Dune Goddess: Witchcraft and Frank Herbert By Alexandra ... · Paul displayed many supernatural...

Individual Term Paper

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Dune Goddess: Witchcraft and Frank Herbert

By

Alexandra Chauran

Culture of Formal Work Organizations

Dr. Lee Allen

October 3rd, 2013

Valdosta State University


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Introduction

Paul displayed many supernatural talents in Frank Herber’s Dune, many of which

in the storyline were attributed to his parentage and training by a Bene Gesserit witch.

Herbert said that his own mother, Beverly Herbert was a “white witch” or a “good witch”

with the ability to see the future (Loc. 10145-52). This paper will explore the

phenomenon of witchcraft in lore, in order to understand why those seemingly

supernatural characteristics are applied to people. How might the apparently

supernatural characteristics that Paul exhibited by explained or duplicated? Was it his

inhuman talent, exceptional skill, political showmanship, or all of the above?

What are Paul’s apparently supernatural characteristics?

First, Paul’s apparently supernatural characteristics must be catalogued. He

displayed some talents that seemed to be inhuman, but others such as political

showmanship and mental acuity that could have simply been his strengths as an

exceptional human being. Here are some examples of Paul’s talents, and how they

presented in the book.

Inhuman Talent

Paul’s mental powers were stronger than those of other characters in the book,

and presumably other humans outside of the realm of fiction. In order to represent the

average functioning of the human mind, Paul’s mother Jessica recalled a quote by St.

Augustine, “The mind commands the body and it obeys. The mind orders itself and

meets resistance (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1071-77).” Ordinarily, the ability to completely


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control one’s mind is beyond the reach of any one person. However, Paul seemed

throughout the book to have complete control over his mental faculties to a degree that

was unexpected by surrounding characters.

Another smart character, Yueh, was unable to understand Paul’s role in the

world, and seemed to believe that Paul’s understanding was above his own. Yueh

mused that, “for the first time, he was caught up in the thought that he might be part of a

pattern more involuted and complicated than his mind could grasp (Herbert 2003, Loc.

1123-14).” Even though that pattern was beyond normal human understanding, Paul

was able to grasp the ultimate pattern behind it all by the end of the book.

Exceptional Skill

Paul also has skills that are uniquely suited to his challenging lifestyle. Some of

those talents seem to have been his birthright through luck or breeding, and other skills

were developed during years of childhood training. His father observed his son’s

intellectual skills thusly: “The Duke permitted himself a moment of grim satisfaction,

looking at his son and thinking how penetrating, how truly educated that observation

had been (Herbert 2003, Loc. 875-78).” Paul is just plain smart, and that shines through

in everything he does, making otherwise insane endeavors seem to turn out in his favor.

Dr. Kynes describes Paul like this: “He had ‘the questing eyes,’ and the air of

‘reserved candor (Herbert 2003, Loc. 2078-81).’” He has natural talents of openness

and questioning, and these talents combine with his sharp intelligence to create an

unstoppable learning machine.

Political Showmanship


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Halleck mused about Paul’s showmanship. “I’m infected by mood, he thought.

And he began to wonder about Paul, if the boy ever listened fearfully to his pillow

throbbing in the night. ‘If wishes were fishes we’d all cast nets,’ he murmured (Herbert

2003, Loc. 764-66).” Paul’s political showmanship was so effective, that others around

him wondered if he suffered the same human pitfalls of emotion. To them, Paul

seemed to have an air of aloofness and superiority that was untouchable.

Another description in the book shows the seat of power from which Paul’s

political showmanship springs. “Paul studied the man, sensing the aura of power that

radiated from him. He was a leader (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1822-23).” Paul’s social

acumen allowed him to carefully evaluate those around him to decide their place in his

own mental hierarchy, and to respond to them accordingly. These skills served him well

as a leader.

