Family

My family is reasonably civil. I am married, and though we are friendly enough, it is a marriage of convenience, that is in the middle of healing a breaking of trust. My daughter requested to be adopted by her father when she was 15, and he was a good man. My brother and sister have their own lives. As such, my family is distant but friendly and we get together at holidays and the occasional birthday where the grandparents faun over the grandchildren, and the rest of us drink some wine and talk.

All in all we respect each other. If there was need for help, then we would help out materially. We were each raised to be independent and that has some advantages. As far as challenging, when I was younger, my relationship with my father defined most of the challenge in my family life. Now, that has long since passed and it is just not a thing.

It is actually a bit of a relief that family is not a big deal these days. In some ways I have been a disappointment and I needed to learn how to deal with that. In others I have been a smashing succes, and likewise I needed to figure out how to deal with that. All in all, those lessons have subsided for now, and I suspect things to be slow and easy until the funerals begin.

Religion, Philosophy and Spiritual Pursuits

I was raised to respect Mormon and Church of Christ, as they are the faiths of my parents. I was not given a strong Christian religious education, so my studies there have been on my own for the most part, and have looked at a number of different things over the years: Tao, Druidism, Wicca, Asatru, Thursatru, a number of other left hand path practices. I was introduced to my gods through a Jedi gathering 6 years ago, and that was very meaningful to me.

Philosophically, I have been a Freemason for the last 8 years and am currently a coach and instructor in our more essoteric work. Additionally I have been a Lord/Administrator at the Order of the Sith since 2010. My work in these areas has given me a more diverse exposure than some that I am aware of.

Other than they are a diverse selection of popular anti-popular theisms at the time I studied them, there isn't a lot of similarity. I have drawn a number of things from each, predominantly the effect the religious ideals have on society, or the way they reflect society. I have learned a lot about the maturity of a person based on the maturity of their faith and their philosophy. That is not always welcome knowledge. I am well aware of some of my own shortcomings as a result.

What I have looked for, however, is a common thread through them all that resonates with me. The cardinal elements ... all thinks follow an order built on the interworking of relationships. The individual is capable of great things so lone as he is willing to take risks, fail sometimes, get through the awkwardness of the new, and remain reverent to the highest ideals that are superior to him as an individual. The material manifestation that all religious belief is the orderly and civil society. Civilization itself is the earthly gift man's gods give to him, and it is his to sustain and grow, give away, or destroy. How one interacts with that is the current focus of my work these days.

Jedi Ranks

I have not held Jedi ranks, but over five years I worked up Sith ranks to Knight and Lord ranks, which is very similar in intention of the ranks. My interest in ranks is in the practical application of titles. They are a good shorthand for acknowledgement of knowledge, competence and demonstrated mastery of certain Jedi principles and ways of living. That recognition allows for more meaningful and interesting conversations to start, without having to worry about the introduction material. Having apprenticed a few in my own Order, it is a relief to be able to have that shorthand sometimes.

Likewise, it is also nice to have the appreciation of peers, and titles represent that well. Because of my past, I have been barred from having Jedi ranks in the past. I expect that to continue for the most part, so the actual attainment of Jedi rank is something I would love, but do not expect to get.

How did I find Just Jedi

In my participation on FB Jedi groups, I started searching the people that I knew that were members of groups I was already a part of and looking at what groups they joined. I found the FB group for Just Jedi from there, and joined to see what it was all about.

It is a new environment for me, entirely fresh and something I have not taken on before, so I thought I would come and give this a go. We will see, as we go, what the Jedi mood is of this place, and I am curious to see where the path leads. I hope to gain more insight to add to my outlook and my understanding of the Jedi Way.

I have a colorful Force Realist past, but I am no longer in the past, I am focusing on the present. We will see what that leads to as well. There are challenges I have faced with Jedi groups in the past, but I expect the challenges were as much my own as they are anything else, so I am giving it a shot with an open mind and heart. I am looking for the Jedi path that works as I understand the world. The endless search...

