Union of Sophrosyne

The Three Colonnades of Sophrosyne (So-phraus-in-ee)

Meant to both fuse and divide from the teachings of the Jedi, and the Sith, these tenants were created to illuminate the requirements for balance between dark and light. Most choose one or the other, but few can see their souls embracing both. Few inhabit both worlds, and because of this, they are the true protectors over all of nature and the universe. Even watching over those who choose light or dark.


1) One can only learn from ones own self.

2) There can be both emotion and peace, calm and war.

3) Knowledge and feeling must work together.




Oracular History


History behind the Union of Sophrosyne, is one shrouded in the unknown. While the Jedi step into the light for all to see, and the Sith hide in the shadows, the Sophrosyne, or those who belong to the union are known as Soai (So-eye), melt between both worlds in the gray spaces. They are seen by both worlds, but ignored because of their nature. Their true being and will to exist.

Beginning either during the big bang, in another galaxy far far away, sometime in the far future, or today, the Union of Sophrosyne was developed by those who felt the pull to both sides. Seeing that they could not exist as one, without the other, these individuals learned what they could from both the light and dark. In doing so, their character, temperance, and solidarity rose above all others. They no longer feared "feeling" nor succumbing to pure evil. The first of individuals to establish this union, was Keyan Zione. A human child of parents who ended up on the wrong side of each others perspectives. Keyans mother became a Sith, while his father was taught as a Jedi.

Keyan Zione was taken from his mother at the age of 6, in order to train in the ways of the Jedi. During transport to the Jedi temple, their ship was attacked by Sith, and Keyan watched as his mother struck his father down. The droid ordered to protect Keyan helped him to escape. Landing on planet Felucia, the droid raised Keyan, teaching him of his parents paths, protecting him from the wilds of the jungle planet. When he was 12, he found his way to a hidden temple on the planet where he ran into a hermit monk. The monk taught Keyan to use his innate force abilities, and that the force was not simply a power in the universe that could only be wielded by one side or the other. That it was meant to unite.

Keyan, at age 23 left Felucia with his powers, teachings, and feelings in place. The monk had taught him to appreciate the emotion he feels, to acknowledge it, not to deny it, but to also find solace in peace and knowledge. That good, can come from the ultimate balance of all things.
Keyan found his way to Dathomir, only to run into a Sith apprentice. initially sensing similar light than that of the Jedi, the Sith attacked Keyan, but found that he was unmatched for the young man. Upon hindering any further advances, Keyan was eventually able to convince the Sith to listen to him. After some time Keyan found an ally in his Sith opponent, Zane Dalgas. Keyan and Zane decided together that the only true path was that of pure balance, and that they needed a Jedi to willfully relinquish their title, and join their new path in order for their way, to become THE way.

Years passed and Keyan and Zane sought after a Jedi, any Jedi, willing to join them. They came into conflict with two Jedi, who refused to listen to their new path, but it was the third Jedi, a femaile Anzati named Nalah Serasai, whose force-capable telepathy, saw the sincerity within both Keyan and Zane. Nalah would leave the order of the Jedi, and train with Keyan and Zane, thus creating the first Union of Sophrosyne.

Throughout the decades the Union would grow, still ignored by the Jedi and the Sith. After two centuries, Keyan passed on into the realm of force spirit, and guided his friends from beyond. Like the Sith, they developed a rule, that the Soai would be overseen by three. The light, the dark, and the mediator. Keyan continued on into mediation as a force spirit for 300 years, until it was time for him to return to the force source. His place was then taken by Linth'oree. A Jenet from Garban. Linth would help the Union to grow even more, and helped to make the Union of Sophrosyne the path it is today.



Training


The Union of Sophrosyne melded both teachings, as well as training in both weapons, and self, from the Jedi and the Sith. The Soai, would learn to feel, and to control their feelings. They were taught self-discipline and rationality. They were given the chance to find the heart of others, and still follow the way of Sophrosyne. Like the Jedi, they often worked for the better good, but would not prevent their fellowship from working towards their own personal ends and goals, which sometimes might serve to enable the darker sides. So long as the Soai did not lose their way, and could always remain clear headed about long term sight throughout the universe, their were always welcome.

The Soai would learn the ways of the lightsaber, martial arts, force training, arms training, and knife-wielding. The training was much more constant, and more intense than either the light or the dark side required. This was because the amount of character was built on the rationality of will. To push ones self into just less than perfection, is to recognize there is no perfection but ones sense of self.


Temperance, moderation, prudence, and self-control. All aspects of the path that help to build character, and true force knowing.






Jedi V Sith


The reason the Union of Sophrosyne is so important to the universe, is that inherently, it cannot work without light or dark. The Jedi repeal the use of emotion and passion, a uniquely important element in human development, and the creation of the universe. The Sith require destruction and power, an element that should not be sought after, but acquired through non-invasive and natural means. If power is given, it should accepted responsibly. If destruction is warranted, it can be sewn into the fabric of nature. Considering that creation and destruction are the only two fuels that keep the universe in a fluctuating existence.




Know that the path of the Soai is not one that is meant to diminish or destroy the order of the Jedi, nor the Sith. It is meant to bring both together. There will always be conflict between the two, so long as both exist. The Union of Sophrosyne is meant to bridge the gap, to provide balance, and to one day truly restore the order of the galaxy, and universe as a whole.

Colonnade One
1) One can only learn from ones own self.

All the scriptures, all the prophecies, all the word of mouth, tech informed, and even ones own senses, stand as nothing against the innate knowledge each organism contains at their core. The force permeates everything and everyone. It is the only truth to the mechanisms of our universe.

One can certainly use histories and scriptures as a guide, providing a cradle for moral balance, but always should the methods of communication between one, and the tales of history, be met with reservation. Always doubt what is being learned.

The strength of wisdom and knowledge come from the sense of being at one with the force, and only the individual has the capability to decide how to channel those powers, those forms of information.

The apprentice should doubt the master. The master should doubt his idols. The idols should doubt themselves.

This applies to the Union of Sophrosyne as well. Nobody should walk any path without fully expecting to doubt the path they are on at some point, and with good cause.
The core of self will always be the only sense of direction one should follow.

Colonnade Two
2) There can be both emotion and peace, calm and war.

To deny any part of ourselves, is to ignore what makes us who we are, and what makes the universe what it is. We must acknowledge the aspects of self, which include; Emotion (heart), Mind (brain), soul/spirit (force). Only when all aspects are accepted as natural and important parts of what makes us up, can we become one with the self, and truly in balance with nature.

To feel is to give spark. To think is to maintain the flame. To seek self gives life to the flame.

Conflict between both light and dark will always be a constant, and until an unprecedented evolution of nature takes place, it shall always be so. Thus conflict defines our existence, our universe, our galaxy, our world. One must always be willing to enter the battlefield with a clear sight of the future, past, present, and potentials.

Darkness is capable of assisting light, as light can sometimes aide darkness.

The only way to find balance in the force, is to understand how to maintain the emotions we feel. How to become them, and how to operate upon them.

Colonnade Three
3) Knowledge and feeling must work together.

Knowing and feeling should work together. When we search our feelings for something we know to be true, we are accessing emotion, and that innate part of us that allows us into being. With that comes passion, and passion has the potential to lead to confusion and suffering. But knowledge, such as in Colonnade Two, can be used to keep feeling in check, so that we may operate on both waves of self.
Thereby allowing clearer access to the force.

Knowledge, and feeling, give rise to wisdom. And wisdom is at the core of development within the force.