Archetypes

One psychological and sometimes theological construct that gives people power

is the archetypes. Archetypes, in Dune, are symbolic roles that the characters play in

the social structure that take on deeper and greater meanings than the individuals that

fill those roles. Reverend Mother teaches that, “the mystery of life isn’t a problem to

solve, but a reality to experience (Herbert 2003, Loc. 670-72).” Archetypes are an

important part of that reality and a part of the human experience as he or she tries to

understand the world.

Archetypes can be used to understand public administration and management as

a simpler concepts of positive and negative myths (Maidment 2002, 187). One of the


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key archetypes in the book is the archetype of the messiah, which was a central plot

point for Paul. Thought Paul, “They’ve a legend here, a prophecy, that a leader will

come to them, child of a Bene Gesserit, to lead them to true freedom. It follows the

familiar messiah pattern (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1986-88).” The pattern of the messiah

transcends religious denominations, and the power it gives to Paul in society is

immeasurable. But, the Messiah is not the only archetype to appear in the book.

In Dune, Leto speaks of a person who gained so many allies as to become a

local deity (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1675-77). Deities can be understood as archetypes, and

in this case a man became the God of alliances in a sense. He formed so many

alliances that he came to embody the archetypical act of one who forms such a bond

with others.

The Fremen also have an archetype called Old Father Eternity (Herbert 2003,

Loc. 3873-75) and one called Old Father Sun (Herbert 2003, Loc. 6602). In this case,

the two fathers are as Gods. The archetypes of Eternity and Sun can correspond with

many symbolic meanings of each of those things. Whenever a Fremen has need to call

upon the powers of the sun or the powers of Eternity, he or she need only turn to those

archetypes to understand them and to propitiate them in a highly personal way. The

seemingly limitless and uncontrollable powers of time and space suddenly become

personalized father figures, and the Fremen their children.

The Father is another powerful archetype. Princess Irulan wrote, “Many facts

open the way to this Duke: his abiding love for his Bene Gesserit lady; the dreams he

held for his son; the devotion with which men served him. You see him there – a man

snared by Destiny, a lone figure with his light dimmed behind the glory of his son. Still,


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one must ask: What is the son but an extension of the father (Herbert 2003, Loc. 841-

44)?” The son has the father archetype to look up to, and to perhaps someday become.

However, the vision of the archetype can sometimes be eroded, and the

experience can be very disillusioning. Irulan quotes Paul, “There is probably no more

terrible instant of enlightenment than the one in which you discover your father is a man

– with human flesh (Herbert 2003, Loc. 2012-14).” In this case, Paul is referring to the

fact that he realized his father was not a deity, an archetypical father God, but just

another man like himself.

Herbert uses classic witch archetypes. In particular, his description of the old

Bene Gesserit Truthsayer witch is a “witch caricature – sunken cheeks and eyes, an

overlong nose, skin mottled and with protruding veins” with clawlike hands who cackles

(Herbert 2003, Loc. 8710-57). The witch archetype doesn’t only appear in Halloween

decorations, but it also appears in lore through human history as a pervading archetype.

More can be said about the relationship between Paul and the archetype of the witch.

Witchcraft and the divine feminine

Witches in myth, and accused witches in history, have traditionally been women

slandered due to their femininity and perhaps age and place in society (de Blecourt

2000, 187). In Scotland, elderly women on the outskirts of society were blamed for

blights on crops and subsequently killed. In Dune, witchcraft is also frequently suspect

whenever people feel that they are being controlled or affected negatively in some way.

Even Paul, raised by a witch, falls prey to this cultural way of thinking in this example:


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“Paul stared at her. She said purpose and he felt the word buffet him, reinfecting

him with terrible purpose. He experienced a sudden anger at her: fatuous old witch with

her mouth full of platitudes. […] What made her so sure (Herbert 2003, Loc. 556-63)?”

In this case, her involvement in witchcraft is turned to as soon as Paul becomes

uncomfortable with what she is saying to him. Paul notes this behavior in others as

well, perhaps paradoxically.

