A Theory of Lightsaber Colors
Reflection #95: Geeking out about lightsabers
Something a little more light hearted, frivolous and geeky today….
My wife asked me the other day how a Jedi’s lightsaber color was determined.
I really didn’t know, and that's how I responded. But, being a bit of a Star Wars geek, I admit that not knowing bothered me and the question has since been percolating in a dusty corner of my mind. I now have a theory.
We've seen many different color lightsabers throughout the various Star Wars movies and series. If we include the Sith, sabers come in all colors of the rainbow plus white and, if one counts the Mandalorian darksaber – black.
Due to my interest in meditation in the past few years, I've learned a bit about Eastern spirituality and medicine. This tie-in is relevant since we know that George Lucas loosely based the Jedi upon Zen Buddhism. In Eastern spirituality, there exists the concept of prana, qi, or vitality — a sort of invisible energy that flows through channels in our bodies. And there are different resonances of this prana that circulate especially through our seven cerebrospinal centers known as chakras.
If one meditates long enough, one perceives this energy circulation and feels these chakras and sometimes even "sees" this energy in one's mind's eye. Whether chakras are real or artifacts created by the mind, I don't know, but since the Jedi are fictional, that debate is irrelevant to my theory of lightsaber colors.
Most texts I've read say that there are seven major chakras (though some claim 9 or even 12). These seven chakras are located along our spine and run from the "root" chakra (just below our pelvis) up to the "crown" chakra (at the top of our heads).
Most people have heard of the sixth chakra, in the center of the forehead, sometimes refered to as the "third eye" (and depected symbolically by the dot on the forehead some Indians wear).
Now, interestingly, these seven chakras each have a color associated with them (and these colors do match what I've "seen" in my mind's eye during meditation, even before knowing about them).
The colors are as follows:
Root (just below pelvis) - red
Sacral (gut area) - orange
Solar Plexus (stomach area) - yellow
Heart (heart area) - green
Throat (throat area) - blue
Third Eye (forehead) - violet
Crown (top of head) - white
Wow, those look a lot like lightsaber colors. These chakras, working from bottom to top, represent a sort of ladder or continuum of consciousness with the root chakra being the most primal and animalistic energy, and the crown chakra being where one transcends duality and experiences communion with the divine. I may not have outlined this perfectly, but it is close enough for the lightsaber discussion.
So, my theory is this: A Jedi’s (or Sith's) lightsaber resonates with the color of his or her dominant chakra.1
Theory: A Jedi’s (or Sith’s) lightsaber resonates with the color of his or her dominant chakra.
Red
The Sith sabers are always red and all Sith operate from the primal, raw, animalistic energy of the root chakra – they are driven by instinct, fear, anger, greed – fight or flight – survival. This chakra contains much raw power and that's why Yoda said the dark side was "easier, quicker, more seductive." One can tap right into this power simply by getting angry.
A true Jedi, however, cannot give in to such seductive, yet angry, power and must transmute that raw primal energy into the higher chakras where the energy will resonate in harmony (rather than discord or dominance) with The Force and all beings. Hence the Jedi must cultivate more patience and skill and must learn to raise up and control their “kundalini” energy. But the Sith, who have no such qualms, can embrace the easier, seductive path and dive right in, fill themselves with hate, and snarl like animals.
Orange
Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, from the Ahsoka series, both carry orange sabers and this would represent the sacral chakra, the one associated with sex and creativity. And neither of these force-weilders are true Sith nor true Jedi – they represent a sort of in-between state. They are neither evil or good, but simply wield the force for what they can create for themselves.
Yellow
Yellow represents the solar plexus chakra and is the home of our personal power, our confidence, our ego. This energy level is all about power. This is the first color where we find true Jedi. And, indeed, the Jedi who wield yellow sabers are primarily the Jedi temple guards. These are guardians who would most need to be concerned with exerting their power to protect the Jedi’s most sacred places.
Green
Green (the second most common color) is the color of the heart chakra. This would mean that green lightsabers – like Luke Skywalker’s – would represent a Jedi who is operating primarily out of the loving-kindness of the heart. These Jedi are loving and passionate and fight to protect those they love. Remember how Luke rushed out of his training, against Yoda’s advice, to face Vader and protect his friends?
Blue
Blue lightsabers are the most common color for the rank and file Jedi. Obi-wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and many other Jedi wielded blue sabers, which represent the throat chakra. This chakra is traditionally associated with communication, rules, and order. It would make sense for the greatest number of Jedi to resonate at this level given their role as “peacekeepers of the galaxy.”
Violet
I've only ever seen one violet saber and that was Mace Windu. This would indicate he resonated at the most powerful level of "good" at the third eye chakra – and it also would indicate he had much intuition about the truth of things. Indeed, he was the only Jedi to discern that Palpatine was the hidden Sith that was taking over the galaxy. He also intuited that Anakin still had darkness inside and denied promoting him to Master Jedi rank more than once.
In fact, Mace actually defeated Palpatine (Darth Sidious) in battle. It was done. The galaxy was saved. Palpatine was about to be arrested as he gasped on the floor at the tip of Mace's violet saber. The only thing that saved Palpatine was Anakin choosing that very moment to turn to the dark side by assisting his new master in killing Windu. I think resonating with the third eye chakra places Master Windu at the highest level a Jedi can reach.
White
However, if my theory is correct, there is one who went higher. And that is Ahsoka Tano.2 After she was (unfairly) banished from the Jedi order, her two (previously green) sabers were replaced with white sabers. This would represent the crown chakra – the place where duality is transcended, good and evil are transcended, and where one experiences a sort of merging with the divine. Ahsoka saw past the duality and limitations of the Sith/Jedi split and her sabers turned white.
I might be right, I might be wrong, but there it is: my working theory on what the different lightsaber colors represent.
[The lightsaber] is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.
— Obi-Wan Kenobi
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If I understand correctly, the canon says that a Sith “bleeds” their saber’s Kyber crystal with their hate until it becomes corrupted and turns red. And that a Jedi’s Kyber crystal “calls” them based on their strengths and proclivities. To me, this amounts to the same thing as saying a Jedi’s saber resonates with their dominate chakra. I’m saying that each Jedi’s saber represents their dominate energy, but not that a borrowed saber would immediately change color. For example: when Luke used Anakin’s original saber, it remained blue. It wasn’t until he built his own saber that he came into his full power and his own saber resonated in harmony with his heart chakra - green. Indeed, Vader admired Luke’s new saber, saying, “I see you have constructed a new lightsaber. Your skills are complete, indeed you are powerful as the Emperor has foreseen.” This indicates, to me, that Vader recognized that, until Luke’s saber resonated fully with Luke’s energy — as his green one did — his skills were not yet complete. In other words, a Jedi can’t maximize his power with a borrowed saber which is attuned to another.
Cover image of Ashoka Tano by: harchangel
I love this - i believe these colors up the spine to the white light on our crown chakra represent our own individual transformations, transmutations, and higher levels of awakening consciousnesses with our individual adventuresome challenges we meet, as well as our whole main place of our way of Being.
Thank you Clintavo
Fascinating analogies.