"Hymn to Shai-Hulud"
1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook, or blind him with a mist?
2 Canst thou lasso him by the horns, or wilt thou rather harpoon him?
3 Will he crawl before thee in supplication? Will he speak soft words unto thee?
4 Will he let thee ride upon his back; wilt thou take him for thy bearer for ever?
5 Wilt thou play with him as with a sandtrout, or wilt thou present thy maidens to him?
6 Shall he join with you in orgy; or wilt thou confine him in a cistern?
7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? Or set thy hooks behind his head?
8 Dance towards him on the drum sand, to make him thy partner.
9 Behold, the hope of the outlander is in vain: Shall not one lose water even at the sight of him?
10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up; who shall wave a rag before his face?
11 Who else hath inspired me, that I should repay him? Because of him, I am the greatest under all the heavens.
12 I will not conceal his length, nor his power, nor his great beauty.
13 Who can discover his buried treasures? All are hidden in the dust together.
14 Who dare enter the doors of his face? His teeth are terrible round about.
15 His rings are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.
16 One is so near to another that no dust can come between them.
17 His scales are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.
18 By his sneezings a light doth shine; from his belly comes the fire of God.
19 Out of his mouth goeth cinnamon breath, to the blasting of thy nostrils.
20 A burning lamp glows within his mouth; sparks of crystal leap about it.
21 Fire burns in his passage, and a furnace flares out from his tail.
22 He moveth his tail like a whirlwind; sorrow is swallowed up in the vortex of his joy.
23 Each ring segment has a life of its own; his rings are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.
24 Let him not roll upon thee; thou shall be ground as the grain on the nether millstone.
25 When he riseth up himself, the mighty are afraid; his speed squeezeth bakka from them.
26 The sword of him that striketh at him will turn aside: the knife, the slip-tip, nor the kindjal.
27 He esteemeth the shields as thumpers; yea, the pseudo-shields as piume flies.
28 The lasgun cannot make him flee; he turneth the stunners into stubble.
29 The wind that eateth flesh cannot harm him; he laugheth in the Coriolis storm.
30 Sharp mountains rise above him; he spreadeth rivers of sand about him.
31 He maketh the sandpan to boil like a pot; his hissing filleth the morning.
32 He maketh path through the deep desert; his passage cleanseth the world.
33 Upon Dune there is not his like, for he maketh the Water of Life.
34 He is the chief of the ways of God; he is Shai-hulud, the Old Father Eternity.
NOTE
The transcript of the "Hymn to Shai-Hulud" leaves unexplained the common and nigh universal (if seldom expressed) belief that worship of Shai-Hulud was the same as worshipping Shaitan. Were the Fremen completely blind to the true nature of their religion? Such, it seems, was actually the case, although there is good reason to believe that when the Fremen first established themselves on Arrakis, they regarded the giant sandworm in much the same light as did everyone else, as an unmitigated evil force of nature that rendered large tracts of the planet uninhabitable. The name itself, Shai-Hulud, is believed by its derivation to prove these evil associations. For although an accepted derivation is from the Old Fremen shaikh-al-Hud, "old grandfather Hud" (cf. in O.C. Bible, Sura VII), it has also been proposed that the derivation rather is from Shai(tan) -hulul, "devil-in transmigration" or, "Shaitan incarnate." Hulul is a Fremen term used in the sietch orgy ceremony to signal the mingling of human with divine spirit supposed to occur after drinking the Water of Life. It is believed to go back to a Sunsufi idea, as expressed in 57 Kalima in the O.C. Bible, which says: "Thy Spirit is mingled in my spirit even as wine is mingled in pure water. When anything touches Thee, it touches me. Lo, in every case Thou art I." (For more on this point, see the Azhar Book.) In the early days of Muad'Dib's association with the Fremen, the characteristic Fremen attitude of reverence toward the sandworm may be gauged by Stilgar, whose worshipful dependence on Shai-Hulud is clear and habitual. The city attitude on Arrakis was more fearfully superstitious and the association of the sandworm with Shaitan in the Dune Tarot was typical of out-freyn belief.
