Dark Side of the Force
What is “The Force”?
If you look for them, you can find explanations of the Force that range from elaborate in the extreme to bare-bones simplicity. I myself prefer the more simple of them, as they’re often the most sensible, and I have a soft spot for the way it has been described in the mythos: a fundamental energy that binds all things, connects them, and flows through them. Mystical and unexplainable in some respects, but also natural and essential. I might go further, to say that the Force is all things. I’m partial to it because it encompasses all possible forms of it that have been studied throughout human history, from kundalini to prana, jing to magick, kinetic energy to electricity. Yet it’s simple, and doesn’t rely on the validity of any one of these aspects to maintain its own; disagree with one view, you inevitably subscribe to one or more of the others.
And any one of them is just an aspect of the force. Reject the idea of energy practices, throw out the possibility of god, and still the material acts in much the same way the Force is said to: a dead body breaks down, the elements once bound together disperse back into the rest of reality; you want your arm to move and, without even thinking about it, it moves, because of electrical signals and the physical motor skills they control. Even in attempting to cut out the mysticism in favor of a purely scientific outlook, you have energy and matter, their interactions, and all things being connected in a very quintessential way. The only question is how much of the various expressions of it fit in to your world view.
It is everything.It is always.It is life.It is death.
The Tao, the Way, That… et cetera.
Is it real? If so, can you use, or channel it? How do you do this?
Yes and yes. The “how” depends on which views you’ve adopted, which aspects you recognize as being valid, and which are actually legit (e.g. just because you believe in reiki healing doesn’t necessarily mean it’s legit). With my “how”, I’m not really inerested in the more esoteric practices, at least not in explaining them or arguing for them. But I use it, become a conduit of it, and shape it’s flow through embracing desire, being aware of my emotions, and acting on my passions. Passion is my most cherished, purest connection to the Force. My way of becoming a wellspring of it.
What can you achieve using the Force, and how far can you go with it?
I think I’ll steal the examples David Edge used, the ones I quoted in my journal.
David Edge, Dark Knight of the FA wrote: Success where passion is concerned might not even be understandable or recognizable by cultural definition. Take Tesla for example. Yet strangely enough – most of the time, it is. I would argue that 10 out of 10 successful people got there because they were passionate, and took their passion seriously enough to do everything (in totality) to see it recognized and rewarded. That is a separate passion; it is one that crosses personal realities with those that the world can use. (Edison) This isn’t a compromise with light, discipline, duty, or any change of dynamics. It is enjoyment taken to extremes which yields extreme and extremely satisfying results. I personally consider it an eclipse, where the singular will of one is enough to “blot out the sun” or supersede established reality. Therefore, let’s not forget that the reason for any perceived discipline is the passion. I would further argue that the taming of the mad scientist by his love of science is not the same discipline as that of a mediocre moron who works his way up through the ranks at the plumber’s union because he has no better prospects, even if we use the same word to describe their manner of behavior or relative “success”. Even the laws of nature can obviously be bent if you’re clever enough, or determined enough, as gravity didn’t stop us from flying, or if you’re strong enough, as a winner of anything can tell you. Just look at MMA; not everyone gets to the UFC, even fewer get a belt; if you’re into mixed martial arts the odds aren’t in your favor, but you can overcome them. The only limitations to what you can achieve are the ones you place on yourself. And even those can be overcome. It all begins with passion, brought into focus and applied to the world around you.
Can it manifest physically, or is it purely mental, or spiritual or all?
All of the above.
If that’s the Force, then what is the “Dark Side” of it?
The dark “side” is simply the true nature of the force, the realities of it.What I’ve already said, that’s the dark side.
Asking what the Force is and asking what the dark side of it is, is asking the same question.See, that’s perhaps one of the most seductive qualities of darkness. It’s the truth of things.
Sith ideology is a paradigm built upon those truths. Take, for instance, “survival of the fittest”. It is not a philosophical idea, it’s an observation. There are no attempts at denial or clever ‘feel better’ concepts. Only a truth put into words, and ways in which it can be put to use. So it is when the “Dark Side” of the Force is spoken of. Coming up with an alternative that sounds nicer – like equality, or love of thy neighbor – doesn’t make it any less true, it just makes your understanding of reality skewed. The code of the Sith is no different, it describes a process, and the understanding of that process is built on observed characteristics of life. All it does is present these characteristics in a way that implies they should be embraced.
I believe that’s where a great deal of the allure comes in.
Truth, and encouragement to straddle it for a ride. With that in mind, the Dark Side of the Force is (that it is) destructive to anything that lives and breaths. It is entropic, moving ever closer to equilibrium. A life span is but a metaphor, a small and observable example of what it does: we burn and coil like cigarettes, but in the end we all go out. We may even generate a certain flavor of energy, like the scent of burning tobacco, but even the living Force that we’re vessels for moves toward inertia after birth. Unless it is encouraged, fanned and nourished while it’s burning, as one would do with a fire.
We all burn. You, me, everyone. It doesn’t matter whether you’re aware of it, because it happens, is happening, regardless.
A Sith is just someone that becomes aware of it and makes the choice to open up to the oxygen that feeds it, and the pain from burning hotter. To become strong enough to harness it. To ride it as a god would ride a storm. It’s a poison for the average joe, the mediocre, one that Sith take in willingly. We’re willing to pay whatever price it demands, to live with whatever stains on the soul and damages wrought… and to take the risk that we will fuck our lives up if we’re too weak to handle it. For the strong it’s a great medicine, a source of vitality, and the high price of embracing it is well worth paying.
“The power of the dark side is an illness no true Sith would wish to be cured of.”~Darth Plagueis, fictional Lord of the Sith
The reality is, everybody has this illness, and most prefer to ignore it or whine about it. Sith choose to exploit it.
- (A Sith Aphorism) The Dark Side is a poison; peace occurs when it is succumbed to evolution occurs when it is embraced.