Can someone bring me up to speed on the new Order?

Wescli Wardest wrote:

It seems a lot of the conversations happen on Discord now. I believe you have to get invited or permission to join. Roz would be a good one to PM about that.

There's a link to the Discord in the "chat" tab. Anyone can follow that and chat in a lobby and a few rooms like the pastors room and some ceremonial spaces. Once you enter the lobby, someone will verify that you have an account here on the site under the same username and you'll be given access to all of the rooms appropriate to your rank (there's something like 70 available for new accounts). Its a pretty simple process, no invite required.

Wescli Wardest wrote:
A lot has changed since you were last here. The IP has less to do with the Star Wars mythos and more to do with personal development. In fact, just about anything Star Wars has been stricken from just about all the training.

All joking aside, many of those that were here are not any more. I try to log in at least once a week; but, sadly most of the old crew has moved on. The new people are have new ideas and are trying new things so a lot has changed.

I talk with Jestor more on the phone than I do here. He's good.

The house thing was something brought up a long time ago but we shot it down in council to avoid cliques from forming. The new guys like cliques I guess so it got instituted. No, in all seriousness, I believe it is because they are less focused on the living moment and more into the history of, or where we come from.

I miss Jestor, he was one of the very first, if not the first person, I ever spoke with at TotJO. I do feel very grateful that he is feeling well and may the Force shine with you for keeping in touch with him, Wescli!

The information you wrote about the Temple also really helps to make better sense of what is happening as I have not yet figured everything out. :blink: If I may be so free to ask, is there a major planning of what lays ahead, and/or maybe things I should be aware of that has already changed? I did notice moderation policy, some bits of the House system, rank requirements/changes, IP changes and heard that the Apprentice path is currently under change too.. I experience some difficulty figuring out where all that information about what has changed can be found.

Wescli Wardest wrote:
Hello Whyte Horse,

It's been a while. I hope you have been well, your current situation considered.
A lot has changed since you were last here. The IP has less to do with the Star Wars mythos and more to do with personal development. In fact, just about anything Star Wars has been stricken from just about all the training. They might as well call it Temple of the Personal development and book report order. LOL :lol:

All joking aside, many of those that were here are not any more. I try to log in at least once a week; but, sadly most of the old crew has moved on. The new people are have new ideas and are trying new things so a lot has changed.

You were a member before and the forums were set up differently, hence why you could post. You'll probably have to resubmit/submit application (if they even still do that) and become a member again.

I talk with Jestor more on the phone than I do here. He's good.

The house thing was something brought up a long time ago but we shot it down in council to avoid cliques from forming. The new guys like cliques I guess so it got instituted. No, in all seriousness, I believe it is because they are less focused on the living moment and more into the history of, or where we come from.

It seems a lot of the conversations happen on Discord now. I believe you have to get invited or permission to join. Roz would be a good one to PM about that.

If you have any more questions I'll be happy to help in any way I can

Oh hey there! It's great to see a familiar name. I actually looked at that houses spreadsheet and it was informative to see who apprenticed under whom. I'm not a clique guy but some people like the slow lane, some the fast lane, and those who don't use lanes . I had to learn that pretty quickly driving in Indonesia.

Do you and/or Jestor take on apprentices still? I'm looking at starting the IP over and could use help transitioning from the old to the new as well as a master that doesn't use lanes. Maybe there's somebody out there now but I only have what I remember.

What happened to VTOG? She was barely out of diapers back when I was on here .

Aqua wrote: I miss Jestor, he was one of the very first, if not the first person, I ever spoke with at TotJO. I do feel very grateful that he is feeling well and may the Force shine with you for keeping in touch with him, Wescli!

The information you wrote about the Temple also really helps to make better sense of what is happening as I have not yet figured everything out. :blink: If I may be so free to ask, is there a major planning of what lays ahead, and/or maybe things I should be aware of that has already changed? I did notice moderation policy, some bits of the House system, rank requirements/changes, IP changes and heard that the Apprentice path is currently under change too.. I experience some difficulty figuring out where all that information about what has changed can be found.

I found all the info hiding in the FAQ. https://www.templeofthejediorder.org/faq
Anyway, Jestor was one of my first contacts too. He was a great keeper of the peace when he was moderator. It's probably not a coincidence we're all showing up now. I keep encountering these 1 in a million things lately. Something is afoot, methinks. The only time I come back to TOTJO is when I feel lost. To come back and everyone you knew is gone is like that feeling when someone has died. Seeing you and Wesclii brought my heart back up out of my stomach . Maybe we can get a revival going and do hot dogs on the weekend or something like that.

IN reference to “does jestor take on apprentices…..the answer is un fortunately no. I’ve seen jestor on here twice in the last 5 years and it was for like 5 minutes each time.

And while still great to reminisce with things and people from the past, my advice would be to focus on the here and now. I’ve answered that question above multiple times in this very thread. I’d like to see you both work your way through the ip so in December you could become apprentices to a knight who is actually still here.

Please don’t think I’m being rude…far from it. From all I’ve heard about jestor he seemed like a great guy and I’m friends with his apprentice edan, but he’s moved on from totjo.

Zero wrote: I’d like to see you both work your way through the ip so in December you could become apprentices to a knight who is actually still here.

Dear Zero, I like your spirit and warmth on the IP matter.. but I cannot give a guarantee I will be ready in December because learning is a very delicate process to me! For me it may be earlier than December but as well be later depending on how the Force directs me.