Of Jessica, Paul said, “When my father is bothered by something you’ve done he

says ‘Bene Gesserit!’ like a swear word (Herbert 2003, Loc.1494-95).” Gurney also

uses the swear word “she-witch” in Dune, and calls Jessica evil (Herbert 2003, Loc.

8070-72). It would seem that “witch,” although a normal part of society in Dune, is still

on the outskirts of acceptability, and is easily made into a scapegoat.

Here are a few more examples of witches being blamed for negative

circumstances in Dune. Yueh blamed witchcraft for the fact that his wife never bore him

children (Herbert 2003, Loc. 11211-13). His own wife was eventually killed for being a

Bene Gesserit (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1241-47). The Baron sought to place the blame for

the Duke’s death on Jessica (Herbert 2003, Loc. 4488-89). Even Jessica worried that

her Bene Gesserit training was the reason that she was kept around by her beloved

Duke (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1268-73).

Thufir is more blatant with his hatred of what he calls “Bene Gesserit witches,”

angry that such witches can “look through a man” and make him do things (Herbert

2003, Loc. 3026-36). He suspected Jessica to be a traitor and passed along the

suspicion to the Fremen (Herbert 2003, Loc. 4905-8). In this way, the fear of witchcraft

on Arrakis is cross-cultural, as it is here on earth today.


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Take this powerful exchange for an example of blaming witches: “Jamis roared.

‘There was witch-force at Tuono Basin and I’ll prove it now!’[…] ]Sje tries a spell on me!’

Jamis gasped. He put his clenched fist right beside his ear. ‘I invoke the silence on her!’

‘So be it then,’ Stilgar said. He cast a warning glance at Jessica. ‘If you speak again,

Sayyadina, we’ll know it is your witchcraft and you’ll be forfeit. (Herbert 2003, Loc. 5750-

53).’” This lose-lose situation to silence women is reminiscent of the witch trials in

which witches were thrown bound into the river to see if they floated or drowned. If

they floated and lived, they were immediately killed for witchcraft. If they sank and died,

they were deemed innocent and cleared of their crimes, but were far too dead to enjoy

these privileges.

“He blamed everyone in sight, not excepting even me, for he said I was a witch

like all the others (Herbert 2003, Loc. 3900-3901).” This is Jessica’s sad experience of

being a witch and the subject of such blame. But, what is the source of this powerful

hatred of witches, especially on a planet where men like Paul can seem to gain equally

mystical powers? Witchcraft is tied to the feminine, and as such it is only women in

Dune who are persecuted (Although, it must be said that here on earth male sorcerers

are persecuted in countries like Nigeria and Saudi Arabia).


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The witch archetype is the lowest in African spirit hierarchy (Maidment 2002,

188). She is the evil character in fairy tales read across the United States and makes

frequent appearances in horror movies. In a way, the female is dehumanized when in

her witch archetype. However, she may also be perceived as super human. In Dune,

one clue as to the source of her power is in the divine feminine. Frequent references

are made to an archetypical mother deity.

“I know the Dark Things and the ways of the Great Mother (Herbert 2003, Loc.

1071-77),” Jessica says. In fact, Jessica makes reference to a female deity more times

(Herbert 2003, Loc. 1118-24). Yueh invokes the Great Mother (Herbert 2003, Loc.

1241) as does Gurney (7813). “Merciful Mother (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1467-69)!” “Mother

Goddess (Herbert 2003, Loc. 2078-81).” Great Mother (Herbert 2003, Loc. 4817-18)!”

She describes her feelings upon hearing music in her heart as Pagan (Herbert 2003,


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Loc. 6139).” A little bit of the Neopagan bent of Herbert’s wife may be showing through

here, as there are women who identify as witches who do worship the divine feminine

today in the real world.

The great mother deity archetype in Dune appears to, like many maternal deities,

be associated with creation. Jessica said: “Did you think that I, knowing the mysteries

of the Great Mother, would not know the Maker (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1102-4)?” In doing

so, she both referred to a destructive weapon and a creative archetype.

