Dune | Bene Gesserit Control
Complete control of the populous of the known universe
In the Dune universe, the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, that assists all of the noble houses in function and society are working for their own purpose. The Bene Gesserit sisterhood want to control everything.
And control much they do. They are skilled and highly trained to fight and dance. To be able to see changes in another person’s face to see if they are telling the truth. They can also control themselves to the cellular level, where if they drink position, they are able to neutralize it within themselves rendering it harmless. And that’s just what the individual members can do.
The organization made sure that they would be able to infiltrate humanity where ever they were. So when the planets in the universe were being explored they instilled their Missionaria Protectiva1. This was their ‘religious’ or ‘superstitious’ injection into the populous of the planet, let it grow and when the time comes for a member of the sisterhood to infiltrate, it was easy to do so.
The Bene Gesserit sisterhood are doing this for the good of humanity. And for this to happen it takes time, thousands of year and thousands of lives to steer. This form of control is not fierce nor forceful, it’s a gentle push into the embracing arms of the sisterhood. They want humans to be happy and flourish, but only as they see fit.
But us humans, like you dear reader, can we really be controlled? No, I don’t think so. Even the mighty sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit cannot control humanity, no matter how hard they try. They couldn’t even control one of their own and it led to the reign of the tyrannical God Emperor. I want to have a look at things the Bene Gesserit cannot control and what we can learn to be equally rebellious and dangerous.
“You were told to bear only daughters to the Atreides” - Reverend Mother Helen Gaius Mohiam
Don’t follow Orders
The Lady Jessica, is a Bene Gesserit sister. Her task was to produce a female heir of the Atreides line and raise that child to be one of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood. She doesn’t do that, she has a son, Paul Atreides.
And because of this disobedience, the Lady Jessica gets a visit from a Reverend Mother of the Sisterhood; Gaius Helen Mohaim. This Reverend Mother is old, skilled and well connected, being the Emperor’s personal Truthsayer. Such a person of high esteem to check on a boy produced by one of their own sisters, makes you wonder the gravitas of the Lady Jessica’s choice to disobey the Bene Gesserit orders.
The Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohaim tests Paul Atreides is to see if he is able to control himself. The reverend mother, with her Gom Jabbar at the ready, would kill Paul to remove him from the board. Why? To gain control of their breeding program once again. To get back on track to breeding the Kwisatz Haderach. The Bene Gesserit Sisterhood are breeding the being who can see both male and female genetic memories, who can guide humanity to prosperity, all the while under the control of the sisterhood. If they cannot control this branch, if they cannot make the Kwisatz Haderach one of their own, then it must be removed.
Spoiler, Paul does fine and passes the test. The sisterhood didn’t want to loose such a fine human specimen from their breeding program, but they didn’t have him under their control. As the books and hopefully the film explores that Paul Atreides would throw a wrench into the whole Bene Gesserit plan. The Lady Jessica disobeyed orders and by that one thing, had derailed many years of planning and breeding to have the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood control humanity.
“She’s in my mind. She’s like the ones before me, the ones who gave me their memories. She stands in my Mind! She cannot be there, but she is!” - Reverend Mother Helen Gaius Mohiam
Abominations
Abominations are pre-born children; children who have access to the other memories within the womb. The sisterhood has a rule that these children agree to be killed. Why? abominations cannot be controlled. The ego of the child is not yet fully formed so a powerful, a strong voice in the other memory can come in and take over. Aliya Atreides, younger sister of Paul, has control of herself only for a little time. In her ancestral memory lives the Baron Harkonnen. His voice rises to the surface and overtakes Aliya, she is no longer herself and she is trapped within. Aliya is a prisoner with a front seat to see and feel what the other memory is doing with their face and body. The Baron Harkonnen, in Aliya’s body works to dismantle and destroy the House Atreides.
The TV show the Dune: Prophecy we see a great visualization of what a possession would look and feel like. Sister Lila go through the spice agony and once her other memories are activated, she is possessed by Raquella Berto-Anirul. She is no longer there. Sister Lila is not a embryo or baby, she is an adult but not secure in her sense of self, a weak ego to stand up against the multitude of memories and voices unlocked by the Spice Agony. And a baby, with no experience of their own, their mind being opened up to the other memories, how can they stand up to them?
The Bene Gesserit, do not want abominations. Having a person, unsure if they are themselves or a person from the past could ruin their plans. A powerful loose cannon in their plan to control humanity. The individual is not sure of themselves and not loyal to the sisterhood cannot be trusted. So the preborn, the abominations must be destroyed.
“You may refer to me as ‘my Lady,’ Jessica said. “I’m not noble born. I’m the bound concubine of the Duke Leto”
Again that strange nod, and the woman peered upward at Jessica with a sly questioning. “There’s a wife then?”
“There is not, nor has there ever been. I am the Duke’s only…companion, the mother of his heir-delegate”
Love is Dangerous
Love is a dangerous thing; makes people do strange things (I can speak from experience on this). The Lady Jessica is the concubine to the Duke Leto Atreides. She had instructions to bear daughters from his line for the Bene Gesserit sisterhood to use in their breeding program. One thing that the Sisterhood didn’t factor in was love. The Lady Jessica loves the Duke. She became aware that the Duke wanted a son and either by letting life flow or using her skills of inner self control, she falls pregnant with a boy. Because of love, she disobeys the Bene Gesserit order. Because of this, the Sisterhood loose their foothold, loose control of the breeding program and put in rules so that love cannot interfere with their plan to control humanity.
The love of a mother and child was so dangerous to the Bene Gesserit, that new rules are set up in the later books to remove this connection for their young members. In Heretics of Dune, the character Darwi Odrade is raised with foster parents. She doesn’t know who her biological parents are but her memories of the foster parents are filled with warmth and love. Darwi Odrade remembers the day she was taken from her foster parents, they threw down the sack of money and the foster mother was crying. Later in the book Odrade reveals, through her observation and skills, that Miles Teg2, a soldier for the sisterhood, is her biological father. I feel that she years for the warm familial love she felt as a child and informing her biological father of her being a child of his, would create a parent child connection. It is there but brief in all the action that happens in Heretics of Dune.
The sisterhood want to control their members completely to then control humanity. They go as far as to sever ties of families so that the child they want to use will not be hindered by love.
Fin
The Bene Gesserit want humans to be happy and flourish, but only as they see fit. I gave the end goal of control but not the evidence in the books. Because it’s not explicitly revealed that controlling the universe is what they want to do. But, through their tactics, their set up and their very long term planning; it’s clear they want control.
How they do it is not loud, leadership, it’s gently pushing pieces into place where they want it. A bit of exchange of services, tactics and traps there, it’s sly but effective. Having members follow orders, remove any obstacles or abominations and no love.
To avoid control, by the Bene Gesserit in the Dune universe; disobey orders, become sure in oneself and love.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love - 1 Corinthians 13:13
https://dottore.substack.com/i/148756433/the-bene-gesserit-masters-of-manipulation
https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Miles_Teg