Dying ceremony

The dying ceremony was a ceremony in which a Sage of the Baran Do, a Force-based organization on the planet of Dorin, pretended to die before joining the Hidden Ones, a secret sect of the Baran Do dedicated to preserving the Order's knowledge so that, should the Order ever be destroyed, it could be reinstated.

The ceremony
"Thank you all for attending. There is no lonlier thought than the idea that you ight die alone; there is no more comforting thought than that you may die gently, among friends. I now take that step, moving aside so that others may succeed me. I pray that I will be remembered fondly. I will remember all of you fondly."

- Charsae Saal, at his dyinng ceremony

The ceremony took place behind the Baran Do temple in Dor'shan, on the planet of Dorin, in a large paved area with a raised hearth rimmed in a bronze metal. On the hearth was a pyre, in front of which waws a platform&mdash;both made from planks that contained a fuel enriched with oxygen, since normal wood didn't burn in Dorin's helium-rich atmosphere.

As the ceremony began, the Sage who was going to "die" would greet guests and speak with friends, as small bits of food and drink were taken. Then the Sage would make a farewell speech to those present, and lie down upon the platform. Then the Sage would hide their presence in the Force, appearing to simply die. Next, other Kel Dor would put a casket over the body of the Sage, and one Sage would open the platform base with the Force, allowing the "dead" Sage to drop down into an underground storage chamber. Meanwhile, nobody would see the body missing since it had been covered with a casket, which would then be placed upon the pyre. Then the Master of the Order would light fire to the pyre with a small bolt of Force lightning. After the pyre burned, the ceremony was over, and the guests would leave.

Secrecy
The dying ceremony was used as a way for Baran Do Sages to accept that they were dead to the outside galaxy before travelling to join the Hidden Ones, because, once a Sage had joined the Hidden Ones, they were never allowed to leave or have contact with anyone outside the sect's caverns. Because the Hidden Ones were to remain secret, no other beings were allowed to know that the Sage didn't actually die in the ceremony. As such, the Baran Do created a lie about what the ceremony was; telling other beings that when a Sage decided that their time had come, they simply became one with the Force.

In 43.5 ABY, when former Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker and his son, Jedi Knight Ben Skywalker, travelled to Dorin to find out more about former Knight Jacen Solo's fall to the dark side of the Force, they attended senior combat instructor Charsae Saal's dying ceremony. Luke wasn't fooled, however, and after searching the area, they discovered the trapdoor in the platform, and found Saal alive and well, with Mistress Tila Mong and other Sages. They would travel with him to the Hidden Ones.

Appearances

 * Outcast