The Jedi Order

The modern Jedi Order was founded by Luke Skywalker in the years following the Rebel Alliance’s victory over the Galactic Empire. It has gone through many changes in its short history, but today bears a strong resemblance to previous incarnations of the Order in earlier eras. The Order is headed by the Jedi High Council, a group of the most senior and respected Masters in the Order. At their head is the Grand Master, presently Asha Ty. Together, these sages guide the Order along the path dictated by the Jedi Code. In addition to the High Council, there exist a number of regional Jedi Councils, based at major Jedi Academies throughout Alliance space. Such Academies include those located on Ossus, Yavin IV, Corellia, Shedu Maad, Tython, Naboo, Taris, Jiroch-Kalok, Nexus Ortai, and, of course, the main Jedi Temple located on Coruscant, though this one is administered directly by the High Council. These local councils tend to be smaller in size than the High Council, numbering somewhere between 3 and 5 members, compared to the High Council’s 9 to 15.
As of 51 ABY, the Jedi Order also maintains an official presence in the Fel Empire. Jagged Fel, as a gift to commemorate Jaina Solo‘s appointment to the Jedi Council, granted the land on the world of Dantooine—which now lies inside the borders of the Empire—that had once held a Jedi temple to the Order once more, and in response the Jedi constructed a new academy there. Many of the Empire’s less militaristic Force-sensitives now go there for training, rather than the Imperial Knights, though Jedi do not enjoy quite the same level of freedom regarding independent action in the Empire as they do in Alliance space.
While the High Council controls broad Order policy and practice, the local councils are given broad latitude to administer the Jedi under their jurisdiction, and, by extension, their activities within the regions of space for which that temple is responsible. It is customary when the High Council sends agents on a mission for those Jedi to report to the nearest local Council on their progress, which in turn relays the updates back to the High Council.
The modern Jedi Order is somewhat more lenient with respect to personal attachments amongst its ranks than its incarnation prior to the Dark Times. Initiates are generally accepted into the Order at a slightly older age — depending on racial variation, usually between the ages of 5-10, and they are permitted to maintain some limited contact with their families where possible, including occasional visits home for certain major holidays. However, excessive emotion is still strongly discouraged, and Padawans are strictly forbidden from engaging in any kind of romantic relationship. Violating this rule can be grounds for expulsion from the Order, though leeway on what form discipline takes is left to the student’s Master in consultation with his local Academy Council. These strictures are relaxed for full Jedi Knights and Masters, however – the prevailing opinion is that a full Jedi can be expected to understand the risks of deep personal attachments as well as the rewards. Still, a Jedi seen to have become overly involved in such a relationship, such that there is a feeling that it is to the detriment of their duty as a Jedi, is likely to receive unsolicited advice from peers and superiors. While it is not forbidden, there is an unwritten expectation that a Jedi will not marry before achieving the rank of Master – there is a widespread belief that such a permanent attachment would be a distraction to a Knight’s continued exploration of their potential in the Force.
Most of these rules were set into place during the time of Luke Skywalker’s tenure as Grand Master, and have seen little revision since then. While these rules of behavior have no official distinction between a Jedi who forms relationships with other members of the Order rather than those outside of it, there has long been a slowly growing current of opinion in the ranks of the Jedi that those not part of the Order are of greater risk than those within it. It is believed that two Jedi can more easily understand the need to maintain a measure of emotional distance and control than a couple where only one is a member of the Order. Moreover, as the new Order has matured, there has been a slowly growing faction of conservative Jedi who believe the more rigid strictures against personal relationships followed by the old Order should be resumed. They presently remain a minority voice, but the very fact that they are now willing to voice their dissent to current policies publicly is an indicator of their growing influence.

Type

Religious, Monastic Order