Kwisatz Haderach

In Terminology of the Imperium, the glossary of the novel Dune, Frank Herbert provides the following definition:  

KWISATZ HADERACH: "Shortening of the Way." This is the label applied by the Bene Gesserit to the unknown for which they sought a genetic solution: a male Bene Gesserit whose organic mental powers would bridge space and time.

Is Barack Obama the long awaited
Kwisatz Haderach?

Is Barack Obama truly the male savior the Bene Gesserit have been trying to breed for thousands of years?  Or as I believe, is he the manifestation of the SciFi reading, space game playing generation of boys who have brought new life to the Universe of Dune. 

I myself, am an aging boomer SciFi and Fantasy lover.  I've read The Trilogy 3 times (if you have to ask, move on to another diary), I got hook on SciFi with the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, the greatest of all SciFi writers. 

Dune and the Dune Universe are another issue.  I've read every book in the original series and then the prequel.  I've read them even though I've never really liked them. 

The total mind emmersion / escapism is what any SciFi reader wants but there has always been an under current that left me uncomfortable.  I could not put my finger on it until I began reading Hunters of Dune this week.

First a little background for those who never read the book or saw the movie.

Dune is set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar empire where planetary fiefdoms are controlled by noble Houses that owe allegiance to the Imperial House Corrino. The novel tells the story of young Paul Atreides (heir apparent to Duke Leto Atreides and scion of House Atreides) as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the spice melange, the most important and valuable substance in the universe. The story explores the complex and multilayered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, as forces of the Empire confront each other for control of Arrakis and its spice.[4]</sup&gt

 

Dune engendered five sequels written by Herbert before his death in 1986: Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse Dune. It also inspired a 1984 film adaptation by David Lynch, a 2000 Sci Fi Channel miniseries and its 2003 sequel, computer games, a board game and a series of prequels and sequels co-written by the author's son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson starting in 1999.

Hunters of Dune begins the final chapter based on Frank Herbert's notes found in a safe deposit box.  Quite frankly I believe in the lost notes stuff about as much as I believe in the Unicorn following Barack in the artwork above.  But that's besides the point.

The Dune Universe like most fantasy worlds, is a feudal place.  Male rulers control planetary systems and empires for thousands and thousands of years.  But always in the background pulling strings are the Sorceresses, the Bene Gesserit sisterhood led by the Reverend Mothers.

The Reverend Mothers are both feared and revered.  They are geneticists who play a breeding game looking for the perfect male, the Kwisatz Haderach who will lead the Universe into peace and harmony.

What they got, after the initial Kwisatz Haderach, was his son the God Emperor who ruled for 3500 years.  In the 1000 years diaspora that followed him, Bene Gesserit once more gain power but in constant battle with their enemies the Honored Matres.  In Hunters of Dune these two warring groups of overlord women are known as Witches and Whores.

Men are, well basically fertilizer for the women who rule the universe.  The Bene Gesserit Witches and the Honored Matres Whores.  The Whores control by using their sex, the Witches use magic and control of Melange, the Spice drug which the entire universe needs.  But for some reason the Witches, Whores and other powers still need to find or create a new Kwisatz Haderach.  A male who can bring the universe together in perfect harmony. 

Always, in fantasy literature, we come back to the good man saving us from the Witches and Whores.  Always we have a good ruler, King or Emperor, never a Democracy and rarely a good Queen.  This is the fantasy world many young people live in.  

How does the Lord of the Rings end?  It ends with the crowning of the good King and the Elvin Queen sailing into the sunset.

I'm just thinking and wondering. 

I really don't know if Obama is the Kwisatz Haderach so I'm throwing this out to the community for thought and discussion.

Update: I use Witches and Whores because that is what Brian Herbert uses throughout the Hunters of Dune. I’m sure that Frank Herbert would not be happy with how his universe has turned out.