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The Religions of Dune are a key aspect of the fictional setting of the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Many of the names of religions mentioned in the novels indicate they are blends of current belief systems, some syncretic.[ citation needed ]
According to Appendix II: The Religion of Dune in the 1965 novel Dune , after the Butlerian Jihad, the Bene Gesserit composed the Azhar Book, a "bibliographic marvel that preserves the great secrets of the most ancient faiths". Soon after, a group made up of the leaders of many religions (calling itself the Commission of Ecumenical Translators) created the Orange Catholic Bible, the key religious text of the Dune universe, which "contains elements of most ancient religions". [1]
Appendix II: The Religion of Dune in the novel Dune refers to the Azhar Book as "that bibliographic marvel that preserves the great secrets of the most ancient faiths," and notes that it predates The Orange Catholic Bible, the key religious text of the Dune universe which "contains elements of most ancient religions." [2] The creation of the Azhar Book is also attributed to the Bene Gesserit. [3] The appendix subsequently quotes Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides, and references his words back to ancient texts, using the Azhar Book. For example:
Muad'Dib: "If a child, an untrained person, an ignorant person, or an insane person incites trouble, it is the fault of authority for not predicting and preventing that trouble."
O.C. Bible: "Any sin can be ascribed, at least in part, to a natural bad tendency that is an extenuating circumstance acceptable to God." (The Azhar Book traces this to the ancient Semitic Tawra.)
In Dune, Lady Jessica examines the manual included in a Fremen desert survival kit on Arrakis:
The glowing tab of the Fremkit manual between them on the tent floor caught her eye. She lifted it, glanced at the flyleaf, reading: "Manual of 'The Friendly Desert,' the place full of life. Here are the ayat and burhan of Life. Believe, and al-Lat shall never burn you."
It reads like the Azhar Book, she thought, recalling her studies of the Great Secrets. Has a Manipulator of Religions been on Arrakis?
The Bene Gesserit practice "religious engineering" through a faction called the Missionaria Protectiva, which spreads contrived myths, prophecies and superstition on primitive worlds so that the Sisterhood may later exploit those regions. [4] It is later confirmed that the Fremen religion has been thus influenced.
In Children of Dune , Leto II quotes from "the Bene Gesserit Azhar Book" when discussing with Ghanima their suspicions about their aunt Alia:
It is with reason and terrible experience that we call the pre-born Abomination. For who knows what lost and damned persona out of our evil past may take over the living flesh?
The Azhar Book is also quoted via epigraph:
The one-eyed view of our universe says you must not look far afield for problems. Such problems may never arrive. Instead, tend to the wolf within your fences. The packs ranging outside may not even exist.
— The Azhar Book; Shamra I:4
The Azhar Book is also referenced several times in the prequel trilogies Legends of Dune and Prelude to Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, and the fictional text is also quoted in epigraphs in the Prelude to Dune series. Though the authors have stated that Frank Herbert left behind unused epigraphs which they later used in their prequels and sequels, [5] it is unknown if any used in these novels are from those notes.
The Orange Catholic Bible (abbreviated to O. C. Bible or OCB) is the primary orthodox religious text in the Dune universe, created in the wake of the crusade against thinking machines, which Herbert calls the Butlerian Jihad. Its title suggests a merging of Protestantism and Catholicism. [6] [7] The Orange Catholic Bible is described in the glossary of the 1965 novel Dune :
ORANGE CATHOLIC BIBLE: the "Accumulated Book," the religious text produced by the Commission of Ecumenical Translators. It contains elements of most ancient religions, including the Maometh Saari, Mahayana Christianity, Zensunni Catholicism and Buddislamic traditions. Its supreme commandment is considered to be: "Thou shalt not disfigure the soul."
In Dune, Dr. Yueh gives Paul Atreides his copy of the Orange Catholic Bible before their initial trip to Arrakis. This copy is a space-traveler's miniaturized edition of the book, set in tiny print on fragile pages made from "filament paper." It is described as "black, oblong, no larger than the end of Paul's thumb" but contains eighteen hundred pages. Yueh instructs Paul in its use:
It has its own magnifier and electrostatic charge system ... The book is held closed by the charge, which forces against spring-locked covers. You press the edge — thus, and the pages you've selected repel each other and the book opens ... the charge moves ahead one page at a time as you read. Never touch the actual pages with your fingers. The filament tissue is too delicate.
The appendix to Dune also notes that the chief commandment of the Butlerian Jihad remains in the Orange Catholic Bible as "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind." [8] It is further explained in the Dune appendix that the passage "Paradise on my right. Hell on my left, and the Angel of Death behind" describes human life as a journey across a narrow bridge.