Dune played with destruction and creation, especially regarding poisonous drugs

such as the spice. “Bene Gesserit training included the taste of many drugs (Herbert

2003, Loc. 6768).” Like shamanic witches in many cultures, the witches in Dune used

entheogens in order to get closer to deity. Jessica even transformed a poisonous drug

into something safe for life with her own body. In this way, she embodied the Goddess

archetype, who brings life into the world from the spirits of the dead through her womb.


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But what are these sacred characteristics of femininity that seem to have the

men fearful and distrustful? In Dune, these are exemplified also as powers of the mind.

For example, the training that the witches use in order to control their thoughts is as a

practice of magic. For example, in Jessica’s practice shown here:

“She went through the quick regimen of calmness – the two deep breaths, the

ritual thought, then: ‘When I assign rooms, is there anything special I should reserve for

you?’ ‘You must teach me someday how you do that,’ he said, ‘ the way you trust your

worries aside and turn to practical matters. It must be a Bene Gesserit thing.’ ‘It’s a

female thing,’ she said Herbert 2003, (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1028-31)”

In this case, the mental practice of controlling the mind is made to seem

inaccessible to the male. In another instance in the book, Jessica’s practice was

described thusly: “It took all of her training to prevent a fit of hysterical trembling (Loc.


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1467-69).” Ironically, hysteria comes from a Victorian diagnosis that was only applied to

women who were considered of weak mind. In the futuristic world of Dune, it is only the

weak and untrained of either gender who might fall prey to this mode of thinking.

The witch mind seems to make quick connections. For example, in this moment:

“Jessica felt the cold sheath of the crysknife beneath her bodice, thought of the long

chain of Bene Gesserit scheming that had forged another link here (Herbert 2003, Loc.

1143-44).” Her broader understanding of events and loose associations allowed her to

be more perceptive. This leads to the concept of intuition, anther characteristic that is

most frequently applied to women in our culture. In Dune, intuition is experienced by

witches as well as Paul.

Intuition

Intuition can be thought of as a supernatural talent of being able to perceive

something that is not otherwise sensed by ordinary senses, especially if those

perceptions are precognitive. Jessica describes herself as feeling filled with

premonition (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1521-22). In this case, the premonition is precognitive,

and it comes to her as a thought instead of through a vision or other sensation.

Paul’s experience of intuition is more vivid. “He remembered once seeing a

gauze kerchief blowing in the wind and now he sensed the future as though it twisted

across some surface as undulant and impermanent as that of the windblown kerchief.

He saw people. He felt the heat and cold of uncounted probabilities. He knew names

and places, experienced emotions without number, reviewed data of innumerable

unexplored crannies. There was time to probe and test and taste, but no time to shape.


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The thing was a spectrum of possibilities from the most remote past to the most remote

future – from the most probable to the most improbable. He saw his own death in

countless ways. He saw new planets, new cultures. People. People. He saw them in

such swarms that they could not be listed, yet his mind catalogued them. (Herbert 2003,

Loc. 3772-78).”

Some other moments in Dune described Paul’s intuition in a more subtle way.

When Hawat is unable to trick Paul because of Paul’s ability to intuit who in the room

was sneaking up on him, it causes Hawat to think, “That witch mother of his is giving

him the deep training, certainly. I wonder what her precious school thinks of that

(Herbert 2003, Loc. 587-90)?” The intuition, in this case, was Paul being able to intuit

Hawat’s intentions without the ability to see or hear his approach.

Paul also seems to have the luck of stumbling across things that are meaningful,

as when he accidentally quoted Yueh’s late wife’s favourite scripture “Such a small

thing. Yet, it contained a mystery… something had happened when he read from it. He

had felt something stir his terrible purpose (Herbert 2003, Loc. 822-33).” This example

shows two different forms of intuition, first when Paul stumbles upon something of

significance without the aid of memory or other ordinary forms of recognition, and

second when Paul has a precognitive moment of understanding his purpose.

