[Dune] – Part 1 explained – Bene Gesserit feat. Dune & Starwars

Gaius Helen Mohiam – Reverend Mother  - Charlotte Rampling

Gauis Helen Mohiam is the Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit in Dune Part 1. She puts Paul Atreides by the Gom jabbar test which requires immense discipline and endurance to pain and focus of the mind.

Gaius Helen Mohiam also compromises with Vladimir Harkonnen and tried to protect Lady Jessica and Paul Atreides as Lady Jessica is a member of the Bene Gesserit and Paul Atreides was a potential Kwisatz Haderach candidate.

 

 

Charlotte Rampling plays the role of Gaius Helen Mohiam in Dune Part 1. She has acted for various television series and on stage. She has been acknowledged as a judge for the Berlin Movie festival, and Canne Movie festival.

 

 

Origin of the Bene Gesserit

During the tyranny of the thinking machines, humanity develops a human-centric ideology which emphasizes the greatness of humanity while disapprove of thinking machine technologies.

This would lead numerous revolts to overthrow thinking machines and eliminate computer, and artificial intelligence technologies. Among these revolts, the Butllerian Jihad was the most critical human revolution and ‘anti-thinking machine’ crusade in Dune History.

 

 

The Bene Gesserit started from sorceress with superior abilities compared with ordinary people. These sorceresses were politicians, scientists, nuns, religious leaders that planned of a messiah that could lead all humanity to the prosperous ‘Golden Path’ based on such human-centric and anti-thinking machine theologies.

Before the constitution of the Corrino Empire, these sorceresses organize the Bene Gesserit that planned to genetically manipulate, pave religious theologies, and sculpt a political foundation as well for the messiah, the Kwisatz Haderach.

 

 

Bene Gesserit and politics

The Bene Gesserit have planted numerous women in the Imperial court, Landsraad, and major houses to maintain their influence over the galaxy so they could secretly form the foundation for the Kwisatz Haderach.

Although the Bene Gesserit had their own objectives, they’ve also served as great political advisors, great figures in various fields such as science, history, and art etc as they were well trained people with great potential and abilities.

 

 

The Bene Gesserit may have secretly pursued their own objectives; however, the members of the Bene Gesserit also contributed to the empire and the galaxy in by their expertise and knowledge.

The Bene Gesserit was acknowledged as an official organization, and recognition by the Bene Gesserit was also a mandatory process for the Imperium and the noble houses of the Landsraad.

 

 

Bene Gesserit and the Kwisatz Haderach project Missionaria Protective

The ultimate objective of the Bene Gesserit was to guide and ‘control’ the Kwisatz Haderach, also named the “Reverend Mother Superior” who is a male Bene Gesserit that shall lead humanity to the prosperous ‘Golden Path’ also known as the Missionaria Protective.

 

 

The Bene Gesserit only consisted of females as the genetic heritage that the Bene Gesserit explosively enhanced on males.

The Bene Gesserit have been obtaining and maintain a pool of ‘great genetics’ from major houses and people with great abilities until the final moment for the birth of a ‘perfect Kwisatz Haderach’.

The Bene Gesserit wanted to form a religious and political foundation so the Kwisatz Haderach could lead humanity, but they also wanted to control the Kwisatz Haderach and manipulate the process to the Golden Path.

 

 

The main plan for Lady Jessica was also to give birth to a daughter that held House Atreides’s bloodline and mate the daughter with Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen for the Kwisatz Haderach.

However, Lady Jessica disobeys and gives birth to a male Paul Atreides. This becomes a great concern for the Bene Gesserit.

 

 

Abilities of the Bene Gesserit

The Bene Gesserit had some extent of prescience which allowed them to foresee the past, present, and the future. While, bloodlines were manipulated as well, the Bene Gesserit consisted of people with great potential and capabilities.

Along with their potential since birth, Bene Gesserit schools maintained harsh but disciplined education with the best quality that enhanced both physical and mental abilities.

 

 

Combat abilities – Weirding Way

The Bene Gesserit were deadly warriors even by hand-to-hand combat. Bene Gesserits were great military instructors as well.

Their martial arts called the Weirding Way was a deadly and very efficient martial art that allowed Bene Gesserits to rival the combat effectiveness of the Sardaukar and Fremen.

 

 

Mind control – The Voice

The Bene Gesserit both train how to use the ‘Voice’ and how to resist the ‘Voice’. The ‘Voice’ is an ability that could manipulate a person by emission of a certain sound frequency.

People would obey any orders in this certain frequency emitted by a Bene Gesserit. Member. Mentats would be trained how to resist the Voice of Bene Gesserits and an ordinary person could train this method although it might take time.

 

 

Prana Bindu – Control of the body

Prana means energy and Bindu means points in Sanskrit. The term Prana Bindu referred to the control of the body by the Bene Gesserit. The Bene Gesserit had enhanced immunity against diseases, toxins, chemicals compared with ordinary people by Prana Bindu training.

 

 

 

 

The Bene Gesserit could also alter their metabolism to increase their chances of survival when facing extreme danger. The Bene Gesserit member could control all of their muscle and nerve by the Prana Bindu as well.

Although it isn’t a direct ability by Prana Bindu, Bene Gesserit members could also control the gender of their baby.

 

Super cognitive abilities

Bene Gesserit members had superior cognitive abilities and senses as well. Bene Gesserit members had great senses that helped them sense even the most subtle changes of people or the environment.

Some Bene Gesserits were trained as truthsayers who were capable of sensing truth or false. Bene Gesserit members utilized such sensitive senses for their survival, profits or their objectives.

 

 

Bene Gesserit inspired the Star Wars Jedi

The Dune Universe itself gave many inspirations to the Star Wars series. The Bene Gesserit’s concept was a direct inspiration to the Star Wars Jedi Order.

The Bene Gesserit’s Voice influenced the Jedi mind trick. Although the Bene Gesserit require a special voice frequency and the Jedi could use the mind trick by the influence of the ‘Force’, both shares similar traits.

 

 

Like the Bene Gesserit’s manipulation of their blood line by collecting genes from major houses may have also influenced the concept of a midi-chlorian which was a concept developed in the Star Wars prequel series as a justification for the qualifications of a Force-Sensitive.

 

 

 

 

Also, both the Jedi and the Bene Gesserit had immense combat capabilities.

The Jedi could master any kind of weaponry and perform deadly hand-to-hand combat especially with their main weapon the lightsaber while the Bene Gesserit also talented in hand-to-hand combat (although there isn’t a depiction of the Bene Gesserit as a masters of weaponry).

 

 

The Bene Gesserit members were also experts in each of their own fields. Like there were historians, artists, political advisors, the members of Jedi Order would excel in other fields as well. Both the Jedi Order and the Bene Gesserit have influence over the intergalactic-scale politics as well.

They were wise and skilled politicians but both were also political parties with immense authority(even though the Jedi Order declared to stay neutral, they’ve been a huge political influence).