In the Dune universe, many references are made to the Orange Catholic Bible, sometimes in the form of epigraphs. The original Dune series also includes quotations from the Orange Catholic Bible Commentaries by the Commission of Ecumenical Translators.
The Orange Catholic Bible is also quoted in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (1999–2001), as well as their 2007 conclusion to the original series, Sandworms of Dune . Though the authors used epigraphs and notes left behind by Frank Herbert after his death in their prequels and sequels, [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] it is unknown which of these (if any) are from those notes.
The term for those religions derived from a syncretic fusion of denominations of Buddhism and Islam. The connection of the Zensunni with Buddislam suggests the latter arose during the Third Islamic Movement associated with the Maometh Saari (see below under Third Islam).
A hybrid of the religious principles of Zen (a school of Mahayana Buddhism) and Shia Islam. It does not occur in the original Dune series, appearing only in the later books by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and mentioned to be defiant fanatics unlike the Zensunni pacifists; Zenshiite slaves are behind the uprising on Poritrin.[ citation needed ]
Zensufism is a hybrid of Zen and Sufism, a form of Islamic mysticism which, based on epigrams in Chapterhouse: Dune , would have figured in Dune 7. There are only two Zensufi epigrams in Chapterhouse: Dune :
Heretics of Dune states that this was the religion of the Bene Tleilax.
Zensunni is a syncretic religious belief combining principles of Zen Buddhism and Sunni Islam. In the fictional far future of human civilization portrayed in the series, various ethnic and political groups adhere to this worldview, including the Fremen, originally the "Zensunni Wanderers".[ citation needed ]
In Terminology of the Imperium (the glossary of the novel Dune ), Frank Herbert provides the following definition:
ZENSUNNI: followers of a schismatic sect that broke away from the teachings of Maometh (the so-called "Third Muhammed") about 1381 B.G. The Zensunni religion is noted chiefly for its emphasis on the mystical and a reversion to "the ways of the fathers." Most scholars name Ali Ben Ohashi as leader of the original schism but there is some evidence that Ohashi may have been merely the male spokesman for his second wife, Nisai.
According to Terminology of the Imperium, the planet Poritrin is "considered by many Zensunni Wanderers as their planet of origin, although clues in their language and mythology show far more ancient planetary roots". [18] The former Imperial capital (and later prison world) Salusa Secundus was "the second stopping point in migrations of the Wandering Zensunni. Fremen tradition says they were slaves on S.S. for nine generations." [19] The "third stopping place" is noted as Bela Tegeuse, [20] and Harmonthep was the "sixth stop". [21]
The ascension of Paul Atreides as Emperor in Dune and the expansion of Fremen influence throughout the Imperium widely popularized the study of Zensunni beliefs. It is noted in Terminology of the Imperium that the Orange Catholic Bible "contains elements of most ancient religions, including ... Zensunni Catholicism". [1]
Herbert "sprinkled Zen ideas throughout Dune", [22] as when Reverend Mother Mohiam queries Paul:
"Ever sift sand through a screen?" she asked.
The tangential slash of her question shocked his mind into a higher awareness: Sand through a screen, he nodded.
"We Bene Gesserit sift people to find the humans."
The Reverend Mother's query is reminiscent of a Zen kōan, which generally contains aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet may be accessible to intuition. Zen masters "developed this trick to 'open up' the mind of their students without filling it with their own opinions". [22] Herbert himself noted in "Dune Genesis", his own analysis of the development of the novel, that: [23]
"As in an Escher lithograph, I involved myself with recurrent themes that turn into paradox. The central paradox concerns the human vision of time. What about Paul's gift of prescience—the Presbyterian fixation? For the Delphic Oracle to perform, it must tangle itself in a web of predestination. Yet predestination negates surprises and, in fact, sets up a mathematically enclosed universe whose limits are always inconsistent, always encountering the unprovable. It's like a kōan, a Zen mind breaker."
In the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson Legends of Dune prequel trilogy, before and during the Butlerian Jihad the Zensunnis were brought as slaves from their homeworlds (like Harmonthep) to places like Poritrin. After the slave revolt on Poritrin, many Zensunnis escaped to Arrakis; these Zensunni wanderers would become the first Fremen.
Terminology of the Imperium also defines several Zensunni terms:
AULIYA: In the Zensunni Wanderers' religion, the female at the left hand of God; God's handmaiden.
FIQH: knowledge, religious law; one of the half-legendary origins of the Zensunni Wanderers' religion.