Dreams are another important part of intuition. The Reverend Mother

interrogated Paul about his dreams, their frequency and significance “Tell me truly now,

Paul, do you often have dreams of things that happen afterward exactly as you


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dreamed them (Herbert 2003, Loc. 517-27)?” She quizzes him: “How do you know the

difference?” She asks, meaning between those dreams that are meaningful and those

that are flights of fancy. “I just know it.” He replies. This speaks to the central

conundrum surrounding intuition and precognition, which is how to tell true forecasting

apart from flights of fancy.

Perhaps the desire to puzzle out the difference between true and false intuition

will come with the need. Irulan writes of Paul, “People need hard times and oppression

to develop psychic muscles (Herbert 2003, Loc. 3168-70).” In Dune, those hard times

brought Paul, who was elevated to a divine archetype status for his ability to have

women’s intuition and still remain a man, with all of the father leader powers that can

manifest.

The mysticism of nature

Women have always been associated with nature, so much so to the point that

femininity and nature are inextricably bound (MacSwain 2009, 23). In Dune, nature is

the source of supernatural power and also the expression of it. Again, returning to the

idea of archetypes, in an Arrakis hymn, the wild beasts or worms are typified as Gods.

“Wild beasts of the desert do hunt there, Waiting for the innocents to pass. Oh-h-h,

tempt not the gods of the desert (Herbert 2003, Loc. 2304-5).”

It is not only animals that take on mystical meaning in Dune. Paul says of

Reverend Mother’s teachings, “She said a good ruler has to learn his world’s language

[…] She said that she meant the language of the rocks and growing things, the

language you don’t hear just with your ears. And I said that’s what Dr. Yueh calls the


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Mystery of Life… (Herbert 2003, Loc. 648).” Reverend Mother teaches that mother

earth as an archetype is a Goddess that can speak the mysteries of life and rebirth from

death that she holds through the language of nature.

Again, Reverend Mother’s words are recalled by Paul when he thinks of nature

with respect to reality and the present. “He recalled another thing the old woman had

said, about a world being the sum of many tings – the people, the dirt, the growing

things, the moons, the tides, the suns – the unknown sum called nature, a vague

summation without any sense of the now. And he wondered: What is the now (Herbert

2003, Loc. 670-72)?” Nature is an expression of the observation of present

surroundings, but it is also repeated in patterns throughout time. This philosophical

musing of Paul shows how nature can be part of an individual’s spiritual understanding.

Nature reverence, too, was shown as a cultural phenomenon. In a funeral

ceremony, ashes were likened to roots (Loc. 5922-23). This metaphor shows the

connection of nature with the cycle of death and rebirth. It also helps convey a deeper

concept. Nature was again used as a metaphor using a tree symbol earlier in Dune.

An internal monologue of the character Halleck was, “I am the well-trained fruit tree, he

thought. Full of well-trained feelings and abilities and all of them grafted onto me – all

bearing for someone else to pick (Herbert 2003, Loc. 756-59).” This quote is also

interesting because it brings in the idea of controlling nature, or human interference with

nature. In Dune, human interference was sometimes possible and desired, but at other

times was quite impossible, to the destruction of civilization’s goals.

Much of Dune, was spent with Herbert painting beautiful imagery of the planet of

Arrakis. Here is only one of the many examples: “On the southern horizon, the night’s


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second moon peered through a thin dust haze – an unbelieving moon that looked at him

with a cynical light (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1997-98).” The moon is described many times in

Dune, and it is said that the Fremen pray to the moon (Herbert 2003, Loc. 6027-29).

The moon is an important symbol related to the feminine through the menstrual cycle,

and so too the Goddess. Here is another moment in Dune that observes the moon.

“As the Duke watched, the moon dipped beneath the Shield Wall cliffs, frosting

them, and in the sudden intensity of darkness, he experienced a chill. He shivered.

Anger shot through him. […] I must rule with eye and claw – as the hawk among lesser

birds (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1999-2007).” Two important symbols in the book are shown

here, the moon and the hawk. In this case, the mystery of the moon leads to a feeling

of being threatened, which turn’s Duke’s mind to his protective and masculine symbol of

the hawk.

