The “Virgin Mary” of ‘Dune’: Lady Jessica

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of articles on the Christian symbolism found in the book “Dune” by author Frank Herbert, in preparation for the upcoming film “Dune” directed by Denis Villeneuve. Click here for the first article.

Did you know Frank Herbert’s Dune has, not just a type of Virgin Mary, but also all of the following: a St. Joseph, King Herod, Moses, the Israelites, and, of course, a Jesus-figure? We will go through each of these below.

[Editor’s Note: These characters are not “exact” replicas of their biblical counterparts, but it is easy to see how Herbert used them for inspiration.]

Lady Jessica is the mother of Dune’s Messianic figure, Paul Atreides. The mother of the Messiah was prophesied from the beginning of human history at Genesis 3:15, what’s called the “Protoevangelium” or “First Gospel”. Similar prophesies of the Messiah and his mother occur in Dune, as we have discussed in the previous article about Paul Atreides and in my original article, The Theology of Dune.

Duke Leto as St. Joseph, the foster-father of the Messiah

Lady Jessica is married to Duke Leto. Leto is a Saint Joseph-figure, who takes his family into the desert of Egypt, or in this case the planet “Dune” or Arakkis. However, Duke Leto taking his family to Arakkis is more like taking them into King Herod’s camp.

The King Herod of Dune, by the way, is Baron Harkonnen. Both Harkonnen and Herod attempted to abort the power of their rivals by killing the child who would be king. King Herod did this through the Slaughter of the Innocents at Bethlehem and elsewhere. Harkonnen tried killing Paul Atreides after [SPOILER] killing Duke Leto. Both, also, ultimately failed.

Lady Jessica and the Bene Gessarit

Mary descends from the line of King David. Similarly, there is a matriarchal line of Bene Gessarit in Dune.

Speaking of the Bene Gessarit, the title “Bene Gesserit” resembles an epithet of the Jewish people, Bene Jeshurun (בְּנֵי יְשֻׁרוּן), especially as “Gesserit” is pronounced with a soft “G”. “Bene Jeshurun” means, roughly “Sons of The Just”, with יְשֻׁרוּן also taken to be a synonym for Israel.

The Fremen people, for that matter, are the Jews or Israelites. Paul Atreides is a Moses figure, who leads the Israelites out of the deserts of Egypt and slavery to become “free-men” or “Fremen”. This connection is discussed in greater depth here. 

Lady Jessica is prophesied to be, as Stilgar says, “the Bene Gessarit of legend whose son will lead us to paradise.” The prophesy of an immaculate virgin who would give birth to the Messiah is the oldest prophesy in Christianity. See the following on Genesis 3:15, called the proto-evangelium or “first Gospel.”

The Blessed Mother & Islam – Lady Jessica as the “Sayyadina”

Ironically, though Catholics and Muslims may disagree on everything else, they agree about Mary. The Venerable Fulton Sheen has even predicted that it will be through the Blessed Mother, specifically Our Lady of Fatima, that Muslims will become Christians.

Dune borrows heavily from both the Muslim and Catholic traditions, so it’s no wonder that that the Blessed Mother would figure prominently in the theology of Dune. The connections, as you will see below, are explicit.

Muslims call the Blessed Mother the Sayyida, or Lady, while the Fremen appoint Lady Jessica as a Sayyadina. The term Sayyadina means “friend of God” in the Dune language of Chakobsa and was used by the Fremen to describe their priestesses who would drink the Water of Life and become Reverend Mothers.

The Quran describes all the major points in the life of the Virgin Mary – the Annunciation, the Visitation, and the Nativity. Angels are depicted as addressing the Blessed Mother and saying:

O Mary, God has chosen you, and purified you; He has chosen you above all the women of creation. (Quran 3:42)

Above all the women of the earth! This is similar to Elizabeth’s address of Mary, “blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Luke 1).

To the Muslims, the Blessed Mother is the true Sayyida, or Lady. The only serious rivals to Mary would be Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima, and his wife, both of whom are numbered along with Mary as the four greatest women in Islamic history.

Nevertheless, after the death of Fatima, Mohammed wrote, “Thou shalt be the most blessed of all the women in Paradise, after Mary.” Fatima, herself, is even known to have said, “I surpass all women, except Mary.”

Original article was published on The Scott Smith Blog