Religion

Typically, religion encompassed a being's spiritual convictions and could incorporate a belief in an afterlife. Belief in a god or the Force might also be included, although this was not universally true. Consider, for example, that Mandalorian followers of the Way of the Mandalore did not seem to exhibit reverence for a god or the Force, instead valuing weaponry, honor, and their armor. Conversely, the inhabitants of Serenno practiced the worship of seven deities. In contrast, the Central Isopter focused their worship on death. Many religions observed a specific creed or code. The Jedi Order abided by its Jedi Code, while their adversaries, the Sith, were guided by the Code of the Sith. Similarly, numerous religions followed a set of fundamental scriptures, such as the sacred Jedi texts used by members of the Jedi Order. The Order of the Esoteric Pulsar revered the Book of Stars.

A religion was frequently labeled a "cult" when it deviated from mainstream beliefs. Numerous known cults within the galaxy were devoted to the dark side of the Force, which further stigmatized their followers. Following the Battle of Endor, several Sith cults emerged, venerating the overthrown and presumed deceased Sith Lord Darth Sidious and his apprentice Darth Vader. These included the Acolytes of the Beyond, Alazmec of Winsit, and the Sith Eternal. Likewise, splinter factions could arise within religions due to disagreements with the orthodox members of their orders. The Ordu Aspectu, a Jedi heresy, provides an example, as they pursued eternal life through technological means, leading to conflict with the Jedi Order. Eventually, the orthodox Jedi and the Ordu-sect achieved peace. Later, the Eternal Rur destroyed both the breakaway sect and all orthodox Jedi present in the Citadel of Rur.

Many religions identified certain locations throughout the galaxy as holy or sacred. Jedha City served as a gathering place for a multitude of the galaxy's Force-based religions, including the Ninn Orthodoxy, the Guardians of the Whills, the Phirmists, and the Zealots of Psusan, until the city's destruction by the first Death Star. Jedha's significance to diverse Force religions resulted in the establishment of the Convocation of the Force, which provided unified leadership for all non-dark side faiths who joined during the High Republic Era.Ilum held sacred status as a planet for the Jedi Order, where they obtained kyber crystals for their lightsabers; and Moraband was a dark but sacred world to the Sith and was home to their burial grounds.

In the distant past, the Prime Jedi founded the Jedi Order on Ahch-To. The sacred Jedi texts, composed at the beginning of the Jedi Order, contained some of the earliest religious writings referencing the Force. The Rammahgon, in particular, presented numerous conflicting accounts of the origins of both the universe and the Force. Subsequently, the Jedi Order spread among the stars, establishing settlements on Ossus and Tython, among other planets. At some unknown point, Ahch-To was abandoned by the Jedi and left in the care of the Caretakers.

The ancient adversaries of the Jedi, the Sith, originated from a division within the Jedi Order, spearheaded by a rogue Jedi during the Hundred-Year Darkness. This rogue Jedi and his followers believed that the true potential of the Force resided in utilizing the powers of the dark side. Conflicts between these two Force-based religions resulted in numerous wars, culminating in the Sith Empire gaining control of the galaxy. However, the Jedi ultimately defeated the Sith, presuming them to be extinct. Following this, the Galactic Republic endeavored to erase all traces of the Sith religion from history, even prohibiting protocol droids from translating their runic language. Despite this, the Sith Lord Darth Bane secretly preserved the Sith religion through the Rule of Two, ensuring the survival of the Sith Order despite its supposed demise.

In ancient times, the Jedi also engaged in a series of conflicts with the Mandalorians, who practiced a martial religion. The Mandalorian crusades were undertaken by Mandalorian crusaders, which put them at conflict with the Jedi Order. The Mandalorian cataclysm between Mandalorian warlords and the Jedi Order left the surface of Mandalorian homeworld of Mandalore devastated, rendering it uninhabitable outside of domed cities. Following these conflicts, the Jedi fought the Sith, believing their ancient order to be extinct.

The ancient Jedi also fought a religious civil war with a splinter group, the Ordu Aspectu, who disagreed with the orthodox members of the Order over the violence they perceived was perpetrated by the Jedi. Galactic historians hold differing opinions on the ultimate cause of the conflict between these two Jedi sects, but ultimately, the rogue Jedi Rur and his followers were eliminated by the orthodox Jedi.

Approximately 5,000 years before the Galactic Civil War, the holy city of NiJedha was constructed on the moon of Jedha. The city housed the Temple of the Kyber and became a pilgrimage site for numerous Force-based religions. The Jedi Order eventually established a presence on Jedha, occupying the Temple of the Kyber. Despite its religious diversity, the moon became so closely associated with the Jedi that historians have suggested it as a possible location for the first Jedi temple.

