So, what does Jedi mean, anyway?

Jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy.
Jedi use their powers to defend and to protect.
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.

I like to call myself a Jedi. I feel like a Jedi on quite a number of occasions, dress like one whenever I can (for troops, of course!) and regularly remember Jedi wisdom from the numerous books I have read containing Jedi philosophy. Yeah, I know...it's all just made up, but I have to see the value. I believe we can learn a great deal from literary sources, Star Wars authors included.

I have pondered where George Lucas came up with the idea of Jedi...thinking about various cultures from around the world that may fit. I have also wondered if he had knowledge of a certain type of people that are more intuitive than the norm; there are certain personality profiles that would suggest this idea.

I stumbled upon the following information and found it most interesting:

There is a likely association with the warrior's title "jed" found in the Barsoom books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, a series which Lucas considered adapting to film before his work on Star Wars. The word "Padawan" may even be a counterfeit of "padwar", a low-ranking officer in these science fiction books.

The term "Padawan" is also quite similar to an Urdu word "palawan" that means "hero."

It is also possible that the name refers to the Japanese term "Jidai" from "jidaigeki", which means a period drama. Usually, these are samurai films, and the Jedi resemble samurai. The costuming choice of Jedi in the films appears a combination of eastern mysticism and western monasticism: the Jedi wear samurai-style garments, covered by a western monk's robe. Wizards, the Knights Templar, Knights of the Round Table, Western mystics, Taoists and Benedictine and Buddhist monks seem to have served as sources for these august guardians.



The Jedi could also have been influenced by the Sufi Muslim concepts of futuwwat/javanmardi, or spiritual chivalry, the masters of these guilds/orders are reported to have been called "al-Jeddi."

The Jedi (including the concept of their High Council consisting of twelve members and perhaps even the term "Padawan" itself) are possibly influenced by the concept of the paladin, paragons of chivalry and heroic champions in medieval legends and history (as with the Twelve Peers, or twelve legendary companions, of Charlemagne, or the twelve disciples of Jesus); the Jedi High Council is also very similar to the ruling Council (often consisted of twelve elders as well) in Christianity.

The Hebrew infinitive verb "to know" ידע yadah" and its noun form ידיעה yediah "knowledge" may also be another possible source of derivation for the word Jedi and Yoda, since the Yod י in Indo-European languages transliterates as "I "J" and "Y" respectively.