If you explore any Dune origin stories, you’ll discover an intriguing secret. Frank Herbert, the author of Dune, was a psychedelic traveler
Given that we’re fans, you’ve probably seen the movies (Dune 1984, Dune Part 1 2021, Dune Part 2 2024). They add additional depth to the mushroom connection
Dune captured my mind in my early teens. I was struck with the depth and breadth of this compelling story. Reflectively, the book captured a part of my psyche and has never let it go. I’m sure this is true for thousands of us
During some of my early mushroom trips I got a glimpse of the life of Paul Muad-Dib Atreides. I became Muad-Dib. It was intensely powerful being a duke, guiding the fate of millions and feeling like a messiah. I hope you have a chance for some of the same explorations
Dune is a story created by the mushrooms. Dune is their story. They are the ones that deliver the consciousness-expanding drug. They are the ones that give the humans an opportunity to grow. And, they are the ones forcing the humans to prove their worth
Obviously, Dune spice is psilocybin. This can clearly be seen in the new movie when Paul exits the ornithopter and breathes in the spice. He soon begins tripping
Ah, where are the mushrooms in the book? This became clear during a mushroom trip. The mushrooms are the sandworms. At first blush, this seems like a misconnect. And, yet…
Here is a spore print I made. Note the resemblance to the sandworm’s mouth. It’s pretty easy to see this picture as an opening to an abyss — which, of course, it is
The sandworms in the Dune novel are the makers. They make the spice just like mushrooms are the makers of psilocybin. Yet, how do little mushrooms equate to giant worms?
In the story, Paul’s final trial before he is accepted as the ‘Lisan al Gaib’ (the messiah) is to ride a sandworm. He needs to call it, get atop of it and guide it. Calling the sandworm is an analogy for eating the magic mushroom. Your intent has been activated. You have awakened the beast and are challenging it to appear. There is no going back
When the sandworm appears you know the level of trip you are going to experience. If, as in the movie, the sandworm is big (Shai-Hulud) then you feel a monstrous storm coming your direction. As Terence McKenna said once, it is a storm 100 miles wide and 10 miles high. Here is when and where your mettle is tested
Any disrespect, any ‘shaming of Stilgar’s teachings’ or any treating the experience as a joke will lead to extreme pain. In Paul’s case it would be a quick death. In our case, it would be a bad trip and maybe a very bad trip. The mushrooms, like the sandworms, can be ruthless
Once a Fremen (the Dune planet’s humans) can capture and ride a sandworm they are now a sandrider. Becoming a sandrider is a rite of passage that all Fremen children will undertake. The ride marks their transition from child to adult. If I can be so bold, the blatant connection here is that a human does not become an adult until they have undertaken a psychedelic journey
Once a Fremen becomes a sandrider, they may be tasked with traveling to the deep south. This is the hidden half of planet Arrakis and is home to the fundamentalists. It is covered in storms and the view from above is obscured. Riding to the south is a twenty-thumper journey. Each thumper calls an individual sandworm and the sandworm is ridden until exhausted
Here is the map of Dune from the book. Note the reference to the 20-thumper journey
Since the mushroom is the sandworm and each thumper calls one sandworm, we can see that traveling to the south, to the great unknown, to the collective unconscious is a journey of 20 mushroom trips
All this just to point you to take mushrooms 20 times? Well, if you want to get to your subconscious, Dune and my follow-the-leader experiences say yes. The voyage will be life changing
One last connection, the color blue is especially important as all the Fremen have blue-within-blue eyes and the Water of Life is a blue drink. This connects with psilocybin oxidizing in the open air. Taking some fresh magic mushrooms and cutting them will cause the wounds to turn blue. Blending them will create the Water of Life blue juice. Paul Stamets, friend of Frank Herbert, has even named the Oregon-dunes mushoom Psilocybe Azurescens which is a straightforward connection to its blueness
And finally, here’s a view into Frank Herbert’s life with a picture of him at home in Port Townsend, Washington back in 1979
