There is, to me, enough symbolism to use proper engineering and use that to generate cool in-universe stuff, without falling back on mystical BS. That's actually one of the things about more recent content that bothers me. George, for all his clumsiness in execution, had the Jedi having been studying this stuff for
tens of thousands of years. It's not mysticism to them, it's tested and proven science. Midi-chlorians are detectable, kyber crystals' energy-amplification effect is measurable, the effects of Force healing or Force lightning or levitation are sure inarguable. Even more subjective stuff, like how a particular kyber crystal might feel to a particular Jedi, is still quantifiable and incorporated into the training.
From an engineering standpoint, a lightsaber's cycling frequency would determine the light spectrum thrown off by the decaying photons in its nimbus. Mid-range 'sabers, like the ones carried by Qui-Gon and Yoda, are green. More ceremonial/less combat oriented ones are tuned lower, into the yellow/orange area. More combat-oriented Jedi tune their higher, into the blue. And yes, that makes Mace the ultimate badass.
I dearly like the notion that the exiled/rage-quite Jedi who found the Sith and, with them, created the Sith Empire, had to rely on what they could cobble together, and without the precision equipment or high-quality materials, their lightsabers (when they built them) were decidedly lower-quality, cycling slower and, thus, red-shifted. And that, in time, they did it deliberately as a sort of badge of membership. I like the idea of Ben trying to de-tune his lightsaber to make it red, and damaging it in the process, requiring the plasma vents. No need for eeeevil crystal-bleeding.
Not that it's relevant to this conversation, but the whole idea of European swords being heavy is just a myth. It probably came about from the Victorian era and has been perpetuated by Hollywood. On average, a European sword, of any style from pretty much all periods of history tips the scales at 2 - 3 pounds, the exceptionally heavy ones might weigh as much as 5 but not a whole lot more. Even large 2 handed greatswords/zweihanders weighed, at most, about 3 -5 pounds, at least the ones actually meant for combat did. There were some that were purely ceremonial that might have weighed more, but they were never meant to be used, just to be carried around in ceremonies and parades so they really don't count.
Armor also. Seen a lot of people over the years whinging about how
heavy armor is, the Hollywood myth of knights needing to be hoisted onto their horses backs with cranes -- and being turtles on their backs if they got knocked off. Again, that's all true for the ceremonial stuff. Anything worn in actual combat was usually light and utilitarian. Between weapons and armor, that's how
wootz (aka Damascus steel) and stainless steel got developed and adopted as widely as could be managed. The ongoing quest to decrease weight while increasing efficacy.
My Mandalorian plate-carrier vest, with the front-side plates semi-permanently attached (the backplate gets bolted on separately, and is optional), weighs in at about five pounds, with padding and electronics. As I've said elsewhere, that's 16-gauge stainless steel that's been backed over by a car with zero deformation. The same stuff SCA purists use to make their combat armor for when they're whaling on each other with big sticks. It would certainly
feel heavy if it wasn't fitted right and was hanging off me. But on a well-tailored arming vest, strapped tight to the body? I forget I'm wearing it after a few minutes.