Padawan birthday ritual The Padawan birthday ritual was a Jedi tradition in the last years of the Galactic Republic . Taking place on a Padawan ' s thirteenth birthday , the apprentice would reflect on the past and receive a special gift from his or her Master . In 44 BBY , Padawan Obi - Wan Kenobi took part in the ritual ; the young apprentice failed to find the time for the reflection portion and was initially dismayed by his Master ' s choice of what appeared to be a simple rock as a gift , but he later came to value the stone after he learned that it was Force - sensitive . Fifteen years later , Kenobi ' s own apprentice , Anakin Skywalker , would take part ; Kenobi regifted the stone to his Padawan , who immediately appreciated it . Description . The Padawan birthday ritual was a tradition observed by members of the Jedi Order during the later years of the reign of the Galactic Republic . Practiced by Padawans on their thirteenth birthday , the ritual entailed quiet reflection on their past , meditating on positive memories as well as bad ones , in lieu of a birthday celebration . According to Master Qui - Gon Jinn , one needed to reflect on past events to learn from current ones . Additionally , the Padawan would receive a gift from his or her Master , who often considered the gift for several weeks or even months and sometimes traveled long distances to obtain it . Example gifts included healing crystal s , cloaks from the planet Pasmin known for their seeming lack of weight , or special lightsaber hilt s . History . In 44 BBY , following the completion of a mission to the planet Bandomeer , Padawan Obi - Wan Kenobi was unable to find time to complete the reflection portion of the ritual . His Master , Jinn , nearly forgot about Kenobi ' s birthday and gave his apprentice a stone taken from the River of Light on Jinn ' s home planet before gently chiding him about his failure to complete the ritual . Kenobi was disappointed in the choice of gift , feeling that the trust that he thought he had received from Jinn on the previous mission was not there . However , during the next mission on the planet Phindar , Kenobi was captured by the Syndicat , the ruling criminal organization , and sentenced to have all of his memories erased . While awaiting the carrying out of this sentence , Kenobi began to regret not completing the reflection and meditation exercise , but then he discovered that the stone he had been given was Force - sensitive and was able to use the power of the stone to resist the mind wipe . After the mission , he appreciated the gift much more for that quality , and it would eventually become his most valued possession , so much so that his friend Bant Eerin sewed a pocket in his tunic for him so that he could hold it near his heart . Kenobi eventually gained Jedi Knighthood himself and took Anakin Skywalker as a Padawan . Fifteen years after receiving the river stone from Jinn , on the day that Skywalker turned thirteen , Kenobi passed the rock on to his own apprentice , knowing that his former Master would want him to pass it on . Skywalker was much more appreciative of the present than Kenobi originally had been , as he knew that it had originally come from Jinn , who had rescued him from slavery and brought him to the Jedi Temple to be trained three years earlier but died before he could begin Skywalker ' s training himself . Behind the scenes . The Padawan birthday ritual was created by author Jude Watson for the third book in her young readers " Jedi Apprentice " series , titled " " , which depicted Obi - Wan Kenobi ' s thirteenth birthday and the events immediately following . The sixth book in the series , " " , mentioned Kenobi ' s birthday gift in passing without adding any new information about the ritual . Anakin Skywalker ' s thirteenth birthday gift was shown in a flashback in " " , book number one in the " Jedi Quest " series , which was also written by Watson . Skywalker ' s gift was later mentioned in the fifth " Jedi Quest " book , " " , though it did not directly mention the ritual itself , and , like " The Uncertain Path " , introduced no new details about it . Finally , the release of " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " saw both changes of possession of the river stone mentioned in the entry for the River of Light .