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#3: Where Jedi Realism Came From (5/16/20)

Where Jedi Realism Came From

Going to present a challenge to those of you among the online and offline groups who have used or heard of this particular term: Go to the people who have shared this concept to you and ask them this simple question, “Where did Jedi Realism come from?”

Many will give their personal experience based on when they first heard or practiced it, yet will have a very hard time grasping where it actually came from, how it came to be, and why it was even used in the first place. Given this person was there when the term originally started, will go back in time to help set things right, getting away from the clutter that has been presented the last decade. Will also present evidence to help establish the truth of the matter.

Under the former name, the primary reason for creating the Realism and Creed 100 series for the Academy (at the time, called JEDI Academy), was to clarify the importance of origin. As the first Principal, understood clearly that when people forget where they originally came from, outsiders will eventually grab hold of a concept and begin to twist it for their own purposes (which is eventually what has happened). Memories also have a tendency to glorify or downplay certain moments of time based on one’s experience. Given this, it was important to establish a set of lectures which would help people remember what actually happened, giving them a sense of lineage and purpose.

Sadly, the understanding of this lineage has broken down, especially as people have forgotten certain situations in order to establish new doctrines. There has been various misconceptions presented out there as the game of telephone has been played.

Let’s go back and see what actually happened.

In the early 2000's, around the time of the March 6th, 2001 BBC article, was starting a community called The Jedi Organization. This group was originally based on the first fruits of The Jedi United formed around the Summer of 2000. The Jedi United, though, was initiated from an E-mail blast given during the Spring of that year. It was this E-mail blast which originally established the Jedi Realism movement.

Although history is more complex than this, will show the following to help make it easier to digest:

The Jedi (Realist) Community --> JEDI –> The Jedi Organization –> The Jedi United –> Jedi E-mail Blast

More about this E-mail blast. It started as an E-mail which was sent out at the same time, without warning, to all known Jedi practitioners throughout the Internet. It used the new E-Groups (the name prior to it being called Yahoo Groups, way before Mailchimp and such platforms). Anonymously performed the task under the name The Mediator—as did not want people to look to the name, yet the action. This act was done primarily to publicize concepts shared to a private website council created earlier that Winter (late 1999/early 2000).

It is this E-mail blast event though which initiated the Jedi Realist movement. Over the next few weeks that Spring, discussions eventually led to a community group of people from various sites. This was eventually known as The Jedi United. The Jedi United name itself later was promoted in various incarnations (as many people were part of this original E-mail group and wanted to capitalize on the attention it was given).

Going to step back further in time and give you more history as to what helped trigger this E-mail blast, primarily the failed private council attempt (which led to the public attempt). This council was called The Jedi United Council, in which The Jedi United name for the later group was coined. Although this council had failed, during the talks had created the symbol of the triangle within the circle (which has led to many incarnations in the Jedi Community over the years). The original symbol, though, had the Aurabesh “A” and “Z”, which represented the Aleph and the Tav (more on this at a later time). This symbol has been edged in many people’s minds since 2000 and has not let up since.

Going to give a quick rundown of what happened prior to these events, although feel free to glance over this to get to the next part: The Jedi United Council itself started from discussions in the Challenge in the Force Chat Room on The Jedi Creed website. The Jedi Creed website was created by Mitth’raw’nurida, Streen, and myself in August 6th, 1999. Prior to this website was a site created by Mitth’raw’nurida and Streen called The Jedi Council, which was established in early 1999. Prior to The Jedi Council, were two separate sites: one called The Jedi Alliance (Mitth’raw’nurida’s site) and The Jedi Alliance II (Streen’s site) in 1998. Prior to these, was the site Star Wars Database (Mitth’raw’nurida's origin), along with a a site called Jedi Lore by GEDI, both established in 1997 (keep in mind it was more RPG oriented at this point in time). Prior to this were two fictional-based academies, one was The Jedi Academy in 1996 (which has a separated origin), yet the other was original Jedi Academy: The Jedi Praxeum (December 5th 1995) by Kharis Nightflyer, in which this line originated.

In short, this is the direction:

Jedi United Council –> The Jedi Creed –> The Jedi Council –> The Jedi Alliance –> Jedi Lore / Star Wars Database –> Jedi Academy: The Jedi Praxeum

Two things to note before continuing: Kharis Nightflyer supported The Jedi Creed website (which is why he left its banner on his site before he left), while GEDI was present during the E-mail blast and responded accordingly to support its effort. Both pieces of information should be noted prior to what will be shared next.

The community concept, prior to the Spring 2000 E-mail blast, was very unpopular, even though the earlier founders supported it. Had previously been kicked out of the Force Academy chat room for sharing this concept as it was seen as insurrection (they now actively promote the community, the realist concept, and the symbology). After this incident, along with being banned from the original Jedi Academy (1999) forum, and experiencing the failed council attempt, had grown frustrated and decided with advice to actively voice out to everyone in E-mail without the normal screening. This was successful.

