User:Jaster

Although the Force has always existed, it was first identified and developed by the group of "wizards and mystics" who eventually formed the Jedi Order. While the Jedi learned more about this energy field that binds together time, space, and living beings, the Jedi Order grew and spread, carrying the word of the Force to the galaxy's far-flung planets and cultures. The citizens of a thousand worlds coined a name for this curious phenomenon, the Force, and recognized the Jedi Knights as the presiding experts in its use. During the history of the Galactic Republic, the people of the galaxy developed a deeper understanding of the Force. This overview of important historic events serves to demonstrate how the path of the Jedi paralleled the development of galactic society.

The Big Bang
Out of the great void came the universe, its galaxies, star systems and suns. Everything that exists, and will ever exist, was spawned from the primordial plasma of time's beginning. Over billions of years, planets formed, and life arose through a steady progression of increasingly complex organisms. Woven into and intertwined with all of this - from the smallest molecule to the largest star is a quantum potential force field that pervades all space - the Force. The fifth fundamental force in nature, the Force acts on us at all times. It acts on every particle in every atom in our bodies. And on every particle in every atom in everything else in the universe. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the universe together and guides every particle. Unlike the other forces, the quantum potential has no known physical source and the quantum potential force violates locality. Simply put, the Force is a continuous field throughout the universe that acts and conveys any change instantaneously over all of space because it carries information about the whole universe.

Because the Force permeates all space and is not affected by distance, it in essence entangles or interconnects all particles. The universe is not a collection of objects, but a web of vibrating interconnected patterns governed by the Force and just as space and time are interconnected as part of a space-time continuum, everything is connected as part of a single continuum. The entire universe is one single, complex entity.

Just as the other four forces are projections of a single superforce that exists in ten dimensions, entangled particles are projections of a single higher-dimensional reality. A greater reality exists beyond what we see. Underlying the apparently chaotic physical realm, this higher-dimensional reality holds a hidden or enfolded order. The hidden order is maintained by the Force, which controls and connects all things. The whole universe is enfolded in everything and each thing is enfolded in the whole.

Eventually, a galaxy far, far away was formed by the gravitational collapse of a large cloud of dust and gas. There would approximately 400,000,000,000 stars in this galaxy. Around half of these would have planets that support some form of life. 10% of those would develop life on their own, and one in a thousand of these worlds would develop sentient life (about 20 million forms of sentient life). The length of the galaxy would be 120,000 light years across.

Beginnings
There was a belief in some sort of extrasensory energy among the sentients of the galaxy for as long as there have been sentients in the galaxy. The belief in this extrasensory "force" transcended cultures and species and worlds and with time the great thinkers of the galaxy came to the understanding that every aspect of the galaxy, living or otherwise, is touched by this force in some way. Predators can tap into this force to enhance their hunting instincts and creatures like the Ysalmiri can repel this force to protect themselves from these predators. This energy is simply a part of their surroundings. Every living thing in the galaxy senses this energy in some way, even if they are not aware of it. To the sentients of the galaxy, this energy was something of superstition, it appears to shift their fiction in unpredictable ways, and it bends the laws of physics, chemistry and biology. It allows the impossible to happen. Somewhere along the way, sentients realized that this malleable nature of the force goes both ways. It can manipulate their fiction, and they can manipulate it right back.

These early "force manipulators" were dismissed by their cultures as wizards and mystics. People of questionable sanity who insisted that they could push a table across the room simply by willing it, or convince someone that these really weren't the droids they were looking for merely by waving their hands around and wearing a brown homespun robe. Among the groups investigating were the Order of Dai Bendu, as well as the Chatos Academy and a group on Tython who worshipped this power as the Ashla, the positive energy of the universe. Little is known of these groups other than their names. Some of these force-manipulating mystics would revel in their discoveries and live out their lives without passing on their knowledge, others would seek to use their knowledge to obtain riches or power. Still others used it to become respected village shaman, priests of their religions, or leaders of their people. This last group would take on apprentices and teach others how to be aware of this energy force, and how to tap into it and use it for their own purposes. Their knowledge was passed on and incorporated into their culture and religions, where it became encoded into mythologies and cultural behavior.