Community Participation

I am active in a few sites. my home site is actually not a Jedi site, as I am the administrator at Order of the Sith, but my Jedi participation include

FB groups

International Jedi Federation - I was introduced through Althea and was invited to a gathering some years ago. It was a meaningful meeting and I returned to the gathering again in 2017. I joined JFed recently because in my interest in learning more about the Jedi way, I have friends there and wanted to use that as a resource. Being from California, I don't get to participate directly, but I do jump on to the ocassional Blog Talk radio episode when I can.

Jedi - While poking around FB Jedi groups where those I know are members, I came across Jedi. There were interesting questions being asked and some minor conversation going on so I joined to participate in those conversations. Often it is usually a repetition of content from Arkennea because of the crossover, but it has interesting questions.

Arkennea - Having met the group at the 2017 gathering and having good connection there, as well as being on a couple regular Jedi Google Hangout calls with some of them, I joined up with them in order to see if it might be a place that I wanted to belong to. There is a lot of drama going on there at the moment, so I am in a holding pattern on my decisions, but it is interesting to observe. They have a strong "family" vibe and that has always been a turn off for me. I prefer more professional arrangements.

Websites

Armonia Seminary - The Brain child of Althea Thompson and Keith Williams, it is a project to try and make a more formal training program around the ideas, probably in alignment with JFed ideals, but definitely heavily Jedi Gathering influenced. I am less a fan, but I am interested in their work progressing so I help them explore ideas when I can. I feel the material is weak and misguided in many ways but with a great deal of promise if they can leave their need to be all inclusive and so religious studies focused.

TOTJO - The biggest group I know that actually has an operational clergy. I joined some time ago but have not completed the initiate training. I guess that is a statement unto itself. I admit that the use of Joseph Campbell and Alan Watts is fun to explore a bit, but I have not found the community to be interesting to me.

Force Academy - I have spent years here, in the previous incarnation. I have been mostly a Dark Aspect participant, but that is often because my close friends were leading things in that area. The site was once a brilliant resource for many diverse opinions, but when the Light Aspect majority departed and the site admin gave it up, the reset of the site has not seen the same kind of success that was once there. I have not been back in about a year.

Experiences in Cosplay

The only fictional hero that I have ever considered doing cosplay for was the character Ginko from the Manga/Anime Mushishi. That character is one of the archetypes of shaman that inspires me and resonates as a way of looking at the world. The stories are wonderful and the character is intentionally written to be ambiguous for the reader/watcher to better resonate. He is an observer of life trying to do right with his own challenges.

I have never actually dressed up as him, but have thought about it a few times, and more than once I have thought of making some of the props. It is always something in my mind when i go shopping. He was the inspiration for me taking up Tea Ceremony, and the language of Mushishi is one that resonates with my view of the Force.

I have not dressed up as that character, but have been a performer at Renaissance faire for years, and am now active in a group that goes to Mad Max/Road Warrior/Post Apocalyptic events. I enjoy the dress up. It is fun to put myself into another mindset, another character, another persona and able to engage in life in that form. It is a nice relief from the high pressure realities that I put myself in. It is a nice respite from my every day life.

My Jedi Order Outline

The purpose of a Jedi Order in my mind would be to initiate and train novices to become "Knights" through a mystery school approach. The fundamental purpose is to educate, then to provide community, then to provide outlets for activity, in that order.

The first strata would be the initiation. This is a fundamentals education course. Introduction to the organization, rank structure, Order Charter, purpose, vision and membership would all be communicated. Some basic fundamental behaviors would be established, and ensuring that there are basic requirements met would be taken care of here. Once they pass the initiate phase, and have demonstrated mastery of things like the rules of the organization, protocols and ettiquet, the ability to distinguish instructor from fellow student, and the process of becoming Knighted, then the education can begin in earnest.

As a Novice the education is founded in providing and learning how to use the tools of the trade. Meditation, physical conditioning, mental first principles, and relevant SW lore that is meaningful to the Jedi identity, cultivated to further interest and demonstrate progress is produced. Certain lifestyle elements are defined and provided, and an expectation of living up to those standards is demonstrated by the Novice. All of this is to demonstrate the capabilities and personality of the candidate. Once it is verified that the Novice is living a life that practices the first principles, at least to some degree to show that they are an active consideration of the way they live their life, then they are ready for Padawan.

