[Glass Joe]

I know this discussion of the Light-side vs. the Dark-side is all for fun, but I want to go out on a limb and say that I think darkworkers and lightworkers both can come from a place of love, rather than one coming from love only and the other coming from fear only. There's still a polarity, but rather than love vs. fear, it's more like the "love of self" vs. the "love of others".

This might sound like just semantics at first, but the distinction I guess I want to make hear is that fear usually means running away from something, and not really achieving or creating anything. And I don't think the Dark-side runs from anything any more than the Light-side, but just looks at things differently, and wants different things. I see it more like a darkworker loving to be selfish and a lightworker equally loving to be selfless. It's more like the love-based emotions of "passion" vs. the love-based emotions of "devotion". One focuses inward, the other focuses outward. Yin and Yang. They are separate, yet both are related.

Now that I think about it, you can probably also say that both sides do come from a place of fear-based emotions too (like fear of loss), but that's another thread, and for now I just wanted to post about the love aspect.

Also, I want to mention that the idea of love (lightworker) vs. fear (darkworker), as opposed to this idea of "dark love" vs. "light love", is perfectly fine to use as a map too. Ultimately, people feel whatever they feel anyway, and want what they want, regardless of the labels we put on them or how we try to map out these polarities. But it's still fun to talk about this stuff, and try to map it out, in order understand our own inner drives and behaviors better.

Personally, I like this "dark love" vs. "light love" perspective better than love vs. fear because we can see how each side can fervently believe they are right and the other is wrong. This makes the potential for conflict much more powerful. I mean, everyone wants to believe they are right and on the side of love, truth, and what is best. And I don't think anyone wants to admit that their whole life is based-on and driven-by fear. Who wants to be on the fear-based team?

Below are the Jedi and Sith codes I found on Wikipedia earlier today. And I think they summarize the lightworker and darkworker mindset pretty well. To outside observers, it looks like "good" vs. "evil". But from each side's perspective, they each just want what they believe is right, and each are simply doing what they love to do. One side loves to be selfless, the other side loves to be selfish.

Jedi Code:

Jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy.
Jedi use their powers to defend and protect, never to attack others.
Jedi respect all life, in any form.
Jedi serve others rather than ruling over them, for the good of the galaxy.
Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training.

Sith Code:

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.

So, I like to think that a Jedi (or lightworker) seeks power through "communion" and peaceful integration with the larger whole. They seek to give power to this greater whole, usually (as a side-effect) allocating it away from the individual. And their driving love-based emotion is their undying devotion, pouring selflessly out towards others. This is the peaceful feminine side of the love polarity.

And the Sith (or darkworkers) seeks power through "agency" and chaotic separation from this larger whole. They seek to take power for themselves, usually (as a side-effect) taking it away from the greater whole. Their driving love-based emotion is their unbridled passion, bubbling selfishly up from inside themselves. This is the chaotic masculine side of the love polarity.

Also, the reason I don't use the word "compassion" here to describe the emotion of a lightworker is because I think "compassion" arises from a higher point of view where the individual can see the need for both sides, rather than identifying with only one side, sticking with it for life, and trying (unsuccessfully) to completely get rid of the other side. From her compassionate point of view, she can see the need for others, and also feel the need within herself, to have these powerful emotions that at times compel her to identify with either the Light-side or Dark-side. For example: a "devoted" parent, as I'm using the word, may love her child to the point of smothering him. But a "compassionate" parent loves her child enough to know when to let him go off on his own.

And in regards to how both sides can have a different point of view and are each seeking power in different ways, here are some quotes from the movies I found IMDB:

Star Wars III – Revenge of the Sith

Chancellor: Remember back to your early teachings. "All who gain power are afraid to lose it." Even the Jedi.
Anakin: The Jedi use their power for good.
Chancellor: Good is a point of view, Anakin. The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power.
Anakin: The Sith rely on their passion for their strength. They think inward, only about themselves.
Chancellor: And the Jedi don't?
Anakin: The Jedi are selfless... they only care about others.
Chancellor: Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis "The Wise"?
Anakin: No.
Chancellor: I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life... He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.
Anakin: He could actually save people from death?
Chancellor: The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.
Anakin: What happened to him?
Chancellor: He became so powerful... the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. It's ironic he could save others from death, but not himself.
Anakin: Is it possible to learn this power?
Chancellor: Not from a Jedi.

Star Wars VI - Return of the Jedi

Luke: Why didn't you tell me? You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father.
Obi-Wan: Your father... was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and BECAME Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told you was true... from a certain point of view.
Luke: A certain point of view?
Obi-Wan: Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to...
[sits down]
Obi-Wan: depend greatly on our own point of view.

I forgot how cool Star Wars is.

I seriously need to re-watch the whole Star Wars series again, all the way from start to finish. I totally forgot (or just missed it entirely) how much depth all these archetypes had.