Why getting lost in thoughts is considered “abominable” in Dune
“It was called many things, but chiefly, it was called possession.”
I’ve finished reading “Children of Dune.” It’s the third or fourth book in the Dune series, and things start getting really weird. Like, really weird.
Ghafla is a “trivial distraction”
In the world of Dune, your survival depends on mental discipline and awareness. Possession by the voices in your head is punishable by death.
One thing keeps buzzing in my head. Something Frank Herbert calls “ghafla.” In the book, it’s the concept of “giving oneself up to gadfly distractions.” I didn’t know this term was real, but apparently, Mr. Herbert took it from Arabic, where it means “the sin of forgetting God and one’s divine origins, or being indifferent of these.”
In Dune, ghafla is also described as:
Ghafla, the abominable distraction, has a long history in human mythology. It was called many things, but chiefly it was called possession.
Example of ghafla
Funny, but I was distracted from writing this story mid-way.
I felt the ultimate urge to google Anya Taylor-Joy’s photos (she plays Alia in Dune)…