Essentially, in Dune nature means power, and it is the source of all Paul’s power.

The Duke is explicit about this when he makes the following reference to nature’s

elements. “’On Caladan, we ruled with sea and air power,’ the Duke said. ‘Here we

must scrabble for desert power (Herbert 2003, Loc. 2058-60).’” Nature’s power was

easily channeled to human ends on his home planet. On Dune, natural power is still

abundant, but it is very difficult to harness. It is Paul’s ability to gain the power of

Arrakis’ nature that makes him special, especially considering that he is a man and not

a woman tied to nature by her associations with a nature Goddess.

Of course, no discussion of nature on Arrakis would be complete without

understanding the spice. The spice, is an allegory for life and the natural functions of

the human body and mind. “It’s like life – it presents a different face each time you take


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it. Some hold that the spice produces a learned-flavor reaction. The body learning a

thing is good for it, interprets the flavor as pleasurable – slightly euphoric. And, like life,

never to be truly synthesized (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1283-90).”

The worms have control over the spice, they create it, and without the worms the

spice would not be (Herbert 2003, Loc. 2280-82). Most of the surface of the very planet

itself is a product of worm digestion (Herbert 2003, Loc. 9425). The worms are actually

a personification of nature itself. Uncontrollable and valuable, destructive and useful.

The worms become an archetype, the Gods of the desert. Worms are described as

being “part of the desert” and: “Its great teeth within the cavern-circle of its mouth

spread like some enormous flower. The spice odor from it dominated the air (Herbert

2003, Loc. 7640-42).

Kynes quotes a rule of ecology as, “The struggle between life elements is the

struggle for the free energy of a system (Herbert 2003, Loc. 2684-86).” In Dune, the

struggle between the worms and the humans brings to life the ancient battle between

mankind and nature in a new way. Interestingly, as women and witches have always

been thought of as controllers of nature and linked to the natural world, so Paul

becomes a sort of male witch, performing the magic stunt of riding the worm.

How the apparently supernatural characteristics that Paul exhibited might be

explained

Of course, Paul’s supernatural characteristics can have many explanations. The

first and most obvious is the religious theme of the book, which is that human spirituality

carries a psychological and social power. Take this moment when Yueh is preparing to


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betray Paul: “Yueh watched Paul work on the page adjustment, thought: I salve my

own conscience. I give him the surcease of religion before betraying him. Thus may I

say to myself that he has gone where I cannot go (Herbert 2003, Loc. 816).” In turn,

Paul can give others the surcease of religion when he becomes the messiah archetype

controlling the nature of Arrakis.

But what of Paul’s mystical intuition? It can be claimed that everyone has the

potential to use intuition in the ways that Paul displays. “You never talk of likelihoods on

Arrakis. You speak only of possibilities” Kynes said (Herbert 2003, Loc. 2122-23). It

just so happened that Paul made those possibilities come to pass. Anyone can create

their own destinies, however some choose not to develop such skills because of feeling

disempowered or because it is not an appropriate social role for some individuals,

particularly men.

The final explanation, to which I have alluded before, is that Paul has

characteristics of the divine masculine and the divine feminine all in one. The Duke

says of the locals on Arrakis, “We are father and mother surrogate to them all (Herbert

2003, Loc. 2577-79).” This is particularly true of Paul because he is both Goddess of

the control of nature and the God of fatherly leadership. By being a man witch, he

defies all of the ordinary archetypes to become a more powerful combined archetype.

“’I am the mother of this boy,’ Jessica said. ‘In part, his strength which you

admire is the product of my training.’ ‘The strength of a woman can be boundless,’

Stilgar said. ‘Certain it is in a Reverend Mother (Herbert 2003, Loc. 5362-64).’” Paul’s

strength is the strength of a woman combined with the strength of a man. The sacred

union which brings forth creation and thus power.


