Star Wars Symbology: The Actual Sacred Texts Of Star Wars
By: Brian Deines
Tags: Philosophy, Star Wars, Symbolism, Psychology, Film

Star Wars Symbology: The Actual Sacred Texts Of Star Wars

The Rise Of Skywalker Ends With A New Call To Adventure — For Us.

“We’ve passed on all we know, a thousand generations live in you now.” — Luke Skywalker

Whether you’re aware of it or not, the Jungian aspects of Star Wars are what you love most about Star Wars. Let me explain.

First of all, we’re drawn in, with heightened awareness (consciously or not), when we perceive the symbolic language of the archetypes has been communicated. Put another way, we perk up when an archetype appears in a story. Why is that?

I’ve been writing about Star Wars using the framework of Jungian Psychology for awhile now, and I’ve received a ton of feedback — both positive and negative. (Like I mentioned, people perk up at the archetypes.)

I believe this is due to the fact that Star Wars is the great myth of our generation. Not Harry Potter. Not MCU. Star Wars.

As such, like every era’s great myth, Star Wars is now embedded in what Carl Jung called the Collective Unconscious.

But why Carl Jung?

Because Carl Jung is to George Lucas, as Anakin Skywalker is to Ben Solo.

The chain of influence in Star Wars goes like this:

Carl Jung →Joseph Campbell →George Lucas →JJ Abrams

By now, it’s accepted canon that George Lucas had the movie script for a “Space Western about a guy named Luke Starkiller” until he got his hands on Joseph Campbell’s, The Hero With A Thousand Faces.

The Jung connection is less explored. But there’s no doubt that Joseph Campbell’s theories were directly influenced by his study of Carl Jung. Beginning first and foremost with the concept of, the archetypal heroes journey.

In The Hero With A Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell outlines the the monomyth. The monomyth is the myth at the core of all myths. He called the monomyth, the Heroes Journey.

Campbell’s theory that the universal monomyth flows beneath and within everything is a brilliant distillation and direct descendant of Carl Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious.

Back jacket of The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

The basic framework of the archetypal heroes journey is always this:

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” — The Hero With A Thousand Faces

Does that sounds familiar? Perhaps like the logline or template of every screenplay ever? Take for example, the following quote from screenwriting guru Blake Snyder’s book, Save The Cat! Strikes Back:

“Logline Template” from the best-selling screenwriter’s playbook, “Save The Cat! Strikes Back” by Blake Snyder

There’s a reason why Snyder referenced Star Wars throughout Save The Cat! Strikes Back. Because Star Wars: A New Hope was the first movie to consciously aim at hitting all “the beats.”

What screen writers like Blake Snyder call, “hitting the beats,” Joseph Campbell called the steps along the heroes journey and the monomyth.

What Campbell called the monomyth, Jung called the collective unconscious. Jung believed there are numerous archetypes that are all integrated into the collective unconscious.

Jung in turn, was influenced by the work of Nietszche, Goethe, Freud, William James, the Greeks, the Bible and others.

But it’s worth noting that it was Jung who survived his own heroes journey and “dark night of the soul” (which is a classic story beat) to distill his theories, and bring forth the archetypes of the collective unconscious.

“There exists a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals. This collective unconscious does not develop individually but is inherited. It consists of pre-existent forms, the archetypes.” — Carl Jung

Now, the Jungian archetypes are recognizable throughout Star Wars:

Reylo, the Anima and Animus

The archetypes include but are not limited to — the Hero, the Shadow, the Wise Old Man, the Trickster, and the Anima & Animus.

Carl Jung’s depiction of The Wise Old Man archetype from The Red Book, looking a lot like Obi Wan from E4.

Star Wars Broke The Fourth Wall

Which brings us to The Rise of Skywalker, and Luke’s line in the trailer, “We’ve passed on all we know, a thousand generations live in you now.”

In the context of the movie, we assume Luke tells that to Rey.

But this sentence mirrors what Carl Jung taught about myth. The archetypes in myth express the core of human wisdom encoded throughout the generations in the collective unconscious.

In The Last Jedi, a big deal is made of burning the sacred texts — and starting anew.

We are lead to believe the sacred jedi texts were destroyed by a bolt of Force lightning brought on by Master Yoda. But as the Millenium Falcon made its getaway at the end of the film, we see the sacred texts stored safely on board their new home.

Thus when everything is taken together, I believe when Luke said, “We’ve passed on all we know, a thousand generations live in you now” he says it to us.

In reality, you could argue this is where Luke breaks “the fourth wall” of cinema, and addresses the audience directly. Luke acknowledges the end of the ninth and final film of the core saga — and tells us that Star Wars has passed on all it knows to us.

It’s worth noting that the choice of phrasing of “A thousand…” is a subtle, but obvious nod to the actual sacred texts of Star Wars.

Not the sacred Jedi texts aboard the Millenium Falcon — but the source text that turned Star Wars from a 1970’s Space Western into the Myth of a Generation.

In short, the true sacred texts of Star Wars are the books we’ve been discussing— Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand Faces and The Collected Works of Carl Jung, including The Red Book.

The ideas in these books form the backbone of the Star Wars mythos.

And thus, when Luke Skywalker references what we’ll call “the actual sacred texts of Star Wars,” he not only breaches the fourth wall— Luke sounds the Call to Adventure.

There are actual sacred texts in this world.

The call to adventure is another beat, another step on the heroes journey.

The ultimate role of a myths is to become a tool. A tool that we use to guide us and show us how to live our own lives.

And ultimately, the final role of the Hero, is to return to his tribe with the boon. Luke breaching the fourth wall, calling us to adventure, offers that.

We are his tribe. And Luke Skywalker’s final act is to grants us — Star Wars Fans — the ultimate boon.

Luke is giving us the ultimate treasure map. Luke is pointing the way. Luke is telling us to track down the actual sacred texts of Star Wars.

Put another way, read Campbell, read Jung, read the works that influenced them, watch lecture videos on myth and religion, find scholars who continue the work today, dive down the rabbit hole of a Rene Girard, take responsibility for your education — form your own curriculum.

Seek wisdom from the sacred texts, and apply it to your life.

This treasure map, these texts, and the inner journey they offer, is where the adventure of Star Wars lives on…

The Star Wars Saga Fades To Black With a Call To Adventure, For Each Of Us

Because as our real world expands and evolves, we must never forget that the greatest human battles are waged within. Our greatest locus of control is our self, our thoughts, our reactions.

What will you do next?

Our Star Wars storytellers have told us to explore the works of psychology, mythology, spirituality, and religion.

This is not a two hour movie, it’s a lifelong journey.

But by waking up to the deeper possibilities within, we have a chance to accept this call to adventure, fulfill our fuller potential, and become the heroes of our own lives.

And our communities need heroes.

And the next generation is watching us.

One of the pages inside “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell

“The problem is nothing if not that of rendering the modern world spiritually significant.” — Joseph Campbell

This is how a story lives forever.

One last thing, the Jedi has been described as a warrior-monk. Thus, if we listen closely, Star Wars is also telling us to maintain our bodily health.

Thanks for reading. And may the force be with you, always.