Adoption and the Myths of Star Wars

One of the things that has brought me to Jediism has been my connection to characters like Luke and Rey in the series. I am an adult adoptee and I connected deeply to Luke as child: where do I being? Where is my heritage in all this? Who am I? Rey in the sequels makes this connection so much more complete.

What I think I love about both the characters, though, is that they found their place in the galaxy with the help of the Force and mentors. It took a community, they could not do it alone. And they did connect to something ultimate, regardless if the circumstance. Their identifies formed with their relationship to others and through their relationship to the Force. It is relational and deep, for me at least.

Are there other adoptees who feel similarly? Or others who can resonate? I'm curious and would love to chat more about this with others if they are interested in sharing on here or privately.

I see your topic and I certainly want to discuss it but I haven't seen the movies in a while and I want to do the topic justice

Just know that I see you and I appreciate your openness

UUJedi wrote: One of the things that has brought me to Jediism has been my connection to characters like Luke and Rey in the series. I am an adult adoptee and I connected deeply to Luke as child: where do I being? Where is my heritage in all this? Who am I? Rey in the sequels makes this connection so much more complete.

What I think I love about both the characters, though, is that they found their place in the galaxy with the help of the Force and mentors. It took a community, they could not do it alone. And they did connect to something ultimate, regardless if the circumstance. Their identifies formed with their relationship to others and through their relationship to the Force. It is relational and deep, for me at least.

Are there other adoptees who feel similarly? Or others who can resonate? I'm curious and would love to chat more about this with others if they are interested in sharing on here or privately.

I'm not adopted so I can only address this from a different perspective. I've done a lot of research into my family tree, my family are fairly 'normal' these days, but I knew they were travelling carnival people and I didn't really know much about that so looked back to try and find out. Turns out one of my family got bored with a normal life and almost literally 'ran away' to the carnival. Wanting to know where you come from and 'who you are' is a yearning a lot of people have (after all, genealogy is a very popular hobby these days).

Something that I think Star Wars shows very well is that while biology has an impact on what you are, who you are is very much determined by you, your actions and the people you surround yourself with.

Heritage is something, but not as important as I think some place on it. What we leave for others I think is more important.

Where have all the elders gone?

It’s a common theme in some reflective searches. As we live and learn and as I did - I found cultures and ways and path but ... few real life examples. That’s kinna one of the points of the Hero’s Journey - ya realize that the elders can be - anyone. Why choose to act as them or choose other types of character? Isn’t that culture stealing ? Is there such a thing? Great questions for a great day.

On the subject of things ...

Me and manners go together like peas and corn. No one taught me. I found character through a search for it. Turns out every example I ever needed was almost always present. Labels and lines kept me from seeing them often. It wasn’t - for me- untill I released the fear and began * real life - burning candles and practice spells and saying thank you and burning leaves and reading books and finding names and practices NOW - that define me.
I am a brother to the world. I live like I am part of what is preset, rarely like it is a part of me. My choice. Part of the circle as opposed to the circle is around me. My choice.
As we learn we grow and adopt ways and practices that arnt our own remember, That’s part of the hero’s journey and the growth that can be each time we “adopt “ new ways and ideas.
Examples that live in real life -
For me - I had to find a SOLID definition of love. I was “raised by wolfs” as some say so I ran around as a problem child and thug. It wasn’t untill I saw a man in my own path - I remembered - that’s the way I wanna be. Then - by just ASKING, Mr Keller told me of the love his faith gave him. How much time he gave his love and how much time he spent in his “secret garden” that built it that way. He said “ if you say things behind her back to build her up- you won’t regret it.” Talk about a game changer. It did me. But I didn’t believe or even have the same faith as him... “Welcome to character “ he said.

The idea of adoption
In my best Yoda voice
“See it in a different light I hope this does.”

The adoption of character and practices is a huge door we can walk though but it’s always scary. We are always fearful and rightfully so but the reward ... is like an idea...made real when we apply.

If a un known and unaccounted Palpatine can take on the name Skywalker,Think about that- umm any one can choose any character from any any whee they want, names mean little if anything, they mean the ability - TO CHOOSE.

Pastor Carlos

"To me,its the Hero's Journey in application of adoption as far as being able to remove some lines and receive character traits like certain types of faithfulness or examples of love or even freedoms. Its a form of Syncretic ideas that exist that exist along side others, in and out of this and that. The Force. Ya know, that - thing we share. That common bond. The real one. "

Theres always a bit … more , and I like that.

Are there other adoptees who feel similarly? Or others who can resonate?

Hi! I didn't know my father when I was growing up, so while not quite adopted, it's halfway there. It didn't help matters that I look a lot more like my father than my mom, so other kids were always asking me if I was adopted, to the point I thought my mom was lying about it for awhile. And I totally feel you! Found family was such an important theme for me growing up. As was the feeling of being lost, and trying to figure out how to fit into a world that felt like I had no connections. I think it was part of the draw toward being a Jedi as well. I really wanted to be able to apprentice to a knight, because I always hoped it would give an unbreakable father-figure sort of bond. Luckily, it didn't happen quite that way. I have a number of healthy male role models now. I even got apprenticed to a knight in a more medieval setting, and we're pretty much just friends.

