Star Wars’ Psychometry Explained: Here’s Who Has It & What It Can Do

Even though we often look at the Force as an ability that allows the Jedi and other wielders to push or pull things or make them float, one of the things that we also know is that the Force is such a mysterious power that it is basically capable of a lot of things. In that regard, we’ve seen several characters using unique Force abilities, including Psychometry. But what exactly is Psychometry in Star Wars?

Psychometry, also called Force Echo, is the ability of a Jedi to learn about the history of objects by touching them. This allows the person to see who interacted with a certain object and learn about the things that happened in relation to the person who touched or interacted with that object in the past.

In many ways, Psychometry allows the user to turn any kind of object into a recording device because how this unique ability makes it possible for the user to learn about who interacted with a certain object in the past. But this is a unique skill that not many Jedi can do. Let’s look at what Psychometry is and who can use it.

Psychometry is a rare Jedi skill

It’s always been the case that the Force allows people access to many different rare abilities that normal people don’t get to use. Of course, most Jedi and other Force wielders tend to be able to move things with their mind. Meanwhile, those who are strong in the dark side of the Force can learn to literally shoot lightning out of their fingers. And we also have Force abilities that allow people to read minds or sense feelings.

Nevertheless, some Force abilities tend to be very rare, and only a few people can use them. It is already rare for someone to be strong in the Force, but it is even rarer for some people to have abilities that are so unique that you have to be born with the ability to use such power. And we are talking about the skill called Psychometry.

Often called Force Echo, Psychometry is a Force wielder’s ability to sense the memories of a certain object just by touching it. Of course, objects themselves aren’t living beings, and that means that they don’t have memories in the strict sense. But Psychometry allows the wielder of this ability to access certain events about the object and those who interacted with it.

For example, if a certain person once touched a table while something important happened to him or her, a person with Psychometry can touch that table and hear or even see what happened to the previous person who touched that table. This is why the skill is often called Force Echo, as the Force allows the Psychometry user to hear or feel the echoes of living people touching a certain object.

But the thing about Psychometry is that there are limits to this ability as far as the Jedi Order is concerned. The Jedi forbade the use of Psychometry on weapons because of how weapons often carry dark and violent thoughts. As such, when a person tries to use Psychometry on a weapon, they get closer to the dark side due to the dark and violent thoughts that they can sense from the weapon through the person who used it previously.

Who had Psychometry?

As mentioned, Psychometry is an incredibly unique ability. In fact, not all Jedi can use Psychometry. That’s because it is an innate skill that only a few Force wielders tend to have. As such, a Force wielder must be born with the ability to use Psychometry for them to be able to use it.

That is why the canon world of Star Wars has only shown a few people who are capable of using this incredibly unique skill. The first person that comes into mind is none other than Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, who was the first Jedi to use this skill onscreen.

Vos was the best tracker in the Jedi Order precisely because he could use Psychometry. This allowed him to track people by touching objects previously in contact with the person he was tracking. This skill was useful when Vos and Obi-Wan Kenobi were on a mission together.

Another prominent user of Psychometry is Cal Kestis, who was introduced in ‘Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.’ Cal often used this skill in ‘Fallen Order’ and its sequel game, ‘Survivor.’ He seems to be more skilled at using Psychometry than most people because he can even see visions of the past. And when he touched the Second Sister’s lightsaber, he felt the pain and anguish that turned her into the dark side long ago.

In the novel entitled ‘Force Collector,’ a young Force-sensitive boy named Karr Nuq Sin was able to learn that he had this ability. However, he only learned about it when he was 13 years old, and this means that Psychometry doesn’t always manifest early.

Then, in ‘Ahsoka,’ we saw that Ahsoka Tano could also use Psychometry. She first used it while she was investigating Sabine Wren’s home after Shin Hati attacked her and took the starmap away from her. After that, Ahsoka used the ability on the broken starmap to determine what happened to Sabine and where she may have gone.

Rey also possessed Psychometry to some extent. This was shown when she could hear the whispers of the Skywalker lightsaber. Her innate strength in the Force probably allowed her to hear the whispers of the lightsaber without even making contact with it.

How come Ahsoka has Psychometry?

As mentioned, Psychometry is an incredibly unique ability that only a few Jedi or Force wielders possess because it is an innate skill that a person is born with. This makes people wonder why Ahsoka was able to use Psychometry even though she has never used this ability in the past.

Of course, it is possible that Ahsoka only learned about this ability during the latter portion of her life. We mentioned that Karr Nuq Sin only learned about his ability to use Psychometry when he was 13.

Considering that Ahsoka spent most of her life training, fighting, and surviving, it is possible that she only learned about her ability to use Psychometry when she found the time to explore her abilities. After all, she probably didn’t have enough time to learn how to use this power when she was too busy fighting Separatists in the Clone Wars and running away from Inquisitors during the Imperial era.

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