Dune, Medicine and Mycology

The worm is a spice.  The spice is a worm.

There is a race of people in Dune which is myth-logically synonymous with what is commonly called the “Grey Alien.”  One of the common beliefs among abductees is that the Greys are using human experimentation to try to create “alien babies” to combat their own infertility.  Versions of this theory often state that Grey aliens are “us” from the future, returning to obtain genetic material to fix some future sterility of the human race.  I’ve written before about how I think it’s irresponsible to write aliens out of the Dune myth.  They’re a massive aspect of the Dune storyline, and they’re called the Bene Tleilax.

From Wikipedia:  “The Tleilaxu are described as short, dwarf-like characters with gray skin, hair and eyes, elfin features and pointy teeth.  Tleilaxu Masters control their creations by forcing them into a hypnotic state with some predefined, implanted sound (often a specific humming or whistling noise)”

Tlielaxu are also immortal, have trouble reproducing conventionally, and are experts at cloning.  They have a slave class of servants called “face-dancers” who they use to infiltrate and impersonate important personages, replacing key power positions with their pawns.  Tlielaxu are the inventors of axolotl tanks, which are used for cloning mélange spice and people.  The growth of mélange spice in tanks, implies something about the spice which we could also intimate from the life cycle of the worm:  The spice is a mushroom.


"The thought of that water beneath him was maddening. He imagined it now--sealed off in strata of porous rock by the leathery half-plant, half-animal little makers--and the thin rupture that was pouring a cool stream of clearest, pure, liquid, soothing water into . . .
    A pre-spice mass!"

Mushroom supplementation is common within Traditional Tibetan and Chinese Medicine, selling at thousand dollars a pop for some rare species.  Promising research has linked mushrooms with Cancer treatment, cardiovascular problems, immune support, and even neuroregeneration. 

So, if mélange (spice) had a real world counterpart, what would it be?  There are some likely candidates.  First of which is Cordyceps, or winter worm mushroom.  Cordyceps, in the wild, grows on (and eventually kills) rare Tibetan caterpillar which makes it an Entomopathogenic fungus.  The Cordyceps genus of fungi is especially interesting because it has the ability to turn the host into a “zombie” and modify its behavior.  Cordyceps is used as a performance enhancer in sports  and is believed to enhance oxygen uptake.  Cordyceps is one of many mushrooms being grown in lab environments on media.  Of course, if you can’t get real spice, axolotl-tank-variety is the next best!

The word Axolotl refers to the reproductive tanks in the Dune stories, in real life an Axolotl is a gilled salamander-like aquatic animal native to Mexico.  Perhaps Herbert was making a reference to the aquatic-ape appearance of an undeveloped fetus.  In later novels it is revealed that “Axolotl tanks” are actually human wombs.

Another interesting mushroom I would like to discuss is called Lion’s Mane or hedgehog mushroom.  Lion’s Mane is unique in its potential use as a neuroregenerative, which is the ability to grow/regrow neural tissue.  This places Lion’s Mane at the forefront of my list of possible real world versions of mélange.  In Dune, mélange spice served the purpose of a life-lengthening, mind-expanding, food flavoring, wonder drug.  Is there a real world mushroom that does all of this?  Perhaps no, but visualize mélange as a fictional stand-in for all mushrooms; then we might be on to something.

Neither, then, is the mushroom the only Medicine/Drug within the pages of Dune.  We just have to look a little harder.   

The Fremen warriors, natives of Dune, are famous for their water-conserving stillsuits:

"Properly suited, your forehead cap tight, all seals in order, your major
water loss is through the palms of your hands," Kynes said. "You can wear suit gloves if you're not using your hands for critical work, but most Fremen in the open desert rub their hands with juice from the leaves of the creosote bush. It inhibits perspiration."

Herbert thought of everything, it seems, and even accounted for the loss of water in the form of sweat through the hands and face.  The stillsuit was not perfect; manual labor and practicality still required the Fremen stillsuits to allow use of the face and hands.  Herbert hospitably explains that the Fremen rubbed the oil of the Creosote Bush on their faces and hands which acted as a natural anti-perspirant, preventing water-loss.  Creosote has been used by Native Americans for many different skin issues, mainly for its antibacterial properties.  In the spirit of finding more appropriate real-world analogues of Herbert’s ideas, is there a real world counterpart for this anti-sweat plant?

Sage (Salvia officinalis), common to kitchen use, can be contrasted with Sage(Salvia dorrii) of a more ritually-used type.   Sage is probably the best natural anti-perspirant to be had, it is said to cut perspiration by 50%!  Sage oil is not advised to be taken orally.    