Force Manipulators
More than 25,000 years before the first Death Star was destroyed; sentients perfected the hyperdrive engine. With this technological wonder, the galaxy became a much smaller place. Travel that once took centuries could now be accomplished in a matter of weeks, days, or even hours. As the physical borders disappeared, cultures clashed. Some were destroyed or assimilated, some forged uneasy alliances with each other and exchanged information. The worlds in the galactic community that were aware of the enigmatic mystical power realized for the first time that they were not alone. So the best and brightest philosophers, scholars, priests, and warriors from dozens of worlds congregated for the first time and collectively started "comparing notes" on what they'd learned. Many were excited to discover common findings about a strange energy that came to be called "The Force."

After combining all known information, what they discovered was that every sentient being--with a few exceptions--are found to have a symbiotic relationship with microscopic creatures that came to be called midichlorians. These midichlorians exist in state of interspatial flux. This means that essentially on a quantum level half of its very substance exist within another physical universe and the other half exist within this universe. Because of this state, they cannot be detected by most conventional technologies. We provide them with a place to live and a way to nurture themselves, and they "let us in" on the Force. Midichlorians generate a specific and unique energy. In a similar fashion to the way mass distorts the space-time continuum to bend the fabric of reality and produce gravity, the energy generated by midichlorians distorts the universal quantum potential field i.e. the Force itself.

The midichlorian energy also has a reaction to the bioneural energy of sentient beings that causes an increase in density in the Force. This enables the source of the bioneural energy, i.e the sentient being, to exert a certain amount of control over the Force on a localized level; that is, to literally manipulate reality on a microscopic level (relative to the scope of the entire universe). The more midichlorians one has, the stronger their connection to the Force. However, it is rare for anyone to be able to manipulate the Force with less than 7,000 midichlorians per cell.

The manifestations of these reality-manipulating "Force-skills", which are mentally-based abilities and tapped through the practitioner's willpower, include telekinesis, telepathy, enhancing one own's physical perceptions and abilities, and the ability to bend the will of the weak-minded.

In addition one can subconsciously 'see' through the seemingly chaotic physical universe to the true order and nature enfolded in the universe. That is, to observe this order on a subconscious level and become mentally connected to all things. This manifest in clairvoyant and precognitive capabilities via subconsciously being aware of the position and velocity of every particle in the universe at any given moment and predicting their probable interactions. A person can allow their body to be guided by the Force itself. Through this ability one could cease to merely react to his or her surroundings but instead predict the very near future, such as the next blow in a duel. Also, since the Force exists in all life, when great amounts of life pass away, a disturbance is created, running through the Force like a 'scream' which one attuned to the Force can 'hear'.

Students in the Force
The shared beliefs around the Force were one of the few things that gave the various cultures reason to talk peace and the different skills derived from the manipulation of the Force began to spread throughout the force manipulating community.

Scientific, religious and philosophical groups documented living and unifying aspects of the Force and opened other, less defined attributes to theory and speculation. The part of the Force dedicated to knowledge and defense came to be considered the light side of the omnipresent energy field. The aggressive, jealous, covetous aspects of the Force were labeled aspects of the dark side. At some point, the groups gathered on one planet to create a new society dedicated to the study of the Force. The society came to be called the Jedi, although who named them and exactly what the significance of this name is remains unclear. The identity of the world where this happened has been lost to the mists of time; candidates include Coruscant, Corellia, Ossus, Utapau, and even lost worlds such as Had Abbadon and Ondos.

The most dedicated students (and those strongest in the Force) formed the basis of the Jedi, and it wasn't long before they began to develop the techniques necessary to draw upon the Force and manipulate its energy. Through the Force, the Jedi learned to see faraway places without the need for scanners or macrobinoculars. They uncovered methods that allowed them to move objects with only the Force and their own strength of will. They learned to influence the thoughts of others, and to let the Force add speed and power to everything they did.

Eventually the hyperspace lanes allowed multiple star systems to form the Galactic Republic, a democratic union uniting a vast number of diverse species. As centuries passed, a natural evolution took place within the ranks of the Jedi. In studying the Force and expanding their ability to access it, the Jedi learned they could affect the minds of others and even heal injuries caused by mishap or conflict. As a society dedicated to research and study, the Jedi found it in their best interest to promote peace, using their abilities to encourage the growth of civilization. In time, the Jedi evolved from advocates of civilization to defenders of it. Their society took a more active role in protecting peace and justice. When armies of tyranny, such as the Legions of Lettow, tried to carve empires of fear and hatred from the civilized systems of the galaxy, the Jedi opposed them. The Jedi were far less organized than they would later become, but the heart of the Jedi Order remained unchanged for the next thousand generations. Thanks to the Order's efforts, the Republic expanded and prospered.