hi kids,

doing my usual loitering on the web and I just curious if anyone knew
if Lucas arrived at the name Obi Wan Kenobi and "the force be with
you" through Jamaican folklore?

http://www.calastrology.com/obeah.html
http://www.library.miami.edu/archives/slaves/Religion/religion.html

don't know if this is pindownable, but give me your thoughts if this
subject interests you.

thanks for your time,
granny

Howdy Granny!

This is my first opportunity to answer one of your (as usual) interesting
questions!  Hope I do good by you...

It doesn't appear there are any Jamaican roots to "Old Ben's" name, but
rather it has more techy source.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) Trivia for Star Wars (1977) page has:
http://us.imdb.com/Trivia?0076759

"Obi-wan Kenobi's name comes from a vintage synth by Oberheim, the OB-1."

You can view that old OB-1 synthesizer at the Synthmuseum.com page:
http://www.synthmuseum.com/oberheim/obeob101.html

The Jitterbug Fantasia web site gives us some insights as to the origins
of "the force".
http://www.jitterbug.com/origins/faq.html

"The Force borrows some ideas from Carlos Casteneda's Don Juan books and
a few other places, but basically it's Joseph Campbell's idea of the
Universal Transcendant."

http://www.jitterbug.com/origins/lucas_myth.html
"Joseph Campbell studied mythology under Heinrich Zimmer, an Indologist
(anthropologist who specializes in India). In particular, Zimmer described
the concept of "Prana," which translates literally into "breath" and means
"the all-pervading vital energy of the universe" (Prana is called '"Ki" in
Japan and "Ch'i" in China). This idea may have influenced Lucas' idea of
The Force."

So ol' George (Lucas, that is) might have got "the force" from the Far East
instead of the West Indies.

If you have any need of clarification, feel free to ask!

Looking Forward, denco-ga

thanks a million!

Much thanks for 5 star rating as well as the generous tip Granny!

Looking Forward, denco-ga