M.T.
Further references: ORANGE CATHOLIC BIBLE; Pyer Briizvair, ed., Summa of Ancient Belief and Practice (Bolchef: Collegium Tarno).
SHIGAWIRE
Grown only on Salusa Secundus and III Delta Kaising, the Shiga Vine (Narvi narviium) is widespread on both planets, and gains its advantage in the ecological battle on those sere worlds by its production of metallic crystals of incredible tensile strength. The crystals range in diameter from monomolecular to one-tenth of a millimeter, depending upon the base metal and any impurities in the mix, and have been found to grow up to a kilometer in length from very old, established vines.
Shigawire has numerous uses, including sabotage, assassination, and mayhem (the monomolecular shigawire being especially prized for these uses), but the most common uses take advantage of the fact that not only is shigawire extremely compact and strong, but it is also metallic and able to hold an electrical charge. The crystalline structure of the wire leads to an extremely stable environment for recorded information, so that spools of shigawire ("filmbooks") had a considerable popularity among early space-travelers, when space and mass were strictly rationed. Some of the earliest filmbooks were made from artificial shigawire, before the discovery of Salusa Secundus and III Delta Kaising. The popularity of filmbooks continues to the present day, but more as a result of the convenience of filmbooks than because of their low mass. The finest shigawire is classified as "minimic film." It is monomolecular, normally only about a micron in diameter, and is prized among spies and secret couriers as an almost foolproof method for smuggling messages. The only difficulty with minimic film is its unfailing tendency to cut through anything and everything — the only safeguard is to make sure that all parts of the shigawire implant, whatever it might be contained in, move as a single unit. Should one part move faster than another, the shigawire could easily cut through the container before it bent, which can be highly distressing when the container is the messenger's body.
SIAYNOQ, FEAST OF
(also, "Great Sharing," "Feast of Leto"). Held decennially, this mytho-political festival reinforced the bond between the God Emperor and his Fish Speakers. Of all the aspects of Fish Speaker service, this was the most sacred and important; it was, in Leto's words, the "one ritual" given them. As such, it was jealously guarded from outsiders — men, in particular — with occasional allowances made for the presence of a Duncan Idaho ghola whom it might please Leto to admit to the rite.
The religious aspects of Siaynoq far predated worship of the God Emperor. Their roots can most clearly be seen in the Zensunni ritual of siayla, practiced by that cult of mystics in one form or another since their formation. Siayla, roughly translatable as "Light of Truth," was held annually among the Zensunni; it was a gathering of all available sect members to discuss the progress made toward their religious goals during that year. Originally, a siayla was conducted in the manner of a pre-Orange Catholic Bible silent meeting, with members of the congregation each contributing as they saw fit. As the Zensunni became more numerous, however, and especially after their repeated forced migrations, the ritual changed: the bulk of the gathering would listen to their Sayyadina or Ulema hold forth on the subject. What had been a participatory ritual eventually became a presided one.
After the Zensunni were transplanted to Arrakis, there becoming Fremen, the siayla cha
nged again. It became "the sharing," the spice orgy in which doses of modified Water of Life gave the people a heightened sense of awareness of one another and strengthened their tribal bonds. These changes were later to become the core of Siaynoq, even to the ritual ingestion of melange, though in a greatly reduced dosage.
The first Siaynoq was held in 10576 after Leto II had announced his godhead but prior to the construction of Onn, his Festival City and later site for the ritual. Much of the ritual was firmly established and remained unchanged for over three thousand years.
