American Jedi Page #6

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I've been there, done that.

This is where I'm at now.

This was me 10 years ago.

This is me now.

If the Jedi path is

not about redemption

and growth, then what

the hell is it about?

- We all need to be redeemed.

The Buddha wasn't

perfect in the beginning.

He started off as

a regular person,

who didn't want

to suffer anymore.

And, if we all thought

that we can't do this

spiritual path because

we're not good enough,

you know, we've already

made a big mess of our life,

then nobody would ever be

able to become a Buddha.

- If you ever go to

the Army, they can

shave your head in

less than 30 seconds.

And it's bald, well...

- Well these are old clippers,

so I like to take it slow.

- Way back in the

day, when the knights

would take their pledges,

and take their oaths,

and go to their things,

they would shave

their head, and they

would pledge something.

For example, for

me, I'm gonna pledge

that I'm gonna be

a stronger leader

within the community,

by doing my radio show,

by teaching my reiki

classes, and by getting

more active within the

greater Jedi community.

- It was interesting

to see that Hannigan

cut his hair for the

trials and the gathering,

and that the hairstyle he chose

was not too far off from

the one I'm sporting now.

- He has me by 30 or 40

more gray hairs than I have.

Which is incredible because I am

about three, or four

years older than him.

(lively orchestral music)

- Well we're at the Skyline

Camp, in Almont, Michigan.

When Jedi get

together we call it

a Gathering of Jedi.

- And so there are the

ordeals, also trials,

and tribulations, tests,

and exams of all kinds.

These challenges, we don't

pick them, they pick us.

- I'm a little excited

to see everybody.

I didn't go to the

gathering last year,

so it's been two

years since I've

physically seen

other Jedi really.

- [Jedi] I didn't

think this place

was gonna be this nice.

- [Interviewer] Oh, what did

you think it was gonna be?

- I thought it was gonna be

a campground, not a resort.

(laughs)

- I am Kitt Tells.

I am the organizer of

this year's gathering.

(lively orchestral music)

- [Organizer] We try to have

a gathering once a year,

where Jedi from

across the nation,

can get together

and meet people,

that probably they've

interacted with online,

since most Jedi are spread out,

except this one

time of year, when

we can get together,

and all meet each other,

and get to know each

other a little better,

and do some activities

that are good

to do when you're

actually with other Jedi.

- Thank you so much for

organizing this, Kitt.

(overlapping cheering

and applause)

- In the fiction, there

are particular Jedi

trials that you must

go through, and they're

actual, you know, they

sort of give an assignment.

In real life, we use

that sort of as a basis

to plan out how we give people

that, sort of, recognition.

- We, the Council, are

looking for candidates

that showed growth.

Growth as a person.

Growth in building

their path in life.

- George Lucas made the Jedi

based on the ancient Samurai.

I get to teach self-defense to

the people in the Jedi order.

(shouts)

- [Interviewer] What's

going on with those?

- Sparring.

(lightsaber swooshes)

- That's cool.

Oh yeah.

(lightsaber swooshes)

(shouts)

Same attack.

- Is that your breathing

getting kind of heavy?

- Yep, I'm an old man.

- I believe your powers

are weak, old man.

- [Council Member] During the

time that we have the Jedi

gathering, I'm

going to ask certain

candidates to show

me certain things.

I need to see.

I want to see.

It could be something mental.

It could be something physical.

It could be verbal.

- Nice.

- It depends on the person.

Uh-oh, this is about

to hurt, isn't it?

- What I want to see is

Hannigan's ability to adapt,

so I wanna show him some

of the things that I do,

and I wanna see him, to

be able to absorb it,

and show he could do it.

Because at the level

you become a knight,

you're ready to become

someone's teacher.

To be able to teach, you

have to be able to learn.

- Yes.

Yes.

- This keeps going

that way, like

you're wringing out a towel.

I wanna see more fire.

I appreciate that

that's settled, but I

wanna see more fire.

You know, when they do

the form, when someone

grabs your throat, they

don't just do this.

I want you, without killing me,

but with fire, I want you

to grab me by the throat.

I'm prepared.

No, no, grab me by the throat.

(laughs)

I'm serious.

Now you see how you just

grabbed me, and I went...

Like that?

And when you're out

there doing that,

and you're going...

Yeah, I wanna see...

Like mean it.

Mean it, man.

You know when you go like this?

And you do this?

It looks like you're dancing.

- If you're getting

knighted, get up here.

Let's go!

- To an outsider,

ritual looks strange,

sometimes even silly.

The meaning is deep within,

it's an emotional meaning.

Now, it may be easier

to believe in something

that's taking place

in a grand cathedral,

than in some patch of the woods.

But we're not dealing with

mythological creatures,

or gods incarnate,

we're dealing with

people like us that

are trying to help

us by teaching a thing or two.

- Lets go!

- I'm nervous.

Heart's, you know,

starting to get there.

And I'm sure the closer

I get, the more it's

gonna start going, but

you know, whatever.

What am I gonna do not show up?

- Get them moving, make sure

they've got their rocks.

- Yeah, I got my

rocks, I don't know

what they're for, but I'm ready.

- Okay, so last

minute, we're finally

getting ready for our

trials, three years,

it comes down two minutes.

- The Jedi Council

evaluation, trial ritual,

whatever they've got

planned, is happening

right now, and we're

going to meet Gabe,

and them, down the

road, right now.

- They'll probably

torture us, with Hannigan

said this, and Opie

said that documents

that are bigger than the

Encyclopedia Britannica.

I don't know, what do you think?

- I think I'll get more

sh*t over bringing a beer.

- Ritual magic is evoking

certain emotional qualities

through certain

practice behaviors that

have been found to work.

The labyrinth experience,

sometimes acted

out in the woods

someplace, is showing

that we are capable

of getting lost,

and yet, by getting

lost we are found.

- We're going to be running

people through the labyrinth.

Try and get them to look inward,

find something about themselves

they don't already know.

Or maybe they know, but

they've been ignoring,

or that they're

afraid of, or they

just haven't been

able to deal with.

We're pushing them.

- [Female Jedi] What the

Jedi, in real life, are doing,

is a very mythic journey.

It's reflective of a lot

of the initiatory systems,

where people go through

a series of testing,

and training, and trials, in

order to better themselves.

We see it archetypically

embodied in the Jedi in the

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