The Celestial Orbs, initially known as the Four Bound Spirits, were a collection of eight ancient artifacts supposedly created sometime around 30,000 BBY by the Celestials for an unknown purpose. Each artifact was capable of bestowing whoever held it with incredible strength in the Force, but they could only be held by individuals with enough sensitivity to actually feel the Force to begin with. Those with limited Force potential were quickly destroyed by the orbs, and those who could not feel the Force at all were atomized on contact.
The relics themselves were spherical in shape and appeared to be made of simple, uneven stone, each sporting different colored veins of energy that pulsed and glowed from within. When claimed by a Force user, each orb was absorbed by the wielder's body and ceased to have a physical form. Once an individual fused with an orb, the only way to restore it to a physical state was for the owner to die – naturally or otherwise – or will the artifact back into being. Initially, thanks to Akum Fta Q'arryb, it was believed that only four orbs existed, and that by possessing all four of the artifacts a Force user could be elevated to deity-like status. However, most organic creatures were not physically capable of hosting such vast amounts of energy. Only Force wielders who were both naturally strong and sufficiently trained could properly synchronize with the orbs and hold four of the orbs indefinitely. Due to their considerable power, the Celestial Orbs could not be destroyed through conventional means – even the Force was ineffective against them. Only the orbs themselves could destroy one another, but unfortunately doing so would have apocalyptic repercussions for a large portion of the galaxy. According to the entity Akum Fta Q'arryb – an ancient protector of the "Four Bound Spirits" who bound his own essence to the orb that ended up hidden on Dronim Major – the artifacts were the physical remnants left behind when the four deities that his people worshiped left the galaxy to share their wisdom with new planes of existence.
At the points in space where they departed, the orbs were supposedly formed, and after they "fell from the heavens" they were venerated as physical "echoes" of the gods' souls. Eventually, heretics and non-believers attempted to seize the orbs, leading to a war which ended with the guardians of the orbs taking them and hiding them away from the galaxy, ensuring that they would remain unspoiled by corruption. Akum's memory was severely affected by his long slumber, however, leaving his recollection of his people and their history incredibly blurred. What was clear was that – at some point – all four of the orbs were found by other cultures, who in turn hid them away for their own, unknown reasons.
During the Third Galactic War, four of the Celestial Orbs were discovered, the first beneath a tropical island on an unnamed, geologically unstable world in Wild Space by Darth Aivrla and the second concealed within an abandoned temple on Dronim Major, by Aivela's husband Benjamin Lambert. Sith forces sent by Aivela later recovered the third, hidden in a remote coastal temple on Yavin IV, while Benjamin and his new partner Aaellu found the fourth, which was used to power a time-manipulating machine on a lost Gree world, stalling the destruction of the system. Darth Aivela, in one of her last correspondences with her husband, speculated that the Celestials may have been responsible for the creation of the relics, though he was unconvinced, as there was no real evidence to base the connection on. In 28 ATC, after a lengthy campaign to keep the known orbs out of Darth Aivela's hands, Benjamin Lambert came into possession of all four orbs after they were briefly stolen by Isla Ahnkett, who used them to resurrect her deceased friend Bibi Jotto on Voryle, creating a wound in the Force that was later healed when Bibi's resurrection was undone. For a short while, Jedi Master Magda managed to steal the orbs by holding Benjamin's children hostage, though Isla assassinated her and recovered the orbs before she could use them to resurrect the Jedi who had fallen during the recent series of wars against the Sith Empire.
Eventually, after Magda's theft of the orbs, Benjamin used their immense power to create hidden temples to house them on Idlanna, one of the three moons of Farrow. These temples created potent visions that tested the character of anyone seeking the orbs, providing difficult and varied barriers for would-be thieves to overcome. Many years later in 40 ATC, Shara Vhenn stole another Celestial Orb from an archaeological site on Kubindi and delivered it to Darth Hamon, who began using it in a series of experiments. In 66 ATC, Sethos Lambert and Meetra Waverunner tracked another orb from Kymikka VII – where it had been hidden beneath the ice of the planet's polar region – to Korriban, where Ahmed Dzundro took it to use in a ritual to restore the late Darth Madré to life. Meetra and Sethos killed Madré before she could fully recover from her resurrection, claiming the orb, which Sethos kept in his possession. Azora Lambert recovered another of the orbs from a scalding underground reservoir deep beneath the surface of Kojiyo, where an enormous sea creature known as Bogan had made its home.
In 84 ATC ATC, Kassandra Wheeler recovered the last Celestial Orb from the remnants of EGS-KTTL-0795 after it passed through the barrier at the edge of the galaxy. She then proceeded to steal the rest of the scattered orbs, revealing to her former friends and allies that the orbs were the concentrated Force energies of a group of Celestials who had been intent on defeating the Rakata, a group of Celestials to which she had once belonged. Enacting a plan her group had set into motion eons ago, Kassandra "unlocked" the eight orbs and used them to not only restore her strength, but multiply it too, becoming a divine being of unquantifiable power. Kassandra's plan to destroy and remake the galaxy as it had been before the Rakatan revolt was eventually thwarted by her lover, Malik Lambert, who used their relationship to get close enough to stab her with an ancient blade, the only weapon that could harm the otherwise indestructible being.
When Kassandra succumbed to her injuries, the orbs did not reform; Kassandra's action had unbound the energy from the physical shells that contained it, essentially destroying all eight of the artifacts when they fused with her body. Once Kassandra became one with the Force, so too did the power of the eight Celestial Orbs.