{"id":97090,"date":"2016-06-13T11:33:49","date_gmt":"2016-06-13T11:33:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2016\/06\/13\/freysdottir-you-refer-to-the-prophecy-of-the\/"},"modified":"2018-09-02T02:04:08","modified_gmt":"2018-09-02T02:04:08","slug":"freysdottir-you-refer-to-the-prophecy-of-the","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2016\/06\/13\/freysdottir-you-refer-to-the-prophecy-of-the\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-97090 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2016\/06\/13\/freysdottir-you-refer-to-the-prophecy-of-the\/attachment\/97091\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/tumblr_o4o7ccUKM71r3hzhzo1_500-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/tumblr_o4o7ccUKM71r3hzhzo1_500-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/tumblr_o4o7ccUKM71r3hzhzo1_500-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/freysdottir.tumblr.com\/post\/141745747839\" target=\"_blank\">freysdottir<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201c<i>You refer to the prophecy of the one who will bring<br \/>\nbalance to the Force. You believe it\u2019s this\u2026.boy?<\/i>\u201d \u2013Mace Windu,<br \/>\nto Qui-Gon Jinn<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<i>Without the Jedi,<br \/>\nthere can be no balance in the Force<\/i>,\u201d \u2013 Lor San Tekka, to Poe Dameron<\/p>\n<p>Let me begin with a semi-rhetorical question: why are the<br \/>\nJedi viewed as the ones who keep the Force in balance? And what does \u201cbalance\u201d<br \/>\nactually mean? Why are the Jedi \u201cgood\u201d when they took children from their<br \/>\nfamilies at a very young age \u2013 in order to prevent their (completely normal and<br \/>\nhealthy attachments) to their birth families? Let\u2019s break this down a little<br \/>\nbit. <\/p>\n<p><b>Premise<\/b>: the Jedi<br \/>\nare of the Light (read: good) Side of the Force. <\/p>\n<p>Why is the Light Side good? Ostensibly, because it works for<br \/>\nthe greater good, right? But what is the greater good in the Galaxy Far, Far<br \/>\nAway (GFFA)? Is it having a strong and efficient central government that allows<br \/>\nfor the maximum freedom for all galactic citizens? Let\u2019s consider some<br \/>\nevidence:<\/p>\n<p>PADME : I can\u2019t believe there is<br \/>\nstill slavery in the galaxy. The Republic\u2019s anti-slavery laws\u2026<\/p>\n<p>SHMI : The Republic doesn\u2019t<br \/>\nexist out here\u2026we must survive on our own.<\/p>\n<p>WELP, that\u2019s out. Okay. We\u2019re the Light\/Good Side and we\u2019re<br \/>\ncool with slavery. The Republic has a lot of squabbling and red tape; Padme<br \/>\nAmidala comes to the Senate to stop a trade blockade and is largely dismissed<br \/>\nuntil she puts forth a vote of no confidence in the current chancellor \u2013 a vote<br \/>\nwhich clears the way for Palpatine\/Sidious\u2019 takeover of the Republic. <\/p>\n<p>Now, that being said, I\u2019m Pagan clergy and I know damn well<br \/>\nthat you can\u2019t be everything to everyone and that no matter what your morals<br \/>\nare, no one puts them into practice at a 100% success rate. I\u2019ll give the Jedi<br \/>\nOrder that much.<\/p>\n<p>But, but, the Sith did terrible things! Yep, they did. But<br \/>\nhere\u2019s the thing: every government does terrible things. Power corrupts. Name<br \/>\nany real or fictional government and you can dig something up, and often many<br \/>\nthings. Imperialism. Star courts. Civil rights violations. Guantanamo Bay. Not<br \/>\nto get too real-world political but you get the gist: governments do bad shit<br \/>\nin the name of the greater good, and often consider themselves justified in<br \/>\ndoing it.<\/p>\n<p>So why then, is the Light Side the good side? Spoiler alert:<br \/>\nit\u2019s not. The Jedi are presented as the good guys because they control the narrative.<br \/>\nAnd they are unreliable narrators.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"tmblr-embed tmblr-full\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201c<i>Only a Sith deals in absolutes<\/i>.