It won’t be earlier. There is a moratorium on new apprenticeships until the new DQS comes up in December

Zero wrote: It won’t be earlier. There is a moratorium on new apprenticeships until the new DQS comes up in December

DQS? Dairy Queen Service?

Whyte Horse wrote:

Zero wrote: It won’t be earlier. There is a moratorium on new apprenticeships until the new DQS comes up in December

DQS? Dairy Queen Service?

Degree Qualification Scheme

I think my (and councils) biggest concern is the several new and returning members who keep mentioning a new order. There is no new order. Yes We have new ip lessons, yes we’re creating new lessons for the degree scheme. But that’s about it. Our existing council members have all been on council for many years. Our rules and policies haven’t changed much since I came here 5 years ago. So my question is a simple one, why are all you returning members convinced there is some new order? Who has convinced you of some non existent big change? Being someone who has logged in to the temple daily for working on 5 years, I can promise you that short of a few new ip lessons, totjo hasn’t changed much at all. Curious to see who responds to this with an actual answer.

I told Aqua that i feel things are a lot calmer and more balanced here and that there is more focus on study. For me study is more important than fretting over change and over people that have their reasons for not being here. But then , i dont fret over a lot of things anymore

That’s a wise perspective to have serenity. Stressing over the small things is something I wish more people would give up. It makes life so much simpler

Whyte Horse wrote:

What happened to VTOG? She was barely out of diapers back when I was on here .

The person you remember is now called Ben and he is very well! Am not sure how he'd take being referred to as 'just out of diapers' though . . .

Zero wrote: I think my (and councils) biggest concern is the several new and returning members who keep mentioning a new order. There is no new order. Yes We have new ip lessons, yes we’re creating new lessons for the degree scheme. But that’s about it. Our existing council members have all been on council for many years. Our rules and policies haven’t changed much since I came here 5 years ago. So my question is a simple one, why are all you returning members convinced there is some new order? Who has convinced you of some non existent big change? Being someone who has logged in to the temple daily for working on 5 years, I can promise you that short of a few new ip lessons, totjo hasn’t changed much at all. Curious to see who responds to this with an actual answer.

The new Order means the people who replaced the ones that were here back when I was doing the IP some 8-9 years ago. There was Br. John, Jestor, Wesclii, Brenna, VTOG, and a few others I'll probably remember. I do realize people come and go, the council has turnover, the moderators have turnover, etc.

To me it seems like a period of exploration and observation would be the best way to get exactly the information you're looking for. And then if you have some more specific questions, those might be easier for people to answer.

For myself, at least, I have no idea how to answer something as broad as "what's changed since 8 or 9 years ago."

Most of the people you listed are still here. BrJohn, wescli, even brenna pops in an out every so often. Loudzoo discussed VTOG/ Ben. People come and go quite often…..but the temple website, it’s rules and policies and goals haven’t changed though.

Loudzoo wrote:

Whyte Horse wrote:

What happened to VTOG? She was barely out of diapers back when I was on here .

The person you remember is now called Ben and he is very well! Am not sure how he'd take being referred to as 'just out of diapers' though . . .

Oh wow that was unexpected. I think we started here around the same time, maybe he was here longer.

Member turnover is actually a pretty big problem here. This past year was the exception as we had like 6 new knights. But in the 6 years before that, we had like 4 new knights in all those years COMBINED. We’ve had 356 new members since October, of which maybe 5 or so are still here. We get several new ip journals every day, but in the almost 6 months since we implemented the new ip, NO ONE has finished it except knight river why dry ran it for us. No new initiates means no new apprentices (excluding the moratorium). Everyone shows up either excited to be here or excited to be back, but 99% of people don’t stay once they hear it will take at least 2 years to become a knight, or that we actually require training to be completed before we hand out the rank.

Zero wrote: Everyone shows up either excited to be here or excited to be back, but 99% of people don’t stay once they hear it will take at least 2 years to become a knight, or that we actually require training to be completed before we hand out the rank.

2 years??? I'm out... hehe jk. I think what held my interest in the old IP was that I was doing it out of order. Personally, I would arrange the lessons like this: 12,11,10...5, 1,2,3,4,13. It goes from defining religion, to defining the force, and then through the smaller bits of Jediism, and then it gets into the temple and all of the jedi code, doctrine, etc. See, nobody cares about the people or the temple when they first start. The first thing in a person's mind is to answer the question "Are there real Jedis?". That lands them here on the web site. The next question is "Can I join them and/or become one?" and that lands them at the IP. Then they want to know how it can be a religion ->boom, lesson 12. Then they want to know what the force is ->boom, lesson 11. Once they're sold on those two things, they have a natural inclination to want to learn more about the people and the temple. Once they do that they have an inclination to want to get involved with them; to become knights.

At least that's how it works in my autistic mind. I hate learning a bunch of stuff I'm not interested in before I've had a reason to get interested. It decreases engagement. Imagine if you went to learn about a church/religion and they started you out by learning who's in the choir, who's in the food bank group, who's doing missionary work in Africa, etc. No, they'd probably start off explaining religion, what they believe, and then tell you you can come to hang out on Sundays for more in-depth sermons and get to know some people. That might evolve into you getting involved with the church in some way at which point you'd need to know more about the church and it's inner workings, who's who, etc.

You’d be surprised how many people end up needing to know who’s who in the first cpl hours they are here. Espically those with reasons for needing to know those people, like youth needing to connect with a youth officer for example, or people with learning disabilities who need members of the ip team for help. That’s all covered in the very first lesson for a reason.