The Religions of the Duniverse | Dune Lore

A discussion of a few of the main religions in Frank Herbert's Dune saga and how they formed the ideologies of their followers. Although the story for Frank Herbert’s Universe of Dune takes place some 20,000 years into mankind’s future, many of the prominent religions found across the universe can be traced back to ancient Earth. Religious motivations prove to be a dominant factor in much of what happens throughout the Frank Herbert’s saga. #DUNE #Dunelore #Lore #Religion #FrankHerbert

SPOILER WARNING as I will be discussing a few details regarding these religions that occur throughout the Dune series.

Art Credits
Heighliner by Alex Jay Brady

Music Credits - Background Music: Marion - Only Now

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

Information sources:
Frank Herbert’s Dune Novels

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[kennethcook]

The aspect of Dune that I found fascinating is how the Bene Gesserit manipulated and guided events behind the scenes to control Quizzat Haddaract, only to come a generation or so early due to one of their own disobeying.

[docireland]

You forgot that one religion was kept unchanged. In the later original Dune books it is shown that Judaism remains intact, much like Dan Simmons keeps Catholicism intact in the Hyperion series.

[shopfront]

I've already seen the new movie and am now binging your videos. They are so entertaining and I can't stop watching! Please keep up the great content! <3

[robertsosna]

I'm wondering how Denis Villeneuve will incorporate such concepts into the film. The original novel is part parable, and part warning against charismatic leaders. With the message boiling down to the statement that the worse thing to happen to a society is a hero. (Paraphrased from the novel) It also shows the dangers of manmade religious believes, through religious engineering.

[BbNaB]

The appendix at the end of the first Dune book covering the founding of the OC Bible has some pretty funny parts to it.

[jeffmarlatt]

The religions of Dune are the most interesting aspect of the universe to me.

I dig the Islamic mysticism vibe.

[anydaynow]

I just hope in the current political atmosphere they don't down play the Buddhist and Islamic aspects of Frank's vision.

Full disclosure, this is coming from a Buddhist.

[OdintheGermanShepherd]

The new religion of….The Bene Nerd Cookies Informational Dispenseria …… “follow the beautiful voice to unlock unlimited Dune lore information” ……LOLOL

[bradfordreed]

I'm a student of religion(s), with two relevant Master's degrees; your overview was solid. Between the cynical manipulation of the Missionaria Protectiva, and Paul's own fearful sense of the near-inevitability of the jihad to come, Herbert seems to be aware that religious energy is not all in one direction, neither solely a top-down tool for manipulating the masses, nor a bottom-up wellspring of a collective id. "Religion" is culture writ large-- our aspirations, our "sacred canopies" of how we make narrative sense of our world, our best impulses, our most persistent fears.
If I had even better acquaintance with Semitic languages, I suspect I'd find more clues to Herbert's ideas.

[gregwiens]

Dune has a much more realistic view of religion than Star Trek does.

[esraayousef]

I haven't read the books nor heard of the Dune Saga before, I am an Arab, Muslim woman and when I watched the film I was fascinated by it for its brilliance of course, but also because of the many intriguing references to Islam and Arab Language. to name few:
Lissan Al Ghaib (Arabic) = Tongue of the unseen. He is referred to as Mahdi as well in the saga, and in my religion, he is a Man who appears near the end of human existence, he will rule them with justice and they will live many prosperous years leading them to kingdom come, The Judgment Day. So he is not responsible for saving humanity, instead, he leads them to the end of it but after a prosperous, just and good years of living.

ZenSunni is literally a combination of Zen (Buddhism) Sunni (the main denominations of Islam)

Qadis Alsalaf (Arabic) is translated to = Saints, or Men who practised the correct teachings of the religion and carried it through, the only difference is those men are not holy, they are normal people.

[shanenolan]

As a former theology student. That was very well written elaine

[kharnthebetrayer]

a Universe that needs the Special Love of the Dark Gods ……. And to a lesser extent the emperor of mankind !

[akiyrjana]

I re-activated my Dune genes after the new movie. Read the books some decades ago. Your videos are a delight. For a poet and comparative religion major of yore this one was especially so.

[AVibeSupreme]

“Nerd Cookies… You made my daaay”
Dave Chapelle as P. Diddy

[Jared_Wignall]

Interesting to hear about the various religions of Dune. I’m curious as to how the film will implement them

[GriffinParke]

Great video. Could you make a video about the Atreides soldiers who managed to survive after the Harkonnen's return to Dune.

[necrosunderground]

Thank you for these Dune lore videos, Elaine, and for taking a deeper look into the religious aspects of the story. I always feel like this gets overlooked in the adaptations (I know, there's only so much that can be put into them, so a lot gets left out, but still), but it plays such an important part in Paul's rise to power, and his loss of control over it. Keep 'em coming!

Side note and total fanboy moment: I would pay good money to hear you do an audiobook version of Dune

[Playwithdeutschland]

Love how the language is like arabic, great religion

[theLetterDoubleYou]

@NerdCookies Have you considered doing a dive into the "superpowers" of Dune? I find all of them to be about using a combination of discipline and intellect in order to manipulate one's characteristics. The Bene Gesserit had Prana-bindu, the total mastery of the body to one's mind. The Baron Harkonnen could so thoroughly anticipate his peers he could use a dangerous mentat like Peiter to outwit the Emperor and outlive him. The Duke Leto anticipated and cultivated with precision how others perceived him. Navigators use the spice to understand the flow of minutiae so precisely they can predict the future to a limited degree, allowing the use of the holtzmann without incident. Even the spice more or less mutates what is already latent in hunans, it's not a source of magic.

Tldr: the only superpower is human discipline