Jediism

[Jayden Kelvari]

I was wondering if anyone has heard of "Jediism" or whether or not it would be considered Pagan.

I found out about it through Google, which brought up, as one of the results, http://www.jediism.org. I've done a little bit of looking over the site and such, and it seems to me that most of the stuff discussed there agrees with my own personal views.

Note: The "Jedi Budo" and "News" links do not work.  

[ChibiUsa212]

Jayden Kelvari

I was wondering if anyone has heard of "Jediism" or whether or not it would be considered Pagan.

I found out about it through Google, which brought up, as one of the results, http://www.jediism.org. I've done a little bit of looking over the site and such, and it seems to me that most of the stuff discussed there agrees with my own personal views.

Note: The "Jedi Budo" and "News" links do not work.

yes actually Ive heard of "jediism" before, maybe later I'll go to the link and read about it...  

[AvalonAuggie]

Eh, I've heard of it before, and to me it just is another new-agey interpretation of Eastern mysticism, given a nice name that'll draw people.

Depending on your definition of Pagan, I'd say..no. it's Neo-Pagan if anything, and from what I've read is more a code of ethics than a religion, and since it's drawing a lot from Eastern spirituality....I don't tend to call Buddhism and the like Pagan, simply because they don't self-identify as such.

So really, IMO, it's New-Age Spirituality, but not a Pagan faith per se.

Oh, and I deleted all your repeat posts. Has Gaia just been generally screwy lately?  

[maenad nuri]

AvalonAuggie

Oh, and I deleted all your repeat posts. Has Gaia just been generally screwy lately?

Yeah, it has been. Guild posting has been down for a few days, then went I went to delete those posts, I got nothing but error messages.  

[AvalonAuggie]

Nuri

Yeah, it has been. Guild posting has been down for a few days, then went I went to delete those posts, I got nothing but error messages.

I was getting them too for a while, but I've got like, nothing else to do today so I kept checking back.  

[Jayden Kelvari]

AvalonAuggie

Oh, and I deleted all your repeat posts. Has Gaia just been generally screwy lately?

My apologies about all the repeat posts. Gaia was acting really screwy when I tried to make this thread the first time, as well as a few other threads. I couldn't even tell that the posts had even been made.  

[Jasta]

Hey, I went back and found this in the old threads >^_^< Just thought I'd say, as both a practising pagan, and a Jedi padawan, no, "jediism" is not a form of paganism..

"Jediism" is a religion based around the Jedi Knights, as portrayed in Star Wars, featuring the Force as their primary deity.

I don't follow "Jediism" - to me, deification of the Force is unnecessary. I do follow the Jedi path though, which is a way of life/ philosophy of life, and can fit neatly alongside other religions.

Sorry to be dragging up old stuff, hehe. I just noticed this never got resolved.  

[Starlock]

As one who is also in the same Order as Jasta, I second that assesment of hers. It may complement Neopagan ideas, but it isn't Neopagan in itself as it is not Earth-based. In some ways you could say Jediism is simply another form of pantheism or panentheism and in that respect has strong links to Neopaganism. As far as I know, though, those who follow Jediism do not self-identify as Neopagan.  

[LadyEladrin]

I think it's neat. I think I could be a Jedi. ^^ Care to elaborate?  

[Jasta]

Easiest way to elaborate without taking up a lot of space is to direct you to the guild home page: http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/index.php?guild_id=5449

That has all the basic definitions of the Jedi path on it, and links to good places within the guild to start looking, if you're interested.  

[LadyEladrin]

Well holy cow isnt' that neat? O.O Very cool stuff on there...  

[SoilWork]

Hmmm, I checked it out and don't have much of a problem with it myself, but as someone before me said It seems like Eastern Mysticsm. I know many religions do, but it's just sort of the name that pushes me away from it, seems like another one of those things that is meant to be funny. But hey to each their own.  

[TheDisreputableDog]

//Shrug.// As the front page says, it's based in fiction but it's not role-play. It seems to be serious philosophy to me. Sure, they have a little fun with the name, but what's life without fun? I don't think it's pagan but does that mean it doesn't have potential value? It shouldn't. Dune has great philosophy, so do The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed and Phillip Pullman's books and Terry Pratchett's. There was another thread somewhere about how drawing from fiction isn't a crime if it's sound philosophy.  

[Jasta]

A lot of good philosophy can be found in fictional work, or at the least most fictional pieces contain lessons and stories we can learn from. Sophie's World is basically a philosophy 101 course; The His Dark Materials Trilogy, which I'm currently re-reading has some interesting ideas; there's even a good philosophy behind Star Trek...

As I said before, we don't go with the name "Jediism", hehe - I'd find it hard to take that name seriously, but the name "Jedi" is one we use. I'm glad you all have been finding it interesting at any rate smile  

[ProfessorZed]

The thing I find more interesting than whether a given religion is explicitly Pagan or Pagan-friendly is whether there is, in fact, room for it under the Pagan banner. With Jedi, I'd argue that yes, it fits into a broad definition of Paganism. If it wants to, that is. smile

The reason this interests me is that so many Paganfolk make a point of separating "us" (stamp-of-approval Pagan paths) from "them" (anyone who doesn't fit into our concept of Paganism, whether they fit into anyone else's or not). The obvious example is, of course, the ongoing Satanism debate. I keep wondering when the "no, you're NOT Pagan" line is drawn, and whether it's anything more than an opt-in category. My own tendency is more inclusive, rather than less, but I still wonder where the line is.