\u201d \u2013<br \/>\nObi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi master, making an absolutionist statement.<\/p>\n<p>Now, let\u2019s take a look at the Sith. I\u2019m going to be delving<br \/>\ninto some Legends (former EU territory) here because it\u2019s relevant and because<br \/>\nI\u2019m old <strike>AF<\/strike> enough to have read it and to have seen the films when they<br \/>\nwere originally released in theatres. <\/p>\n<p>The Sith Empire was founded by a group of Jedi who wanted to<br \/>\nexplore the Dark Side of the Force, which was forbidden by the Jedi Order. <\/p>\n<p>So let\u2019s take a moment to discuss the Jedi and Sith\u2019s theological<br \/>\ndifferences:<\/p>\n<p><b>The Jedi Code:<\/p>\n<p><\/b><\/p>\n<p>There is no<br \/>\nemotion, there is peace.<\/p>\n<p>There is no<br \/>\nignorance, there is knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>There is no<br \/>\npassion, there is serenity.<\/p>\n<p>There is no chaos,<br \/>\nthere is harmony.<\/p>\n<p>There is no death,<br \/>\nthere is the Force.<\/p>\n<p>The Jedi Code is often likened to Buddhism, which itself<br \/>\ncovers a wide range of beliefs and practices; you can find a basic breakdown on<br \/>\nthe differences between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism <a href=\"http:\/\/www.buddhanet.net\/e-learning\/snapshot02.htm\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. I have some<br \/>\nexperience with Mahayana practice \u2013 my wife is a practitioner \u2013 and her<br \/>\nparticular sect does not tell people to extinguish emotions, rather it teaches<br \/>\nthat through praxis you can be happy in all circumstances. It\u2019s not that there<br \/>\nis no emotion, it\u2019s about using a daily practice to help you control how you<br \/>\nview and react to adverse circumstances. I lack enough exposure to feel that I<br \/>\ncould adequately speak to Theravada beliefs or praxis.<\/p>\n<p>Now for contrast, let\u2019s look at the Sith\u2019s morality:<\/p>\n<p><b>The Sith Code:<br \/>\n<\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p>Peace is a lie.<br \/>\nThere is only passion.<\/p>\n<p>Through passion, I<br \/>\ngain strength.<\/p>\n<p>Through strength,<br \/>\nI gain power.<\/p>\n<p>Through power, I<br \/>\ngain victory.<\/p>\n<p>Through victory my<br \/>\nchains are broken.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a lot of use of the \u201cI\u201d pronoun in this code. And<br \/>\nthere is a comparable earth-based philosophy: the Left-Hand Path (LHP). \u201cThe<br \/>\nLeft Hand Path is solitary, individualistic, personal, based on <i>self<\/i> development,<br \/>\n<i>self<\/i> analysis, <i>self<\/i> empowerment. Altruism is materialistically<br \/>\nequated as long term selfishness.\u201d \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dpjs.co.uk\/lefthandpath.html\" target=\"_blank\">Vexen Crabtree<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u201cThe term \u2018Left-Hand Path\u2019 has become an umbrella term of self-designation<br \/>\nused by certain contemporary ritual magicians and is usually taken to incorporate<br \/>\npractitioners of Thelemic magick (beginning with Aleister Crowley), Tantrik<br \/>\nmagick, and Chaos Magick (inspired by both Crowley and the magickal techniques<br \/>\ndevised by the occult artist Austin O. Spare, 1886- 1956). The notion of the<br \/>\nLeft-Hand Path is derived from the Tantric term <i>vama-marga<\/i><br \/>\n(\u2018left-path\u2019), i.e., the Left-Hand Path in Tantrism. [\u2026] Its usage represents<br \/>\na deliberate attempt by Left-Hand Path magicians to transcend the outmoded and<br \/>\nvalue-laden dichotomy of \u2018black\u2019 versus \u2018white\u2019 magic [\u2026] because it is held<br \/>\nto reflect the &lsquo;moronic oversimplicity of \u2026the distinction between good and<br \/>\nevil\u2019.