If a un known and unaccounted Palpatine can take on the name Skywalker,Think about that- umm any one can choose any character from any any whee they want, names mean little if anything, they mean the ability - TO CHOOSE.

But that's just it. Rey didn't choose anything random or without meaning to her. She chose to claim the people who mentored her and treated her well. People who gave her a place of belonging and purpose. If it had been truly random, she could have chosen any last name in the Resistance and it all would have meant the same thing. But the Skywalker family was the one that made the most profound impact on her, so that's who she is. Her choosing it as akin to just recognizing that it has been true since they first took her in. They treated her like family, while the Palpatines where never there for her. So it is already a truth that has merely been named and put on display.

Eqin, I love what you said about it just recognizing something that already is. I tell people sometimes that I only find things when I stop looking because it's almost like they find me. In many churches, that's how they talk about a call to ministry of some kind. It isn't something asked for, it is just what feels right, what makes sense. To seek out the ministry of to not find it. To listen for a call is to not hear it. Calls have to emerge on their own, often out of terrible situations.

In Albert Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus mentioned that while Sisyphus may need to push the boulder up the mountain for eternity, each sparkle in the moonlight is enough to be an entire world. The sparkle has always been there. So had the boulder. Noticing the sparkle doesn't get rid of the boulder. But it does allow the boulder to take on a new meaning. It may not be the messing we thought. It may not be the meaning we want. But it is the meaning that comes out if where we are, almost taking for us to see the beauty in what is there and take it in.

I've thought of that passage from Camus in terms of pain, suffering, grief. Casting questions into a vast cold universe never to get an answer: the absurd. It is my coping passage for so much. But I don't think I'd have put that passage here in this context. And I'm not sure if have ever thought about it that way. Being called into a family, an identity. Not choosing, not seeking. Simply allowing myself to be called into where I can't help but be and owning that place as where I need to be. I need to see the sparkle in the moonlight, in all its glory, and let it be a universe if only just for me.

Thank you for that redirect. It brought me down since really wonderful thoughts

That is beautiful! I'm honored to have been able to help. You found so much more meaning than I could possibly have intended, and in sharing, are inspiring me as well. You've given me a lot to reflect on just now. Sorry to be so vague, but I do not know yet how to share it well. Thank you!

Thank you for the beautiful post.

I think one of the greatest things about being a Jedi is our INSPIRATIONS.

Luke and Rey are both well-written characters that express a lot of the heart and soul of the human experience. And we're supposed to learn from them just like other cultures learned from their mythical gods and spirits who had their own stories. Having this inspiration is such a benefit because it gives you an extra layer of insight into what it means to be a Jedi.

Luke, for me, represents that reluctant hero who gets sucked into his destiny but cannot avoid it. Time and destiny flow like running water, carrying us all in its stream. It guides us and pulls us. But we also make decisions as part of our journey and those decisions create that flow for others.  Luke in the shadow of Anakin who gets to choose to be his own person... choose not to follow the footsteps of his father and even to try and redeem his father by forging a new path with better footsteps.

But as the fans started to feel like the only names in the galaxy that could be important enough to warrant a movie were "Skywalkers"... I think it was an important decision to give us someone to adjust our patriarchal structure by upsetting that norm and causing fans to either reboot or update. What makes you special is not where you come from but where you're going; is what Rey seems to suggest. She's like a ray of light but from which star?

The fact that we even ask says a lot; unsatisfied with her even though she is more than enough and proves it throughout her story arc.

And in both cases there are religious references back to messianic figures. The bible is the easiest example. Even though JC is given regular human parents (Joseph & Miriam) this was not enough and people wanted to elevate him to be the actual literal "God the son". Again, this says more about us and how we value a person than it does about the person themselves and what they can accomplish. Even she was in doubt because of her origins. "Who am I?" "Who am I to do this great thing that's in my path?" 

And the reality is... that by being INSPIRED... whether that inspiration is real or imagined... a little bit of that inspiration lives inside us; inside our hearts. And the more we believe (in ourselves) and keep 'that' faith, the more that our heroes live again and again through us. And to me, that is a beautiful thing.

note: Rey's mom Miramir is probably a not so subtle reference to Yeshua's (JC's) mom Miriam (Mary)

While I am not a true adoptee, my parents are my biological parents, I feel that I am a spiritual adoptee. Both of my parents are hardline far right Christians and its incredibly difficult to talk about spiritual matters with them as they will only have one book that they even attempt to talk from. Neither of them have lifted their bibles in some time. I see this from the dust on them on the shelves at their house. In this sense, I was a spiritual orphan for the better part of the last three years. I tried a few others, one is Norse Paganism and I do still follow that path, but this path has been the one where I feel the most connected with everyone. The discords are fantastic, the spiritual path itself is where I feel like I am mentally and its helping me be a better person. Not to knock the Vikings but they weren't exactly peace keepers. 

I can completely understand the need to try to find your place in all of this. My formative years was filled with belonging to a space where I never felt like I belonged. Could I go back and profess my undying devotion to the old religion? Yes. Would it be genuine? No. I would feel like I was living a lie for the rest of my life and that's something that I cannot do. The Jedi path has opened my eyes up to many different viewpoints from all over the world and I'm just on Mythology lesson 3. I'm hoping that my continuing journey will be even more illuminating. I thank all of you in this forum for your continued support and I just hope that I am able to be a good Jedi when its all said and done.