theUnknown Regions, theKilji species followed theKilji way of order and enlightenment, a series of ancient dictums which established that being should be "enlightened."^[50]

During theearly rebellion against the Galactic Empire, evidence of the worship of theMortis gods was uncovered at theLothal Jedi Temple. Darth Sidious was aware of the Mortis deities, suggesting that both the Jedi and the Sith were at one time aware of and potentially worshiped them.^[51] However, the temple was destroyed by PadawanEzra Bridger after Sidious failed to infiltrate theWorld Between Worlds.^[52]

During theGalactic Civil War,Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi andYoda trained a youngLuke Skywalker in the ways of the Jedi.^[34] Though Luke fought in the war for theRebel Alliance,^[2] he also scoured the galaxy to recover lost Jedi lore. Much of the surviving records of the Jedi, which weren't obtained or destroyed by the Empire, were hoarded by criminals such as theHutt crime lord Grakkus Jahibakti Tingi.^[53] He also discovered aschool left behind by Jedi MasterJocasta Nu, which contained countlessJedi holocrons.^[54] After completing hisJedi training, Luke faced Darth Vader and the Emperor aboard theDS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station during theBattle of Endor; Vader ultimately sacrificed himself and destroyed the Emperor, at the cost of his own life, in order to save Luke, his son.^[55] The returned Anakin Skywalker was thus redeemed in the Force^[56] while the Sith were left extinct^[55] as foretold by the ancient Jedi prophecy^[57] of theChosen One.^[3]

New Republic Era[]

"Like me, they are all that remains of the Jedi religion."

―Luke Skywalker, to Rey^[11]

After the battle atEndor, Luke Skywalker set out to fulfill his promise to Yoda by restoring the Jedi Order. Alongside hisastromech droid^[58]R2-D2 and allies such asLor San Tekka,^[59] Skywalker traveled across the galaxy searching for long-forgotten Jedi lore to help him in his quest to resurrect the Jedi Order.^[60] Even so, Skywalker was unsure whether to restore the Jedi Order or if it was best to leave it in the past. Ultimately, however, it would be the volatility and strength of his nephew,Ben Solo, in the Force and his desperate need for a teacher that convinced Skywalker to go through with restoring the Jedi Order.^[61] However, Solo was seduced to the dark side of the Force bySnoke, becoming Kylo Ren, and theJedi Temple of Luke Skywalker wasdestroyed and his students killed. Overwhelmed with guilt and shame, Skywalker exiled himself to the first Jedi Temple at Ahch-To, where, convinced that it was time for the Jedi religion to end, he planned to die, ending the Jedi Order with him as the last of the Jedi.^[11]

For a time, Luke Skywalker and the sacred Jedi texts were all that remained of the Jedi religion until Skywalker acknowledged Rey as a Jedi.

Shortly before and during the earlywar between theFirst Order and theResistance, Skywalker was sought out by both sides, though ultimately it would be Skywalker'stwin sisterLeia Organa, the leadingGeneral of the Resistance, who reached Skywalker first by sending to himRey,^[62] an orphanedscavenger from Jakku who sought a teacher to help her control her powers in the Force. Skywalker briefly trained Rey, who tried to persuade the Jedi Master to return, but Skywalker also tried to persuade her that it was time for the Jedi religion to end. It would be thespirit of Skywalker's old master Yoda who would convince Skywalker to return after Rey abandoned him, teaching his old student that he could learn from his failure. Skywalker sacrificed himself at theBattle of Crait to distract Kylo Ren, who had become the newSupreme Leader of the First Order afterassassinating Snoke with Rey, while Rey, who Skywalker acknowledged as a Jedi, helped the Resistance escape, ensuring that both their cause and the Jedi Order would live on.^[11]

TheSith Eternal, a secret group ofSith cultists that continued the religious beliefs of the Sith after their extinction and sought to resurrect its tradition fromExegol, revealed themselves to the galaxy in theyear following the battle atCrait,^[63] having operated in secrecy fordecades under their master, areborn^[64] Darth Sidious. Kylo Ren learned that he was the Sith Eternal's heir to their new Sith Empire, which the Sith cultists planned to establish through theFinal Order, but after Ren renounced the dark side and reclaimed his birth identity as Ben Solo, Sidious instead targeted his granddaughter, Rey. Attempting to cultivate her as Empress through aritual in which he offered himself as a sacrifice to Rey during theBattle of Exegol, Sidious urged his granddaughter to kill him in revenge for having hermother andfather assassinated.^[65]

The Sith Eternal was a cult whose members followed Darth Sidious and the ways of the Sith religion.

Had she killed him in anger, the act that would turn her to the dark side and restore the Sith Order as his spirit—and the spirits of the past Sith—would pass into her,^[65] leaving Rey's body to become his own.^[66] Rey ultimately rejected Sidious with Solo's help, but Sidious restored his strength by drawing on thebond between Rey and Solo, who were aForce dyad. However, Rey was herself restrengthened by the spirits of the past Jedi,^[65] and with the Jedi behind her, Rey destroyed Sidious, preventing the Sith from being reborn and the Jedi from being ended. The resulting explosion of Force energy caused theSith Citadel to collapse in on the Sith Eternal. Rey herself died, but was resuscitated by Solo, who gave his life for hers, allowing the Jedi to live on. Rey went on to claim the name Skywalker^[21] in honor of her mentors'family.^[67]

Behind the scenes[]

"The core thing to pass on is, you know, in talking about religion, is, you know, all religions say one thing—basically—which is love is the secret to the universe, which is compassion, which is love others, take care of others, help each other."

―George Lucas^[68]

George Lucas, the writer of theoriginal and theprequel trilogies, said that, in regards to hisStar Wars films and religion, the core teaching to pass on is that all religions in the real world essentially says one thing: compassion, or love. The Force and the Jedi religion, Lucas stated, were thus based on all religions in the real-world, as he constructedStar Wars mainly fromMethodism—(a sect ofChristianity,)Islam, andJudaism—andBuddhism. Based on his beliefs, George Lucas explained, one of the the core values ofStar Wars, one of the problems of the struggle inStar Wars, is about passion against compassion, which is greed against giving and letting go.^[68] Compassion is defined by Lucas as joy, an everlasting emotion attained from being selfless^[69]—thelight side of the Force^[70]—and is one of two components of happiness.^[69]