\u201d \u2013Richard Sutcliffe, \u201cLeft-Hand Path Ritual Magick: An<br \/>\nHistorical and Philosophical Overview\u201d published in \u201c<i><a title=\"Amazon.co.uk\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/000710698X\/65536-21\" target=\"_blank\">Pagan Pathways<\/a><\/i>\u201d by Graham Harvey &amp;<br \/>\nCharlotte Hardman (1995) <\/p>\n<p>As a Pagan who practices witchcraft, I want to take a moment<br \/>\nto critique the Star Wars universe\u2019s demonization of magic. Jedi don\u2019t practice<br \/>\n(ostensibly) and the Sith do, often quite outright. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"tmblr-embed tmblr-full\"><\/figure>\n<p>Still canon, y\u2019all.<\/p>\n<p>So on one hand, we have a purportedly very selfless<br \/>\nphilosophy, and on the other (ha, the left-hand) there\u2019s a \u2018selfish\u2019 one. But<br \/>\nlet\u2019s look at this: is it healthy to be completely selfless? <\/p>\n<p>As a member of Team Dark Side\/LHP, I would make the argument<br \/>\nthat <b>no, it\u2019s not<\/b>. There\u2019s this<br \/>\nthing called \u201cself-care\u201d that people need to do, and are often made to feel<br \/>\nselfish when they engage in it. Magic in the GFFA is depicted as selfish and<br \/>\nevil, because it is only practiced by villains. As a Pagan who practices<br \/>\nwitchcraft, I see the demonization of my religion and praxis in the othering of<br \/>\nthe Dark Siders.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re a monotheist reading this, no, you don\u2019t get to<br \/>\ntell me that I\u2019m being oversensitive. Magic is often used \u201cselfishly\u201d and I<br \/>\nwould make the argument that it\u2019s perfectly appropriate. If I use magic to<br \/>\nbenefit myself or my family, I am not using it selflessly, but if I don\u2019t take<br \/>\ncare of myself or my family, who else will? If I don\u2019t take care of myself, how<br \/>\nwill I have the energy or desire to engage in any selfless behavior?<\/p>\n<p>Note: this is not to say that witches never do selfless<br \/>\nmagic; we do, and depending on what branch of witchcraft \u2013 we\u2019re not all<br \/>\nWiccan, though I have nothing against Wicca \u2013 some engage in <a href=\"http:\/\/leanintojoy.org\/2016\/03\/01\/sjww-social-justice-warrior-witchcraft-next-working-womens-bodily-autonomyaccess-to-healthcare\/\" target=\"_blank\">magical social justice<br \/>\nworkings<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n<p>The greater point in all of this is that both polarities are<br \/>\nscrewed. Being completely selfless is nigh impossible and not to anyone\u2019s<br \/>\npersonal benefit. Being completely selfish makes a person, well, a dick. <\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, the GFFA does offer something of a middle<br \/>\nground in the form of the <a href=\"http:\/\/starwars.wikia.com\/wiki\/Je'daii_Code\" target=\"_blank\">Je\u2019daii<br \/>\nCode<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>There is no<br \/>\nignorance; there is knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>There is no fear;<br \/>\nthere is power.<\/p>\n<p>I am the heart of<br \/>\nthe Force.<\/p>\n<p>I am the revealing<br \/>\nfire of light.<\/p>\n<p>I am the mystery<br \/>\nof darkness<\/p>\n<p>In balance with<br \/>\nchaos and harmony,<\/p>\n<p>Immortal in the<br \/>\nForce.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>freysdottir: \u201cYou refer to the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force. You believe it\u2019s this\u2026.boy?\u201d \u2013Mace Windu, to Qui-Gon Jinn \u201cWithout the Jedi, there can be no balance in the Force,\u201d \u2013 Lor San Tekka, to Poe Dameron Let me begin with a semi-rhetorical question: why are the Jedi viewed &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2016\/06\/13\/freysdottir-you-refer-to-the-prophecy-of-the\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[12180,79,4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97090"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97090"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97092,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97090\/revisions\/97092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}