The Power of the Bene Gesserit Voice | Dune Lore

A discussion of the Bene Gesserit voice and how the sisterhood skillfully uses it to impose their will. Spoiler warning if you haven’t read Frank Herbert’s Dune series. Over the many thousands of years since its founding, the sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit sought to further enhance their own natural abilities to the point of appearing to be supernatural to onlookers. Perhaps the most notable of these powers is the ability to control others through the careful manipulation of sound frequencies called the voice.

Music Credits:
Background Music: Marion - Another Day

License for commercial use: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported "Share Alike" (CC BY-SA 3.0) License.

Information sources: Frank Herbert’s Dune Series

Art Credits
Thumbnail Art: Bene Gesserit Art by Dennis Maznev
Images also sourced from the Dune RPG Game (Adventures in the Imperium)

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[bradleynoneofyourbizz]

Do we all remember the terrifying feeling when our mothers yelled at us using our first, middle and last name? OK, now you've got an inkling of what Voice is.

[erikbjelke]

I always loved the idea that using the Voice well requires you to have heard the target speak, the more the better, and superb control to pitch your Voice in just the right way to affect them. I interpreted it as "speaking in the voice of their own thoughts, " so from their perspective, you didn't command them, they just had an idea, so there's no reason not to follow through with it.

[genmaicha.lapsang]

In the books my favourite use of “Voice” was in Children of Dune. When Irulan attempts to use it on Ghanima...and then Ghanima just laughs. It was a nice reminder of how limited Voice can be against someone who knows how to resist it.

[mcnorcan]

Jessica’s use of the Voice on the thopter against the Harkonens in the recent movie was excellent and how I imagined it in the books. Commands were short and to the point.

[ericthompson]

It's helpful to realize that the most important skill involved in the use of the voice is the ability to listen.

[jeffnicholas]

The 2021 version of The Voice resonates (haha!) with me more so than the 1984 version. That thopter scene was terrifying and still gives me literal chills when I think about the way Jessica's voice goes almost demonic as she orders the Harkonens to do what they do. It shows the full range of The Voice's capabilities from simple suggestion to out-and-out commands in an extreme way

[ScriptDoctor]

The voice as portrayed in Dune 2021 was quite effective. But a part of me suspects that Nerd Cookies is trying to unlock its secrets in our world by way of her wonderful youtube videos ;)

[c.ladimore]

the newest dune incarnation has the best examples of the voice because they show that during the "hypnosis" effect the listener has no memory of their actions, and suddenly becomes aware after the command is completed, like a jump-cut. also finally a movie shows how the sand-walking without pattern is done. no one else quite figured out how to visually show it until now.

[acolytesounds]

Awesome cookies! I love how Herbert took human evolution to the extreme. It reminds me of the quote from Khan in Star Trek where he expresses his disappointment in man's physical evolution despite being technologically advanced. This explanation really does add a whole lot of credibility to the weirding way.

[DarkDennis]

"These aren't the droids you're looking for." Lucas is a thief

[jimkenealy]

While about to be dumped in the desert to die Lady J is able to un-gag herself and use the Voice to say " you don't have to fight over me" causing the Thopter pilot and guard to immediately go after one another. This was not how it played-out in the movie. But that use of Power of Suggestion seemed totally plausible to me and made for an exciting read. Cheers!

[Sidragrosm]

The use of The Voice in the newest film was exceptional - We got to see Paul's somewhat amateurish use, which quite luckily worked. The we got to see a true master of said skill, in Jessica, compelling the Harkonned to kill each other as well as giving her the means to finish them off. (Then again, all she REALLY needed to do was get loose - even w/out the voice, had she been free she'd have BUTCHERED them.)
But the best example in the books was when Thufir was all but accusing her of betraying House Atreides, all the while contemplating killing her on the spot - and she literally FORCED him to sit down and be still. " *I HaVe NoT DiSmiSseD, yOu ThUfIr!* " And while she criticized herself for getting angry enough to do so, it was a SUPREMELY effective show of power - as she stated "If I wanted to kill ANYONE, you could not stop me." Talk about hardcore!
Great vid - thanks again, for your efforts.

[Everfalling]

I've always thought of the voice as akin to when a parent speaks to their child to get them to do or not do something. It strikes to the core of how we consider ourselves in relation to authority. I think it might actually be possible for someone to resist the voice if they had never grown up respecting any authority be it parental or otherwise. The problem with this is that The Voice sounds like regular speech to anyone not the target so it's hard to portray. Examples of things that work on similar principals as the voice would be when you ask someone to do a small task for you in order to influence their feelings toward you in a positive way (it makes them unconsciously think "i must have helped this person because i like them) or basically anything a narcissist will do to get their way.

[marknovak]

The voice being used in the scene where Paul and Jessica bring flown into the dessert showed it's best framing it needed only to work on one or two to be effective enough to toward the mission.

[TeddyBear]

I know it gets crapped on a lot, but I really liked the David Lynch version of Dune (particularly the Alan Smithee version of the same film) and that extends to the representation of The Voice as well. In that version The Voice sounds a little different to let the viewer know it is happening, but they also add the echo as it goes through the "victim's" head as they process it. In the new film The Voice also sounds a little different but the accompanying action of its use is in fast forward making the whole thing seem less like a learned ability or some kind of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and more like some kind of magic trick.

[danieldb]

Badass moment in the movie when Lady Jessica uses The Voice to subdue her and her son's captors. The way it was done just had me grinning.

[Davepool-hsvr]

I always have a nerdy day when I get a helping of nerd cookies

[clarkbowen]

Dune 2000 Paul says " Why don't you tell me". That was fantastic.

[LukeBunyip]

The ornithopter scene in the recent movie was exciting, but for shear power... "KNEEL!"

[MrCicatrix]

Killer content as usual. Thank you very much!