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How the apparently supernatural characteristics that Paul exhibited might be

duplicated

Paul’s supernatural characteristics can be duplicated by exploring each of the

factors which explain them. Firstly, religion must be examined. “Religion unifies our

forces. It’s our mystique (Herbert 2003, Loc. 7278).” Religion still empowers individuals

today, and it will continue to do so in the future despite any efforts to separate church

and state in nations like the United States. There will still be those who seek the

surcease of religion in their leaders, and there will always be leaders who are willing to

happily oblige.

Intuition can be developed and embraced. Certain, a careful examination of

patterns is a major part of study and forecasting in Western scholarship. When

Reverend Mother speaks to Jessica, she says, “I see in the future what I’ve seen in the

past. You well know the pattern of our affairs, Jessica. The race knows its own

mortality and fears stagnation of its heredity. It’s in the bloodstream – the urge to

mingle genetic strains without plan (Herbert 2003, Loc. 479-87).” Likewise, we all have

to resist the urge not to plan out of fears that the future can never be seen in its entirety.

Forecasting is no longer an emerging art, but an essential part of leadership.

Jessica quotes from the Missionaria Protectiva’s stock of incantations, “The thing

must take its course (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1118-24).” Kwisatz Haderach simply means

“the shortening of the way (Herbert 2003, Loc. 2564-65).” Essentially, this means:

Whatever will be will be. Ideally, a good leader must shorten the way, or take the

quickest path towards our shared goals. This form of intuitive leadership can overcome

what Paul calls “the blackness of tomorrow (Herbert 2003, Loc. 766-67).” The future, no


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matter how bleak, must be honestly acknowledged in order for a leader to advance his

or her people out of the flames.

Creating the future involves a degree of destruction. “Arrakis teaches the attitude

of the knife” Irulan writes of Paul, “chopping off what’s incomplete and saying: ‘Now it’s

complete because it’s ended here (Herbert 2003, Loc. 3360-62).’” In this case, anyone

can accurately predict the future by protecting and limiting.

Observation and study is another important aspect of intuition. Paul said to

Jessica, “Had we better go over the house later ourselves? Your eyes might see things

others would miss (Herbert 2003, Loc. 1486-87).” Paul also says of this specialized

observation: “I have another kind of sight” Paul says, “I see another kind of terrain: The

available paths (Loc. 3782).” This way of seeing is not limited to Paul or particularly

mystical. It can easily be recreated through habits of mind or even training.

“The way the mind will lean under stress is strongly influenced by training

(Herbert 2003, Loc. 5030-33).” Leaders should be properly trained in order to achieve

some of these seemingly supernatural powers that Paul displayed. Certainly, in this

work of fiction Paul was trained by a witch, but when the mystery is revealed, it turns out

that the witch archetype has wisdom to bestow. Mental control is underrated in our

society today.

Finally, it is important to note that there can never be another Paul, and not just

because he is a fictional character. Irulan quotes Paul, “Greatness is a transitory

experience. It is never consistent. It depends in part upon the myth-making imagination

of humankind. The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth


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he is in (Herbert 2003, Loc. 2472-78).” Just as the future is a shifting and changing

beast, taking on new forms with each new choice, a leader is shaped by his or her

context. What may seem to be incredible powers for Paul might be average or even

useless in another society with other needs and troubles. Thus, part of the role of the

intuitive leader is to co-create destiny with the surrounding environment and peoples.

Conclusion

This paper has explored the phenomenon of witchcraft in lore in order to

understand why those seemingly supernatural characteristics are applied by people. It

turns out that the apparently supernatural characteristics exhibited by Paul can be

explained and duplicated through training, the psychology of archetypes and religion in

a cultural context, and through the earnest application of intuition. Paul was a political

showman, and an exceptionally skilled one at that. However, his talents were not

inhuman. Indeed, his talents were often times an essential expression of the human

condition.

Bibliography

Allen, Lee. 2013. “Forecasting Backcasting” (presented in Cultures of Formal Work

Organizations class

at Valdosta State University in Fall of 2013).

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