Padawan is a one on one relationship with a Knight, where the Knight is expected to impart the Knightly knowledge to the Padawan so that they can internalize it. Up to this point the practices have been issolated and more classic Jedi image based. Now they move into an integrated lifestyle. Austerity in living, physical well being in all ways, diet (physical, mental and spiritual), personal emotional awareness and control, and the ways to apply them to service are the key elements.

As the conditioning provides itself, an application of the Force and Force interaction becomes more and more the focus, until the Force and it's influence are well observed and understood by the Padawan. In addition, leadership and mentorship skills are taught as well. Considering the community will require When the Master feels the Padawan is ready, there are the Padawan trials, which is an examintation with a high fail rate. It should be expected for more than half to fail the first time. The trials focus on knowing the material from memory and situational tests that evaluate the practical application of Jedi life practices on an every day level.

When deemed sufficient, the Padawan become Knight, and is authorized to instruct another.

The Knights aspect of the community are responsible for managing the workings of the Order itself, from administration to project planning and execution. This is where the community portion of the activity comes in. To retain knighthood there would be participation requirements. One of which might be administering web sources, managing the finances, coordinating an event like a gathering or a dinner, perhaps overseeing sickness and distress to identify members of the Order in need and facilitate their aid. As a final phase, the Order institutes for a limited time, a Master of the Order who is the lead administrator of the site who is selected by the Knights and Padawans, and is to serve no longer than 1 year and not 2 consecutive terms. Beyond the Master and the Secretary (possibly called the Consular) other officer positions might be called into existence, depending on the size and the need. Only one who serves as master would be recognized as a Master, but once the honorific is given, and the full year term served, they retain the honorific ever forward.

These are my initial thoughts. I am sure I will be inspired to augment these ideas as I go.

What is a Jedi

Before I go ahead and get started with this, I wanted to put down some thoughts about two of the bullet points in the article preceding this.

A Jedi of today are not in any way associated with the Fiction of Star Wars

This seems very counter to any reasonable interpretation. I can understand if there is desire to separate the idea of fan activity, cosplay or role play from the embracing of the Jedi ideals as a life path, but the idea that they are not in ANY way associated with the fiction is silly. The concepts, the code, the Force, the introduction to the Hero's journey, the legacy of the films and stories, all as part of the modern culture of the western world are intrinsically linked to the Fiction. Without the fiction there would be no Jedi Realism, so I don't understand this statement very well.

A Jedi accepts the title as a natural part of who and what they are

This too seems odd to me. There is nothing natural about being a Jedi. It is the most unnatural thing in the world. That is kind of the point. The Jedi life is one of reason, meditation, contemplation before action, calmness in the face of adversity. All of these are trained, conditioned practices that require effort and many hours of dedicated discipline. It is to rise the powerful individual above the primal, the primitive, the natural.

I can understand if it were to say that a Jedi embraces the title as an accurate depiction of their inner self, or perhaps their highest desired ideal, but as it is, it seems very strange to natualy be a Jedi. Unless you were, say .... Buddha maybe.

The Definition

A Jedi is a spiritualist who draws his spiritual inspiration from the Star Wars Mythos, believing the stories there to be originated in the myth story tradition which has been the teacher of mysteries of life's deeper meanings for all recorded history. The Portrayal of the Jedi as depicted in the Mythos are idealized representations of a higher state of being, one that embraces the Service of the Whole over the benefit of the one (particularly the self). Drawing inspiration from eastern and western spiritual practices and myths, the Jedi are monastic philosopher-priests who are attuned to the unifying energies of both the Living and the Universal, and with that atunement are empowered beyond the abilities of the common man. These abilities need to be put to best use to serve, and as such discipline, a stoic outlook, a deep inner calm, and a way to cultivate these things are the central guiding aspects of a Jedi's life.