ILM: theology; science of religious tradition; one of the half-legendary origins of the Zensunni Wanderers' faith.
MISR: the historical Zensunni (Fremen) term for themselves: "The People."
SHAH-NAMA: the half-legendary First Book of the Zensunni Wanderers.
ULEMA: a Zensunni doctor of theology.
These concepts are all more or less identifiable with Islamic concepts:[ citation needed ]
In Chapterhouse: Dune it is revealed that Jewish communities continue to exist, scattered across the galaxy. In sharp contrast to the drastic changes which have occurred in other religions in the 25,000 years between the 20th century and the time of the Honored Matres invasion, Judaism has undergone comparatively little change. Jewish characters also feature in Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's sequels, Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune .
These Jewish communities are led by rabbis, at least some of whom have working relationships with the Bene Gesserit. Heretics of Dune suggests that Jewish thought may have influenced the development of Bene Gesserit philosophy. The Jewish community described in the novels defines itself as part of "Secret Israel", which, in conjunction with the sparse historical information given in the novel, suggests that the Jewish people had decided to conceal themselves to follow their religion and avoid the recurrent atrocities of their past. Long ago, the Bene Gesserit and the hidden Jewish communities came to an understanding of sorts: the Bene Gesserit would provide aid to hidden Jews if they were ever threatened, and help hide the fact that the Jewish religion survives in secret; in return, if ever a Bene Gesserit acolyte is lost and threatened on an isolated planet, the local Jewish community give her aid and shelter. A simple arrangement, but one which endured between both groups for millennia. Moreover, the Torah and Talmudic Zabur are listed in Appendix II of Dune as having contributed to the Orange Catholic Bible; the appendix also notes that these books were preserved on Salusa Secundus.
A hybrid of Mahayana Buddhism and Christianity, which presumably interpreted Jesus Christ as a Buddha.
This is a minority religion in the Imperium, which is clearly based on the Lankavatara Sutra , a text of the Mahayana.
The Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson Legends of Dune prequel trilogy notes that "Muadru" is an ancient religion predating the Old Empire before the Time of the Titans. Its prophetic writings are used out of context by Iblis Ginjo during the Butlerian Jihad; there is also some indication that the Muadru and the Cogitors shared the same origin. In Paul of Dune , Paul Atreides shows Count Fenring an ancient Muadru room buried deep under his Arrakeen residence. He further explains to him that the Muadru are an ancient people who once settled through the entire galaxy but became suddenly extinct. They are believed to have settled on Arrakis while it was still a verdant planet and to have introduced the sandworms there long before the arrival of the Zensunni Wanderers.[ citation needed ]
According to the Legends of Dune trilogy, Navachristianity is the religion of the ruling class on Poritrin. However, according to Dune it is found on the planet Chusuk, but there is no explanation of its tenets. Three tenable etymologies have been suggested. One treats it as a portmanteau of Navajo with Christianity and assumes Herbert was alluding to a movement comparable with the Native American Church; another treats it as a worn down fusion of Nauvoo with Christianity in reference to the Latter-Day Saints; the third derives "nava-" from 'new' in Sanskrit, the liturgical language of Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism, often being used in the same sense as 'neo'. Thus, Navachristianity may simply mean 'neo-Christianity', or represent a blend of Christianity with the religions of the Indian subcontinent. In light of the syncretic forms of Buddhism listed, the Indian religion most likely is the little-mentioned faith of Hinduism.[ citation needed ]
According to Appendix II: The Religion of Dune, there had been three Islamic Movements in the time before the Corrino Imperium, and "Third Islam" is just a shorthand term for "The Third Islamic Movement". Clearly, the First Islamic Movement was that of Muhammed. Herbert does not go into details about the Second Movement, though it can be inferred that it too had a prophet named Muhammed (it may be suggested too that the "Muadh Quran" of Caladan was the scripture of "Second Islam"). Third Islam's prophet was Maometh (a form of Muhammed) and it was from his teachings in the Maometh Saari that the Zensunni Wanderers schismed. As this happened in 1381 B.G., it follows that the Third Islamic Movement occurred before this date; the association of the syncretic Zensunni with Third Islam implies that the latter saw the fusing of Buddhism with Second Islam. The scripture of the Maometh Saari likely derives its name from the Arabic "saari", meaning "woven cloth", and alludes to the interweaving of koranic surah or ayat with Buddhist sutras (note that sutra itself means a thread).[ citation needed ]
This is Herbert's rendering of the Blue Cliff Record , a collection of Chan Buddhist (i.e., Zen) koans compiled in Song China in 1125 that formed the basis of an associated cult in the Dune cosmos (or so we may infer). Curiously, Herbert renders the Japanese name of the Blue Cliff Record, Hekiganroku, as Hekiganshu, which appears to use the character 書 "document" and is notably used in the alternate title for the Book of Documents, Shangshu. Thus, in traditional Chinese the phrase Zen-Hekiganshu would be Chán-Bìyánshū (禪碧巖書).