With the Sith seemingly vanquished, the Jedi established their main temple on the galactic capital of Coruscant, atop an ancient Sith shrine that had also served as a site of worship for various religious cults throughout the centuries. Numerous religions flourished during the Republic Era. Although the Sith were gone, the dark side retained adherents in the form of the Yacombe and apostate members of the Sorcerers of Tund. Many of their relics were stored in the Archive of Forbidden Artifacts, a Bogan Collection within the Jedi Archives on Coruscant. The Yacombe would later abandon the dark side. Religious tensions on Jedha eventually escalated into riots, contributing to the Battle of Jedha. Despite the uneasy peace that followed, the people of Jedha united to rebuild their home after the conflict.

The Presagers of Hakotei—a dark side cult fixated on sacrificing living beings to gain visions of the future—were also active on the Outer Rim planet of Asusto, which was strong in the dark side of the Force. The Jedi had long believed the Presagers to be extinct, but some of the witches survived and traded Sith artifacts on the black market in the hopes of luring a powerful Jedi to them. They succeeded in roping in a young Dooku, as well as Jedi Master Lene Kostana and her Padawan Sifo-Dyas. Dooku ultimately eradicated the coven, marking his first significant step down the dark path.

In 32 BBY, the hidden Sith revealed themselves during the Invasion of Naboo when Darth Maul appeared to Qui-Gon Jinn on Tatooine. Although Maul was defeated and presumed dead during the Battle of Naboo, the Jedi knew that at least one more Sith Lord lurked in the shadows. This Sith Lord was, unbeknownst to them at the time, the newly elected Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, Sheev Palpatine, secretly known as Darth Sidious.

Sidious, along with his second apprentice Darth Tyranus, orchestrated the Clone Wars to lure the Jedi into a trap. At the war's conclusion, Sidious proclaimed himself Emperor and transformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire. He then utilized his new apprentice, Darth Vader, who had previously killed Tyranus, and the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic to extinguish the Jedi Order. The Nightsisters of Dathomir were also driven to near extinction by Sidious as a result of the war, though a few individuals, and at least one clan survived the purge.

The Way of the Mandalore, a Mandalorian religious sect, was implied to have been around at the end of the Clone Wars. Members of Death Watch raised the young foundling, Din Djarin, in "the Way" after saving him from the Separatist Droid Army.

The Emperor and Darth Vader persisted in their purge of the Jedi following the establishment of the Galactic Empire, creating the Inquisitorius to assist in hunting down any survivors. Sidious also initiated Project Harvester to gather the Force-sensitive children of the galaxy, intending to train them as dark side adherents to his will. Nevertheless, some Jedi survived the purge and joined other religions. For example, Eeth Koth, though later murdered by Vader, became a priest in the Church of the Ganthic Enlightenment. The Jedi teachings also endured through the Church of the Force, an underground faith of Force worshipers who revered the Jedi Order and sought its restoration following the Emperor's purge.

Despite the persecution of the Jedi Order, numerous religions existed and prospered under the Empire. The cult of the Central Isopter was among the more notable. This cult consisted of Force-sensitive members who received visions of great death and traveled to those sites to revel in the carnage. They were present at one of the greatest religious catastrophes in galactic history when the holy city on Jedha was destroyed by the Death Star. The blast eradicated centuries of religious history and destroyed numerous sacred sites.

Within the Seswenna sector, over three hundred distinct religious traditions with active practitioners were officially recognized by their Imperial administrator. Admiral Conan Antonio Motti, a native of the sector, identified as a "man of faith."

In the Unknown Regions, the Kilji species adhered to the Kilji way of order and enlightenment, a set of ancient dictums that mandated that beings should be "enlightened."

During the early rebellion against the Galactic Empire, evidence of worship of the Mortis gods was discovered at the Lothal Jedi Temple. Darth Sidious was aware of the Mortis deities, suggesting that both the Jedi and Sith were once aware of and potentially worshiped them. However, Padawan Ezra Bridger destroyed the temple after Sidious failed to infiltrate the World Between Worlds.

