Editing Bene Gesserit (section)

== Analysis ==
"[[wikt:bene|Bene]] [[wikt:gesserit|Gesserit]]" is Latin for "he/she shall have behaved well."<ref>Touponce, William F. ''Frank Herbert'' (Twayne's ''United States authors'' series). Twayne Publishers imprint, G. K. Hall & Co, 1988. ISBN 0-8057-7514-5, Pg 75-76.</ref>

[[Brian Herbert]], Frank Herbert's son and biographer, said of his father's creation of the Bene Gesserit:
{{blockquote|When he was a boy, eight of Dad's Irish Catholic aunts tried to force Catholicism on him, but he resisted. Instead, this became the genesis of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. This fictional organization would claim it did not believe in organized religion, but the sisters were spiritual nonetheless. Both my father and mother were like that as well.<ref name="Dune Afterword 873">{{cite book |last=Herbert |first=Frank |title=Dune |chapter=Afterword by Brian Herbert |year=1965 |edition=Kindle |publisher=Penguin Group |pages=873–875}}</ref>}}

In ''[[Mycelium Running]]'', mycologist [[Paul Stamets]] argues that Herbert was influenced by tales of [[María Sabina]] and the sacred mushroom cults of Mexico in creating the Bene Gesserit.<ref>{{cite web |title=Magic Mushrooms were the Inspiration for Frank Herbert's Science Fiction Epic ''Dune'' |author-link=Paul Stamets |first=Paul |last=Stamets |url=http://dailygrail.com/Shamanism/2014/7/Magic-Mushrooms-were-the-Inspiration-Frank-Herberts-Science-Fiction-Epic-Dune |website=Daily Grail |date=July 18, 2014 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>

In ''[[Dreamer of Dune]]'', Brian Herbert's 2003 biography of his father, the younger Herbert speculates that the name "Gesserit" is supposed to suggest to the reader the word "[[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]]" and thus evoke undertones of a [[religious order]].