The connection between Buddhislam and this sect is unexplained, but contextually, the inference is that the Zen Hekiganshu tradition rejected any fusion with Islam, thus retaining its purity and minority status.[ citation needed ]
Paul Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Paul is a prominent character in the first two novels in the series, Dune (1965) and Dune Messiah (1969), and returns in Children of Dune (1976). The character is brought back as two different gholas in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson novels which conclude the original series, Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007), and appears in the prequels Paul of Dune (2008) and The Winds of Dune (2009). According to Brian Herbert, Frank Herbert's son and biographer, House Atreides was based on the heroic but ill-fated Greek mythological House Atreus.
Dune is a 1965 science fiction novel by American author Frank Herbert, originally published as two separate serials in Analog magazine. It tied with Roger Zelazny's This Immortal for the Hugo Award in 1966, and it won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. It is the first installment of the Dune saga, and in 2003 was cited as the world's best-selling science fiction novel.
The Bene Gesserit are a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. The group is described as an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and abilities that can seem magical to outsiders. Acolytes who have acquired the breadth of Bene Gesserit abilities are called Reverend Mothers within the organization's ranks. Some of these fictional powers are analyzed and deconstructed from a real-world scientific perspective in the book The Science of Dune (2008).
Shaddam IV of House Corrino is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe in Herbert's 1965 novel Dune. Shaddam's accession to the throne is chronicled in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999-2001) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, and he later appears in the prequel series Heroes of Dune (2008–2009).
Melange, often referred to as simply "the spice", is the name of the fictional drug central to the Dune series of science fiction novels by Frank Herbert, and derivative works.
The Fremen are a group of people in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. First appearing in the 1965 novel Dune, the Fremen inhabit the desert planet Arrakis, which is the sole known source in the universe of the all-important spice melange. Long overlooked by the rest of the Imperium and considered backward savages, in reality they are an extremely hardy people and exist in large numbers. The Fremen had come to the planet thousands of years before the events of the novel as the Zensunni Wanderers, a religious sect in retreat. As humans in extremis, over time they adapted their culture and way of life to survive and thrive in the incredibly harsh conditions of Arrakis. The Fremen are distinguished by their fierce fighting abilities and adeptness at survival in these conditions. With water being such a rare commodity on the planet, their culture revolves around its preservation and conservation. Herbert based Fremen culture, in part, on the desert-dwelling Bedouin, San People, and the Blackfeet Nation.
The Spacing Guild is an organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. With its monopoly on interstellar travel and banking, the power of the Guild is balanced against that of the Padishah Emperor as well as of the assembled noble Houses of the Landsraad. Mutated Guild Navigators use the spice drug melange to successfully navigate "folded space" and safely guide enormous heighliner starships from planet to planet instantaneously. Essentially apolitical, the Guild is primarily concerned with the flow of commerce and preservation of the economy that supports them; although their ability to dictate the terms of and fees for all transport gives them influence in the political arena, they do not pursue political goals beyond their economic ones. It is noted in Dune (1965) that Houses of the Imperium may contract with the Guild to be removed "to a place of safety outside the System"; in the past, some Houses in danger of ruin or defeat have "become renegade Houses, taking family atomics and shields and fleeing beyond the Imperium". The Guild controls a "sanctuary planet" known as Tupile intended for such "defeated Houses of the Imperium ... Location(s) known only to the Guild and maintained inviolate under the Guild Peace".
Arrakis —informally known as Dune and later called Rakis—is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune series of novels by Frank Herbert. Herbert's first novel in the series, 1965's Dune, is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and it is sometimes cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history.
Gaius Helen Mohiam is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She is a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother, and initially appears in the 1965 novel Dune and its 1969 sequel, Dune Messiah. Mohiam also has a major role in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999–2001) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.
Princess Irulan is a fictional character and member of House Corrino in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She first appears in Dune (1965), and is later featured in Dune Messiah (1969) and Children of Dune (1976). The character's birth and early childhood are touched upon in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999–2001) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, and she is a principal character in the Herbert/Anderson series Heroes of Dune (2008–2009). Irulan has also appeared in all film and television adaptations of Herbert's Dune works.
