2 ms·

much more to this story. herbert was hired to write an article about how oregon was using grasses to stabilize their dunes, and the article, 'they stopped the

• ruricolist 7y ago
  There's more to the story even than that. I read the draft of "They Stopped The Moving Sands" in The Road to Dune and wondered: whatever happened to the dune control project? It turns out that the grasses they planted then to control the dunes are now regarded as invasive species, and Boy Scouts earn merit badges by ripping them up.
• hajile 7y ago
  I'm betting it was less borrowing and more that both were Freemasons (Robert Jordan has specifically said there are elements inspired by the fraternity). The fraternity doesn't require a specific religious belief, but lodges generally slant Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. Many of the various degrees delve into Islamic lore and philosophy. For example, the most public-facing Masonic group (not a degree itself) is the Shriners (they raise money for a bunch of children's hospital they run) and the trapping are Islamic. Rather than copying per-se, both are simply taking what they learned as they rose through the different degrees and are applying that shared philosophy to their writings.