The Lord Leto — originally under his own power, later on the Royal Cart — maneuvered himself to the center of his assembled Fish Speakers. The women would then gather closely around him, with those leaving active service in the first rank, and declare their eternal loyalty and devotion to their God. Leto, in return, addressed them as his "brides" and praised them for their courage and fidelity. He gave his blessing to those continuing in active service, to those who had become mothers and were leaving to join his priestesses or to work as full-time mothers until their children were older, and to the Fish Speakers' offspring. Great emphasis was placed on the special relationship the women maintained with the God Emperor. The overall effect induced feelings of intense loyalty among the female military and fostered their feeling of superiority to more common subjects.
The next step of the ritual was the distribution of wafers containing small doses of spice. Each participant in Siaynoq, from the babes in arms to the God Emperor himself, consumed part or all of a wafer; this ritual ingestion tied Siaynoq to the older Fremen ritual and was the reason for its being referred to as the "Feast of Leto." It should be noted, however, that there was no attempt to tie Siaynoq to the transubstantiative rite practiced earlier by the Orange Catholic Church, perhaps because that particular form of worship could be rendered less effective by the actual presence of the god.
After the wafers were eaten and the sense of affinity among the massed troops attained its highest point, Leto produced the crysknife which had belonged to Paul Muad'Dib Atreides and held it aloft for his Fish Speakers to venerate. This moment, more than any other in the ritual, touched the Fish Speakers' religious faith. Much of what had preceded it could be interpreted as military boosterism; the mystery of the crysknife opened itself to no such interpretation. It is only because of the bravery (one might say recklessness) of the Duncan Idaho who served Leto from 10895-10941 and managed to conceal himself in the Sacred Chamber where Siaynoq was held that the words of the ritual are recorded. As the hidden observer described the scene:
The Fish Speakers, earlier so loud is their cries of praise for their God, were quieted by the sight of the blade. As Leto raised it above his head, he spoke to them, his own voice more subdued than it had been.
"The talisman of our lives," he called it. "The knife of Muad'Dib. The tooth of Shai-Hulud." He raised his voice, very slightly.
"Will Shai-Hulud come again?"
"Yes, Lord," replied the Fish Speakers.
"Who is Shai-Hulud?" he asked.
"You, Lord."
Following the exchange he returned the blade to its box and moved among the adoring women. I took advantage of their attention being fixed on him and fled; I shudder even now to think of what would have become of me had the Fish Speakers known of my uninvited presence.
His fear was well-founded. At a much later Siaynoq, the consort of one of the Fish Speaker officers was discovered to have hidden himself in the Chamber to discover the nature of the ritual his mate refused to discuss. Less adept at concealment then the Duncan Idaho had been, he was found before Siaynoq had fairly begun, That did not save him: a group of women, led by the unfortunate man's mate, fell upon him savagely, killing him with their bare hands.
As the ranks of Fish Speakers expanded, spreading to garrisons on every planet of the Imperium, the practice of Siaynoq changed slightly. The ritual itself remained the same, but it was attended only by Fish Speakers stationed on Arrakis. However, it included three representatives from each off-world garrison. Even with such restrictions, the Sacred Chamber beneath the Festival City was filled to capacity each decade by the Lord Leto's adoring followers.
The ritual was repeated every ten years until the God Emperor's Fall, when it was officially discontinued. Even after the Fall and the chaos it precipitated, however, a version of Siaynoq — now involving the adoration of the God Emperor's spirit, as opposed to his person — was celebrated among some remnants of the dispersed Fish Speakers. The new ritual was especially popular among retired Fish Speakers who had been stationed on Arrakis, and was believed to have been invented by a former member of Leto's Citadel Guard.
Without the God Emperor himself as a focal point for worship, Siaynoq could not long endure. It had become an empty gesture (sometimes a dangerous one, if the practitioners were on a world especially hostile to Fish Speakers) and had completely disappeared within a generation after the Fall.
C.W.
Further references: FISH SPEAKERS; ONN; ZENSUNNI MIGRATIONS; S. Gwalles, ed., The Idaho Papers (Yorba: Rose); Youzheen Pursewarden, History of the Fish Speakers (Centralia: Johun UP).