The danger of sage-oil is caused by a certain chemical contained in sage, similar in this sense to Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) and Wormwood, (Artemisia absinthum.)  Sage oil has an extremely high content of a drug called Thujone.  It is important to note that some chemicals which are highly dangerous orally can be less dangerous when absorbed through the skin. 

Sage(Salvia dorrii) has been a common herb in the Native American tradition, and is often burned for its scent and mild hallucogenic properties.  While both Grocery-market Sage and other taxonomic varieties may contain lesser or greater amounts of Thujone, many spice companies artificially dry Sage at high temperatures, which may reduce Thujone content.  Excessive ingestion of Thujone through the skin or otherwise has been documented to cause dangerous epileptic episodes, especially among those predisposed to seizure-related medical issues.

Were the Fremen based on Native Americans?

Herbert was clearly familiar with Native American Myths, and I believe, Kaballah, which is to say either Western or Hebrew mysticism.  Herbert wrote a book called Soul Catcher which touched upon a quite a few Native American myths.  Clearly Dune uses Islamic-sounding names, which would take some time to completely flesh out.  Thankfully, one website article: Islamic themes in Frank Herbert’s Dune(see source #1, below) makes an effort to explain etymologies according to possible Arabic sources/meanings in a helpful chart format.  Herbert did not restrict himself to a single culture or knowledge base, which I will get back to in a few paragraphs when I discuss the etymology of “Bene-Gesserit.”

In Dune, Paul Atreides has visions of his future wife/concubine Chani before arriving on Dune, he sees her in the water catch basins, calling to him.  Chani’s other, tribal name is Sihaya, which means desert spring.  That Herbert used the Hebrew word Chia or Chiam as a meaningful phonetic basis for Chani’s name is likely.  Chia is a Hebrew word meaning life, as in the phrase Etz Chaim or Tree of Life.

I have discussed the generative womb and it’s symbolic connections with the Sephirah Binah and fountain/Tree of Life symbolism.  Chani also bears some resemblance to the Native American word Cheyenne. 

According to Wikipedia, the name Cheyenne derives from a Dakota Sioux exonym, Sahiyena, meaning “little Sahiya” apparently referring to an ethnic group. 

Chani-Sihaya

Cheyenne-Sahiyena

The Meaning of Bene-Gesserit

According to Islamic/Arabic Etymology:  “The witch sisterhood, or class that Paul's mother belonged to are called Bene Gesserit. The phrase in Arabic means "Sons of the Island/Peninsula". The Arabian peninsula is often called "Al Jazirah" (The Peninsula). Also, the term "Beni" can mean descent from, or a village/town originally inhabited by a tribe/clan. However, an alternative explanation is possible, that the origin is Latin, and means "he/she will do well", or "it will have been well borne". Perhaps Herbert was playing with words, and intended dual meaning here, although I doubt it, since the Bene Tleilaxu share the same prefix "Bene", but seems to be inspired by Central and South American history.” (Source #1)

In a response to my post “The Great Reconciler” a reader had an interesting comment that Djeserit means “Holy Woman” in Egyptian.  To which I responded:  I wonder if the word you mention is related to the Hebrew word for leader or bee?

The Hebrew word Davar means leader, and is also the root word for “speak” “honeybee” and “Deborah.” 

In Egyptian Hieroglyphs, the letter Djed(which may be phonetically and etymologically related to Djeserit) means “spine” and is often written side-by-side with the Tyet hieroglyph, and the two symbols are said to represent Osiris and Isis.  

The prefix “bene” has the connotation of “good” as in Benevolent or Benefactor.  Therefore the new/expanded meaning of Bene-Gesserit would be Good-Leader or perhaps even more appropriately:  Beneficent Matriarch.

Disclaimer:  (Since I’ve been discussing several medical uses of herbs/mushrooms.)  These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Talk to your doctor before trying any of these things!

This is a sequel post, see the original post here: http://wheretimeturnsintospace.blogspot.com/2012/05/dune-planetology-and-mythology-thehorse.html

Source #1:  http://baheyeldin.com/literature/arabic-and-islamic-themes-in-frank-herberts-dune.html

Source #2:  Paul Stamet’s Mushroom Website:  http://www.fungi.com/host-defense-capsules.html

Source #3:  A good Herbal Reference:  http://www.witchway.net/herbal/herbal1.html

Source #4:  http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Deborah.html#.UQUq5B3BEbA

Source #5:  http://www.inner.org/hebleter/hei.htm

Source #6:  http://myword.info/definition.php?id=bene_1-a

Cordyceps against cancer?
http://www.naturalnews.com/028409_cordyceps_cancer.html