Count Hasimir Fenring is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is featured in the 1965 science fiction novel Dune by Frank Herbert, and is also a key character in the Prelude to Dune trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. He later appears in the 2008 novel Paul of Dune.
Dune is a science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert and has continued to add new publications up to 2017. Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history. It won the 1966 Hugo Award and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel, and was later adapted into a 1984 film and a 2000 television miniseries. Herbert wrote five sequels, and the first two were presented as a miniseries in 2003. The Dune universe has also inspired some traditional games and a series of video games. Since 2009, the names of planets from the Dune novels have been adopted for the real-world nomenclature of plains and other features on Saturn's moon Titan.
Dune: House Atreides is a 1999 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the first book in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place before the events of Frank Herbert's celebrated 1965 novel Dune. Bantam Books made a $3 million deal for the novels in 1997. The Prelude to Dune novels draw from notes left behind by Frank Herbert after his death.
A series of Duneshort stories have been written that relate to the Dune novels by Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Some of these stories were originally available for download from the official Dune website, released in a promotional capacity in conjunction with the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson novels. "Dune: A Whisper of Caladan Seas'," "Dune: Hunting Harkonnens," "Dune: Whipping Mek" and "Dune: The Faces of a Martyr" were later published as part of the collection The Road to Dune released in September 2005. "Dune: Sea Child" was published in Elemental, a 2006 benefit anthology for children who survived the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and was later made available as part of the paperback edition of The Road to Dune. "Dune: Treasure in the Sand" was published online in 2006 at Jim Baen's Universe, and was later made available as part of the paperback edition of Hunters of Dune. "Dune: Wedding Silk" was released June 12, 2011 in the Dune e-book short story collection Tales of Dune, which also included previously published stories "Dune: Sea Child" and "Dune: Treasure in the Sand." "Dune: Red Plague" was released on November 1, 2016, followed by "Dune: The Waters of Kanly" in the short story collection Infinite Stars on October 17, 2017.
Margot, Lady Fenring is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She is featured in Herbert's Dune (1965), and is a major character in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999–2001) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and the 2008 novel Paul of Dune.
This is a list of terminology used in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert, the primary source being "Terminology of the Imperium", the glossary contained in the novel Dune (1965).
Paul of Dune is a 2008 science fiction novel written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Released on September 16, 2008, it is the first book in the Heroes of Dune series and chronicles events between Frank Herbert's Dune (1965) and Dune Messiah (1969), as well as between Dune and its 2001 Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson prequel, Dune: House Corrino.
Multiple organizations of the Dune universe dominate the political, religious, and social arena of the fictional setting of Frank Herbert's Dune series of science fiction novels, and derivative works. Set tens of thousands of years in the future, the saga chronicles a civilization which has banned computers but has also developed advanced technology and mental and physical abilities through physical training, eugenics and the use of the drug melange. Specialized groups of individuals have aligned themselves in organizations focusing on specific abilities, technology and goals. Herbert's concepts of human evolution and technology have been analyzed and deconstructed in at least one book, The Science of Dune (2008). His originating 1965 novel Dune is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history. Dune and its five sequels by Herbert explore the complex and multilayered interactions of politics, religion, ecology and technology, among other themes.
The new prequels ... will be based on notes and outlines Frank Herbert left at his death in 1986.
Frank Herbert wrote a detailed outline for Dune 7 and he left extensive Dune 7 notes, as well as stored boxes of his descriptions, epigraphs, chapters, character backgrounds, historical notes—over a thousand pages worth.
I got a call from an estate attorney who asked me what I wanted to do with two safety deposit boxes of my dad's ... in them were the notes to Dune 7—it was a 30-page outline. So I went up in my attic and found another 1,000 pages of working notes.
Brian was cleaning out his garage to make an office space and he found all these boxes that had 'Dune Notes' on the side. And we used a lot of them for our House books.
We had already started work on House Atreides ... After we already had our general outline written and the proposal sent to publishers, then we found the outlines and notes. (This necessitated some changes, of course.)
... we are ready to tackle the next major challenge—writing the grand climax of the saga that Frank Herbert left in his original notes sealed in a safe deposit box ... after we'd already decided what we wanted to write ... They opened up the safe deposit box and found inside the full and complete outline for Dune 7 ... Later, when Brian was cleaning out his garage, in the back he found ... over three thousand pages of Frank Herbert's other notes, background material, and character sketches.
Anderson said that Frank Herbert's notes included a description of the story and a great deal of character background information. 'But having a roadmap of the U.S. and actually driving across the country are two different things,' he said. 'Brian and I had a lot to work with and a lot to expand...'
the co-authors have expanded on Herbert's brief outline