SIETCH, AUTHORITY STRUCTURE
The tribe itself was the ultimate source of authority among the Fremen. Any authority figure was thus subsumed under the authority of the group. The naib served and spoke for the tribe but did not directly command its members. Command was unnecessary; any force was internally directed. No police were needed to guarantee compliance. Deviance from normative standards was rare and was handled by the family unit. The mother of a shamed family would have her child put to death if he or she were possessed or mad. All Fremen knew their duty and it was not the function of the naib to define what was meant by "duty."
Authority for the Fremen denoted respect and, most important, the power of a personal message. The best example of this is reflected in the devotion of the Fremen to Pardot Kynes. He was the earliest leader of all the Fremen yet revealed to us in the ridulian crystals. He was the first to unify the tribes with an overarching vision. Pardot Kynes did not and could not force his vision onto the people, nor did he use an authoritarian position to impose his message. Himself an outsider, Kynes was able to convey his message to the Fremen based on his respect for them and their way of life. His projection of long-term, moderate ecological change on the planet they called Dune would enable the Fremen to observe the essentials of their social order. Although he persuaded them of the benefit of his message and gained their devotion, Kynes never controlled the Fremen as an entire people, nor did he control any of the sietches. Each sietch maintained its autonomy under its own naib.
The Naib personified the ideal virtues of the people and is perhaps best exemplified by Stilgar. As depicted in the crystals, Stilgar manifested the ascetic, militaristic qualities of the Fremen. His strength, moral certitude, and total devotion to Sietch Tabr comes through forcefully. He obeyed the necessities of tribal preservation and evaluated all possibilities in terms of his duty to his people. Important decisions were made by him, but since the criteria for deciding were so clear and firmly established, it was likely that any other Fremen serving as Naib would have made the same decision. The Naib's prime responsibility was to provide both water and security for the sietch. These two duties encompassed all other requirements, and every other responsibility was subsumed under them. There seems to have been implicit consensus on all specific acts directed toward these two provisions.
While much has been made of the challenge of combat procedure used for selecting the naib, closer examination reveals that any challenge to unseat a naib was preceded by an implicit popular vote of no confidence. While a naib was properly carrying out his responsibilities, he remained unchallenged. If a naib maintained his vigor and sagacity, no male could effectively pose a challenge. Only when he faltered could a challenger garner the popular support to call out the naib. Contemporary scholars argue quite convincingly that the challengers were men of stature who combined
the qualities of potential leadership with a strong sense of commitment to the verities of Fremen life. They were not merely the finest hand-to-hand fighters but were men who believed they could effectively guide the tribe in its trying struggles.
Each sietch had its council of wise men who would advise the Naib. While not a compelling source of authority, the council had significant influence because it embodied and expressed the shared myths and traditions of the Fremen. Since all Fremen deeply identified with their people's history of grief, the council's interpretations were almost always accepted, and no evidence of any serious unresolved disputes between Naib and council has been uncovered. The course of necessary action was generally clear: circumstance combined with precedent, and an informal consensus would arise.
All Fremen had the right to express themselves before the council and the persuasive power of the speaker mattered. Statements that resonated with the collective yearnings of the Fremen would gain the highest influence with the council. Speakers before the council would seek to link their contentions with the meaningful imagery of Fremen traditions. It has been said that even Paul Muad'Dib could sway the council from its reluctance to break with custom only by revealing the complexity and dynamism of custom.
The role of the Reverend Mother in the sietch has not yet received sufficient attention in the literature that has emerged from Dar-es-Balat. As spiritual leader in a spiritual community, the Reverend Mother wielded the authority of history. She was intimately and deeply in contact with all Fremen who had preceded her. No Naib could contradict her, nor could the council confound her wisdom. While the Reverend Mother could establish the overall framework of meaning within which specific decisions would be made, she never sought to usurp the powers of the Naib or the council.
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