In the early stages of The Jedi Organization (prior it to becoming JEDI and thejedi.org), only the community portion was established (this was were the term Jedi Community was coined and eventually applied to the like-minded/supportive Jedi groups when JEDI closed in the mid-2000's). As the Academy, Council, and other sections were formed through the community discussions, a distinction was given that there were groups who did not want to associate with the movement. This is where you get the word Jedi Realism (and its various incarnations, such as Force Realism and so on).

Here is one of the first presentations of the word, as it was not presented as such prior:

Mission Statement:
https://web.archive.org/web/20010517190503/http://www.the-jedi.org/statement/

History (the original page):
https://web.archive.org/web/20010509173317/http://www.the-jedi.org/history/

The early staff members of The Jedi Organization: Alloran (an apprentice), Brandon, David (kind man), Demetrius (rock solid, from Jedi Temple), Gekkensai (Jedi United, one of the few still have respect for), Irvine (Force Academy), Jadu, Jimmy, Joshua (JU, youthful yet vigorous), Justan (Jedi Creed, with me during the COTF chats, a gentle soul), Mark, Opie (an eager youth from JOTNM), myself, Spark (FA), Steffen (JOTNM), Streen (JC, follows along with Jedihood today), Tionne (JC, still in contact via E-mail). This staff was put together by Streen and myself, along with help from Tionne.

With this historical background established, going to now ask the following question: Why was the term Jedi Realism used? Had coined the term to help clarify from three separate groups, especially one which was gaining momentum at that time (back then, it was simply known as the belief of a Jedi Religion, it had no distinct name when it first started):

RPG - The early RPG websites (primarily established in 1996), in which people played the role as Jedi within stories and chat rooms for entertainment purposes. The Cantina Chat Room was a prominent chat in the early Internet years in which this originated.

Mythos - A group which saw the Jedi as mythical figures in which lessons could be learned. This term was created by the original founders of the Jedi Academy as early as 1999 and was further established with the Jedi Mythos site. This group eventually dissipated.

Next, is where we were on the scale... as a group from various websites back in 2000-2001. We originally believed that the Jedi could be practiced within a real world setting, yet not with robes, sabers, or Force powers as seen in the movies. These things eventually though crept in due to...

Jedi Religion (later known as Jediism) - The later groups in which would establish the Jedi as a religious movement. This group started to be quite noticeable in 2002, although had seeds from the 2001 E-mail hoax initiated by the upcoming British Census (due to the New Zealand Census). There was only one prominent website at the time which was promoting this during the Spring of 2002, and that was Jediism: The Jedi Religion website (this is where you get the 21 Maxims and so forth). All related churches and organizations are based on this website.

https://web.archive.org/web/20020311131535/http://www.jediism.org/
https://web.archive.org/web/20020301000000*/http://www.jediism.org/

To those already active in 1995-2001, the religious aspect was clearly known as a cult. One of the prominent warnings from the earlier groups was, in fact, an establishment of a Jedi Community to create a cult. Although attempted for years to stop it, eventually saw the writing on the wall as younger people began to take upon themselves this belief. Since 2007, Jediism was the prominent belief, although it has drastically declined since 2017 (as the Jedihood message most accurately predicted back in the Spring of 2016).

Two articles to note:

The Initial BBC Article in March 2001: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1204829.stm
Follow-up of the E-mail Hoax (there are others in the article series): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1271380.stm

In essence, here it is in a nutshell: Jedi Realism started from an E-mail blast for a Community in Spring 2000, whereas Jediism started from an E-mail hoax for a Census in Spring 2001.

Both are two separate trees which eventually grew in together, although were meant to be separate. All of this can be tracked down, researched, and confirmed through accurate sources.

Now, with all of this out of the way, going to state why this is being reiterated at this moment in time. This information is being passed onto you in the most humblest means possible—it is the truth and it will not be denied. It explains the origin to many things going on today and why this present state of community has failed in maturing beyond this concoction of current Jediism and Jedi Realism. It is stuck in a trapping that uses previous concepts (primarily from the early 2000's) and cannot mature beyond them.

Some have taken on these concepts and have masked them as their own doing, while many running things today (who did not originate these concepts) have forgotten their origin, denying the audience of listening to the previous founders who initially created them. Because of this, they are within a curse, as those who come after them will, eventually, not listen to them (as they have done to those before them).

Sadly, many will continue what they are doing until they dig themselves into the ground. Am simply watching them do it as they sink deeper and deeper into the abyss.

This person stopped promoting Jedi Realism in 2006 when awakened to the ugly consequences of creating such a movement, especially realizing how it was later exploited and stripped of its vitality and virtue.  Not only has this person grown, yet the movement itself has gone a dark path.   Sadly many do not grow from their mistakes and fall back into them time and time again.  

In short, people are afraid to mature and grow. This must stop.

Yahunatan