Remember when tens of thousands of people had census takers scratching their heads in 2001 by listing their religion as ‘Jedi’ or ‘Jedi Knight’? Well, in 2007, Daniel M. Jones from Wales (who was 21 at the time) founded the Church of Jediism.

I was really keen to read this book, thinking it would be the perfect Star Wars Day read. As this book claims to be the “first official book of scripture for the Church of Jediism” I was looking forward to learning how its tenets were based on specific Star Wars scenes and hopefully some Yoda wisdom. I wasn’t expecting a book of scripture to be so heavy handed in the creator’s memoir department.

Theresa Cheung has relied heavily on transcribed interviews with Daniel M. Jones. I was leery when the Theresa started telling me about her almost two decades as a bestselling author and then proceeded to include a reference from Wikipedia before the first chapter, but figured I’d keep going and hope for the best. Unfortunately this is definitely not the Star Wars Day book for me.

The nine Jediist Master lessons are:

1. The intelligence of a student

Jediism’s only prerequisite, but here ‘intelligence’ essentially means curiosity and a willingness to learn. The first sentence of the Jediist Prayer for Intelligence quotes Max Ehrmann’s ‘Desiderata’ - “no less than the trees and the stars.” “The universe is as it should be” sounded suspiciously similar to this quote from ‘Desiderata’: “no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.” Then, further along, “With all its confusions, routine and broken dreams, the universe is a wondrous place.” sounds eerily like this from ‘Desiderata’: “With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.”

2. Personal thought control

In a nutshell, your thoughts create your reality. This chapter’s Jediist Prayer for Awareness steals from the serenity prayer. The Jediist version begins, “May the Force grant me the serenity to observe my thoughts. May the Force grant me the courage to understand my thoughts and the wisdom to know the difference”.

3. Matters of love, life and death

This chapter tells you that “when you die nobody remembers what you said or did but they will remember how you made them feel.” At what point do we call it ‘plagiarism’ and move on?! At least this chapter’s Jediist Prayer for Eternal Love acknowledges Mary Elizabeth Frye’s ‘Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep’.

4. The Force theory

“Jediism teaches us that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, not human beings having a spiritual experience.” Hey there, French philosopher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. You’re in here too!

5. Emotional control and anger management

In which we learn of Daniel’s feelings of humiliation and victimisation at being told he had to remove his hood in a grocery store. I started skimming the book at this point because looking for quotes I already knew got boring.

6. Self-defence and martial arts

Or then again … “The sparrow never lands where the tiger roams.” This is said to be a quote by Daniel M. Jones. He may have said it but he wasn’t the first.

7. Counselling, stress management and control

This chapter has some interesting insights into Daniel’s experience with Asperger’s.

8. Healthy living and material well-being

Healthy food, moderation, balance, “Your body is a temple”, “Pray, eat, love”.

9. Peaceful communication and interaction with diplomacy

Humility, a sense of humour, inner peace, etc.

While I hope there are potential readers who’ll find a lot to love in this book, I think it’s pretty obvious at this point that I’m not one of them. My high hopes for insight dissolved into frustration with this strange blend of memoir and recycled bits and pieces from various religions and pop psychology.

Whenever I start a new book I go into it expecting to love it and look forward to telling anyone who will listen to me all of the reasons why they must stop whatever they’re doing and start reading it immediately. It breaks my heart when I can’t do that and because I was really looking forward to this one I hate this feeling even more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Watkins Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

As a lifelong Star Wars fan, and a bit of a philosophy nerd, I was excited to dive into a deep exploration of how the tenets of Jedi Philosophy could provide a template for living in the real world. Unfortunately, despite initial appearances, this book seemed more interested in telling a story about the author and a single individual who set up a formal Jedi church. This may have worked had the story been compelling, or even provided insight into the applicability of the Jedi philosophy. Instead it felt like the reader is asked to join the author and Daniel on an ego trip. This is one of the few books I couldn't finish, and I struggle to even describe what it is about due to the meandering of Daniel's life story. While I'm sure Daniel and the author are very pleased to have a book written about them, it's a shame they left so little for the rest of us.

Become the Force by Daniel M Jones is a guidepost to the spiritual movement of Jediism.

In a world where it is becoming increasingly difficult to find spiritual succour, many are beginning to turn to new ways of finding what they need to nourish their souls. For some, like Jones, this is Jediism, a spirituality derived from the mythos of Star Wars. Humans are an incredibly adaptable, creative species. The anthropologist in me is fascinated to see the birth of a new religion/spiritual movement born of our modern mythology.

This book is one part teaching tool, one part memoir. Each of the nine chapters tells about Jones’ life, as he learned about himself, and his spiritual needs, and began to craft the Church of Jediism. Each also contains a spiritual teaching, and practical applications towards making that teaching a reality in your own life.

These teaching are drawn from many other traditions and spiritualities spanning the globe, creating a synthesis around the core of the Star Wars Jedi Order, and forging a spiritual tradition to appeal to the generations of today. Finally, each chapter has testimonials from various people as to how Jediism has influenced their lives

I admit, I'm more a Star Trek person than Star Wars. It's that anthropologist influence in my life again. I do love Star Wars, though, and was quite intrigued when I tumbled to this book. I'm far more of a spiritual person than religious. I'm not at all for dogma, and strict ritual, so this was appealing. I've explored several paths over the years. Jediism seems most akin to modern Druidry, and I find it amusingly appropriate that it should be a Welsh author that introduced me to Jediism as a spiritual path since I associate Welsh myth with Druidry moreso than I do Irish. I'm weird like that.

I love reading about Jones’ life, as he struggled in a world that didn't really acknowledge Asperger's, and didn't know quite how to deal with his unique personality. Reading about his own growth in life was inspirational in itself. I so grok the dislike of change. I don't handle change it breaks in my routine well either, though I be learned to mitigate the disruption.

My only disgruntlement was the focus on 'the Light’, or the 'Light Side of the Force’. This is just a personal frizzle, since the spirituality I settled upon sees value in working with what would be both 'Light’ and 'Dark’. This book does have some emphasis on learning to harness and/or work with the 'Dark’, which I liked. It teaches a different way to learn from the denser emotions.

These lessons are invaluable, however you choose to integrate them into your life. They include meditation, mindfulness, the value of an open mind, and emotional control. Jones gives many suggestions for supplemental reading, and encourages a love of learning. This spiritual tradition is well worth delving into. I'm all for supporting anything that helps people better themselves, and grow.

Perfect for any who love Star Wars, or those seeking to explore new spiritual paths.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Watkins Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I was really excited to get a copy of this book. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me. I couldn't get into it.

I was fascinated by this book and the philosophy. The good thing is that the religion is based on being a good respectful person and living by universal principles. It can only do good in the world. The romance and drama of Star Wars makes it accessible in todays world, and brings the philosophies to life. You can love the movies first or you can understand the religion and then appreciate the amazing movies from that perspective. I think the author and editor make a great team, and the book is a triumph - Thank You