During the Galactic Civil War, Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda trained a young Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Jedi. While Luke fought for the Rebel Alliance, he also searched the galaxy for lost Jedi lore. Much of the surviving Jedi records, which were not obtained or destroyed by the Empire, were hoarded by criminals such as the Hutt crime lord Grakkus Jahibakti Tingi. He also discovered a school left behind by Jedi Master Jocasta Nu, which contained countless Jedi holocrons. After completing his Jedi training, Luke confronted Darth Vader and the Emperor aboard the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station during the Battle of Endor; Vader ultimately sacrificed himself and destroyed the Emperor, at the cost of his own life, to save Luke, his son. The returned Anakin Skywalker was thus redeemed in the Force while the Sith were left extinct as foretold by the ancient Jedi prophecy of the Chosen One.

Following the battle at Endor, Luke Skywalker embarked on a mission to fulfill his promise to Yoda by restoring the Jedi Order. Accompanied by his astromech droid R2-D2 and allies such as Lor San Tekka, Skywalker traversed the galaxy in search of long-forgotten Jedi knowledge to aid him in his quest to resurrect the Jedi Order. Despite this, Skywalker remained uncertain about whether to restore the Jedi Order or leave it in the past. Ultimately, it was the volatility and strength of his nephew, Ben Solo, in the Force and his desperate need for a teacher that convinced Skywalker to go through with restoring the Jedi Order. However, Solo was seduced to the dark side of the Force by Snoke, becoming Kylo Ren, and the Jedi Temple of Luke Skywalker was destroyed and his students killed. Overwhelmed with guilt and shame, Skywalker exiled himself to the first Jedi Temple at Ahch-To, where, convinced that it was time for the Jedi religion to end, he planned to die, ending the Jedi Order with him as the last of the Jedi.

Shortly before and during the early war between the First Order and the Resistance, Skywalker was sought out by both sides, though ultimately it would be Skywalker's twin sister Leia Organa, the leading General of the Resistance, who reached Skywalker first by sending to him Rey, an orphaned scavenger from Jakku who sought a teacher to help her control her powers in the Force. Skywalker briefly trained Rey, who tried to persuade the Jedi Master to return, but Skywalker also tried to persuade her that it was time for the Jedi religion to end. It would be the spirit of Skywalker's old master Yoda who would convince Skywalker to return after Rey abandoned him, teaching his old student that he could learn from his failure. Skywalker sacrificed himself at the Battle of Crait to distract Kylo Ren, who had become the new Supreme Leader of the First Order after assassinating Snoke with Rey, while Rey, who Skywalker acknowledged as a Jedi, helped the Resistance escape, ensuring that both their cause and the Jedi Order would live on.

The Sith Eternal, a clandestine group of Sith cultists that continued the religious beliefs of the Sith after their extinction and sought to resurrect its tradition from Exegol, revealed themselves to the galaxy in the year following the battle at Crait, having operated in secrecy for decades under their master, a reborn Darth Sidious. Kylo Ren learned that he was the Sith Eternal's heir to their new Sith Empire, which the Sith cultists planned to establish through the Final Order, but after Ren renounced the dark side and reclaimed his birth identity as Ben Solo, Sidious instead targeted his granddaughter, Rey. Attempting to cultivate her as Empress through a ritual in which he offered himself as a sacrifice to Rey during the Battle of Exegol, Sidious urged his granddaughter to kill him in revenge for having her mother and father assassinated.

Had she killed him in anger, the act that would turn her to the dark side and restore the Sith Order as his spirit—and the spirits of the past Sith—would pass into her, leaving Rey's body to become his own. Rey ultimately rejected Sidious with Solo's help, but Sidious restored his strength by drawing on the bond between Rey and Solo, who were a Force dyad. However, Rey was herself restrengthened by the spirits of the past Jedi, and with the Jedi behind her, Rey destroyed Sidious, preventing the Sith from being reborn and the Jedi from being ended. The resulting explosion of Force energy caused the Sith Citadel to collapse in on the Sith Eternal. Rey herself died, but was resuscitated by Solo, who gave his life for hers, allowing the Jedi to live on. Rey went on to claim the name Skywalker in honor of her mentors' family.

George Lucas, the creator of the original and prequel trilogies, stated that the fundamental message conveyed through his Star Wars films regarding religion is that all religions in the real world essentially promote the same principle: compassion, or love. Lucas explained that the Force and the Jedi religion were based on all religions in the real world, as he constructed Star Wars mainly from Methodism—(a sect of Christianity,) Islam, and Judaism—and Buddhism. According to his beliefs, George Lucas clarified that one of the core values of Star Wars, one of the the core problems of the struggle in Star Wars, is about passion against compassion, which is greed against giving and letting go. Compassion, as defined by Lucas, is joy, an enduring emotion derived from selflessness—the light side of the Force—and constitutes one of the two components of happiness.