Ch. 3: The Celestials
Most scholars agree that the gods, if they were ever real at all, were the ancient Celestials. The Celestials themselves are shrouded in mystery, but there are some historical facts that can be divined from what little information we do have. However, anything that can be learned from the Celestials is derived mainly from the combined myths of various cultures. As a result, these next two chapters will likely sound more like an alternate version of the creation myth than actual history, and its accuracy should be taken with a grain of salt.
The Celestials were thought to have inhabited the Galaxy circa. 110,000- 30,000 BBY. Some estimates place them back millions of years ago, and others even further to the beginning of the universe. However, of these two hypothesis the former is a fringe theory and the later pure pseudohistory. The Celestials may not have been the first Galactic civilization, as the Columi and Sharu are thought to have originated two million years ago, but the Celestials undoubtedly had the greatest impact on future galactic civilizations. We do not know when they rose to galactic dominance, but it is known that they were active before 100,000 BBY.
A detailed history of the Celestials is subject to much guesswork and interpretation, and as such, it is too convoluted to explain in one chapter, however, while we may not be able to explore their history, we can certainly explore their culture and what caused them to fall.
To start, the Celestials are sometimes referred to as the Force Wielders. True to their name, some Jedi believe them to have been the only organization to have ever unlocked the secrets of the Force in its entirety. Some say that they even merged with the Force itself, although this is a fringe theory at best.
Some believe that the Celestials were beings of pure energy, but this is a common misconception not supported by facts. As far as we can tell, the Celestials had physical bodies. The Celestials are believed to be an amorphous species much like the the Shi'ido or the Proteans. They are believed to have used this power to infiltrate other species and sometimes to teach them the ways of the Force. This is likely how they came to be viewed as gods by so many.
The Celestials were known for their extended life spans, although to what extent is disputed. Many claim that they were virtually immune to aging. This does not appear to be natural. Jedi healers who study the Force hypothesize that they accomplished this as a result of a technique known as 'midichlorians manipulation.'
Midichlorians are symbiotic organisms that live inside all complex cells. They appear to be links to the Force as a whole. The Force is generated by all living things, but living things need the Force to survive and for cells to perform certain organic functions. The midichlorian channels the Force into itself and the host cell, as a result, midichlorians determine force sensitivity. Midichlorians have natural appetites that are very hard to overcome. They all seek to maintain constant numbers, and they all seek preservation of the host. However, it is possible to use the Force to manipulate midichlorians to cause various effects.
The only technique allowed by the Jedi is Force Healing. All this is is channeling Force energy into the midichlorian to promote healing in the damaged cells. This is not seen as bad by the Jedi as it is not manipulation per se but simply helping the midichlorian do its job. The Celestials are thought to have had many more techniques and many of these were passed down to the Sith in the form of Sith Alchemy, which will be the subject of later chapters. However, the only Sith lords to truly master this ability to the level that the Celestials achieved were Darth Plagueis and the Sith Emperor Vitiate.
One of the most famous techniques is the ability to save others from death. When a living thing dies, its midichlorians often die with it. Someone with this ability could keep these midichlorians from dying and feed them excess Force energy causing them to heal the damaged cells. The midichlorians would then keep dividing causing the body to become stable, and if the brain and spirit are still intact, the person should be able to come back from the brink of death. Another ability that is a combination of the above fused with an advanced healing application is the ability to reverse aging. It was these abilities that made the Celestials virtually immortal.
Another important ability is the ability to conceive an embryo through the midichlorians. There are two ways in which this could occur. First, the most famous example is Anakin Skywalker who became Darth Vader. He was conceived as a result of a massive shift in the balance of the Force causing him to have a midichlorian count just over 20,000. Anakin may not have been the only one to have been conceived this way, but it certainly is a rare phenomena. The second instance, is the ability for a Force user to will a target to conceive through direct manipulation. As this does not involve the Force on a grand scale, it is much more controllable. Subjects conceived in this manner would have a midichlorian count around 15,000, which is on par with a high end Jedi or Sith, but is not exceptionally rare.
Through this ability, the Celestials could guarantee that any member of their species was born with a high Force potential. This must have had curious repercussions on their mating habits. Many speculate that males eventually went extinct since they were no longer needed. Because of this, the Celestials were first and foremost a species that had uniform access to the Force on high levels while having extremely long life spans to study and perfect their art.
The Celestial Force wielding organization is relatively unknown, but is believed that they got their sacred texts and instructions from an even older race known as the Tempestro, a primitive but enlightened race who served as a species of prophets two million years ago. The Celestials likely heavily modified their teachings with new scientific advances from their advanced technology. They were known to have emphasized balance and harmony between both sides of the Force, and individuals spent centuries mastering their emotions in such a way that the entire scope of the Force was open to them while they could resist being corrupted or driven to insanity by it. This lifestyle is impractical for most, but since the Celestials lived so long they could make it work.
It is thought that their civilization came to an end when a group rejected this balance, viewing it as easier to just give into the dark side. This group was banished and they became known as the Kanzer Exiles. A group saw what had happened, and believed that it would be best to surrender completely to the Will of the Force rather than to try to exert a beings own will over it. They devoted themselves completely to the light and became known as the Whills. Both of these groups were seen as heretics, but it is thought that they coexisted for a while until the Exiles and mainstream Celestials went to war. This event came to be known as the War in Heaven, and will be the subject of the next chapter.
First, it is necessary to talk about the level of technology the Celestials as a species possessed. It is thought that all baseline Celestial technology is derived from the Columi. The Columi were active in the galaxy two million years ago before being wiped out in an unknown cataclysm. They as a species were eventually able to again reach space-fairing status thousands of years before the War in Heaven. It is thought that they gave their technology to the Celestials who then improved it with the Force and then ironically wiped out the Columi again. However, what really gave Celestial technology its godlike vibe is the influence of the far more advanced Sharu.
Now the Sharu evolved around the same time or right after the Columi. However, for some unknown reason, the Sharu were unable to achieve much hyperspace flight outside of their home system. Some hypothesize that their civilization was sealed away in a dangerous hyperspace cluster by an unknown advanced race, possibly the Columi themselves, but this is debated. As it stands, the Sharu didn't spread outwards and were forced to get along with each other while locked in a single system. They became peaceful and developed huge city planets, which eventually gave way to massive pyramidal structures. They ended up being locked in their home system for almost two million years which led to them being able to achieve a level of technological progress that most science fiction authors can only dream of. Their society came to an end when the warlike Celestials invaded from the outside. The Sharu, having renounced war aeons ago, were reduced to primitivism and their reality-altering technology was plundered and weaponized by the Celestials.
The Celestials were unable to replicate some of the most impressive Sharu feats of engineering, but unlocked their technology in stages. An example of this is the now destroyed Centerpoint station, which seemed to combine technologies from many different levels of progress. With their new technology, the Celestials were able to engineer regions of space where time did not flow right, create pocket dimensions to store untold horrors, and build machines that could move planets, destroy stars, and create black holes. Combined with the Force, the Celestials could experiment with the fabric of life, creating new species and ecosystems on a whim.
The Celestials various species and used them for slave labor. Some of these species were the Killiks, the Kwa, the Gree, Ahra Naffi, and Bith. Some ancient humans were known to have made contact with them as well. This is the galaxy that birthed the Sith. It is believed that the first Sith were created as a slave race by the Kanzer Exiles sometime before the War in Heaven. This will be the subject of the next chapter.
