The Force (Powerstaark)

The Force was a metaphysical, binding, and ubiquitous power that held enormous importance for both the Jedi and Sith orders as well as certain other orders and people. The Force was viewed in many different aspects, including the Light side, the Dark side, the Unifying Force, and the Living Force. The first two aspects were concerned with the moral compass of the Force in its various manifestations. The light side of the Force was the facet aligned with compassion, courage, healing, and benevolence, while the dark side of the Force was the element aligned with hatred, fear, aggression, and malevolence. The latter two aspects were defined by prominent Jedi philosophies: The Unifying Force essentially embraced space and time in its entirety while the Living Force dealt with the energy of living things. The Force existed inside all life forms, but only certain beings possessed a strong connection to it, most notably the Jedi, Sith and Dark Jedi.

Some beings, particularly the Sith, believed that the dark side of the Force was more powerful than the light, though it was possible that the dark side was just more tempting to those who used it (or desired to use it). Others thought of the Force as an entity capable of intelligent thought, almost as a sort of god. Anakin Skywalker, who was believed to have been conceived by the Force itself, may have; if this belief is correct; lent credit towards the view of the Force as a sentient entity.

Though the Force was thought to flow through every living thing, it could only be harnessed by beings described as "Force-sensitive". This Force-sensitivity was correlated with, and sometimes attributed to, a high count of internal micro-organisms called midi-chlorians that were found in a Force-sensitive's blood: the higher the count, the greater the being's potential Force ability, though there were some exceptions to this rule. Force-sensitive beings were able to tap into the Force to perform acts of great skill and agility as well as control and shape the world around them. Sometimes this ability was described as having a strong Force "aura".

The Light side of the Force
The light side of the Force was concerned with the ideals of good, selflessness, compassion, benevolence, and healing. Followers of the light side strove to live in harmony with the world around them, acting out of wisdom and logic rather than anger and hasty judgment. In order to achieve harmony with the light side of the Force, its practitioners would often meditate to clear themselves of emotion; particularly negative emotions such as aggression, fear, anger, and hatred, since these were thought to bring on acceptance of the dark side.

The Jedi Order
The Jedi Order were the most notable users of the Light side of the Force.who strove to maintain peace and justice throughout the galaxy. The values of the light side were culminated in the Jedi Code. The Jedi accepted the view on the two sides of the Force: the dark side and the light side. A follower of the light side tried to live in harmony with those around him. Mutual trust, respect, and the ability to form alliances gave the Jedi their distinct advantage over the Sith. In contrast, a follower of the dark side uses the dark side of the force, usually for himself or herself. Use of the dark side of the Force was forbidden within the Jedi Order, and was strictly considered the domain of the Sith.

Traditional Jedi were keen to keep the Force "in balance". They attempted to achieve this by destroying the Sith and denying the dark side—essentially "keeping balance" by restoring the Force to its natural state, as they viewed the dark side as "corruption". This involved the purging of negative emotions such as aggression, anger, and hatred, since they could easily bring on acceptance of the dark side. In contrast, positive emotions such as compassion and courage nurtured the light side of the Force. The Jedi Code compared such feelings and provided insight into the ethical use of the Force.

Passion was considered dangerous, as it could lead to strong emotions that could unbalance the Jedi and lead them to the Dark Side. Love was, curiously enough, something both Jedi and Sith avoided. While the Jedi espoused a broad, all-encompassing, self-sacrificing love for all beings, love for another being—romance, a possessive love by nature—was shunned in the Jedi Order and most Jedi didn't realise that love was as much a source of strength as it was a source of weakness, if not more so. Most Jedi viewed love as a danger best left untouched.

The Dark side of the Force
The dark side of the Force was considered by the Jedi to be the element aligned with fear, hatred, aggression, and malice. Such emotions seemed to increase the strength and abilities of a user of the dark side, providing a path towards personal power and the destruction or control of all opposition. It was generally accepted that use of the dark side of the Force was extremely addictive. Dark side Jedi are known as dark Jedi. Some light Jedi, such as Anakin Skywalker use Dark side powers and Skywalker sometimes used Force Choke.

The Sith Order
The Sith Order changed throughout history; it started off as having many Sith Lords in it, trying to work together in order to destroy the Jedi Order and rule the Galaxy. However Sith Lords virtually always wanted power and therefore fought among themselves in order to get it, killing each other many times. Because of their inability to work together the original Sith Order was flawed. It changed several times but it was the Sith Lord Darth Bane, the prophecised Sith'ari, that made the change that turned out to be best for the Sith.

Darth Bane considered the Force to be finite and thus ideally for exclusive use by the Dark Lord. He eliminated the practice of having vast numbers of Sith at the same time, thereby aiming to concentrate the dark side of the Force into two individuals: a Sith Master and his or her apprentice. This was known as 'The Rule of Two' and this turned out to be what was best for the Sith; numerous Sith only fought among each other but having only two Sith would allow them to use subtlety, cunning and secrecy to achieve their goals and the apprentice would only turn on the Master once they had learned all they could.

Notably Darth Sidious broke the Rule of Two as he started training Darth Maul before he murdered his master Darth Plagueis.