How Yoda Embodies the Spirituality of The Force in Star Wars by Believing In the Strength of the Many

In another of their very insightful video essays, film and television analysis platform ScreenPrism takes a look at religion in Star Wars, noting that there is no good or bad, but rather a dark side and a light side, both containing The Force, the closest form of spirituality that exists through the many different galaxies. In an interview, George Lucas stated that he introduced the idea of the Force to speak to what religion and spirituality really mean when taken out of traditional context. Yoda embodied much of that spirituality.

Star Wars strips away cultural context to get at something Universal about spirituality. Instead of using words like good and evil, we can talk about the light and dark sides of the Force. I see Star Wars as taking all of the issues that religion represents and trying to distill them down into it a more modern more easily accessible construct that people can grab onto to accept the fact that there is a greater mystery out there so what are some of the spiritual lessons Star Wars preaches about how we might live our lives a little more like the wise Master Yoda”

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.