Spice agony

Spice agony is a term used in the "Dune" universe created by Frank Herbert.

The spice agony is a ritual, performed in different ways by the Fremen and the Bene Gesserit, in which an "illuminating poison" is used to elevate consciousness and unlock genetic memory. Survivors of the deadly ordeal are then known as Reverend Mothers.

Fremen

In the Fremen ritual, an acolyte called a Sayyadina takes a massive overdose of a powerful drug called the Water of Life (or spice essence), a poison that is the "liquid exhalation of a dying sandworm." The Water of Life has similar properties to the spice melange, as both are produced by the sandworms. The poison elevates the acolyte's consciousness, forcing her to confront her inner self and the personas of all her female ancestors. She also absorbs the inner awareness of the Reverend Mother who initiates her, thus preserving the history of the Fremen in the living memory of the Reverend Mothers. To survive, she must also "change" the Water of Life by producing a catalyst within her body that alters the molecular structure of the poison. The catalyst is used to convert large waterbags of the poison into a safe drug that can be consumed by members of the sietch community to heighten their awareness of each other for a little while in a sietch "tau orgy". If she masters the confrontation with her inner self, she emerges as a Reverend Mother, a religious leader of formidable abilities, fully in command of her Other Memories (the collective egos of her female ancestors).

Bene Gesserit

Female acolytes of the Bene Gesserit order undergo a similar ritual involving an overdose of an "illuminating poison" or "awareness spectrum" narcotic, which also forces them to confront and master the egos of their female ancestors. As in the Fremen ceremony, the initiate also absorbs the awareness of her proctor, granting access to the powers of preceding Reverend Mothers in the Bene Gesserit's line. The Bene Gesserit order developed its rituals before the discovery of Arrakis and melange using other poisons; however, the Water of Life was far more effective, and once the Bene Gesserit discovered it, they became dependent on it. The Fremen Reverend Mothers adapted the rituals of the Bene Gesserit during their long wandering before coming to Dune, using a poison drug discovered on the planet Rossak, and later the Water of Life. [Herbert, Frank. "Dune". "And she saw the thread of the past carried by Sayyadina after Sayyadina — first by word of mouth, hidden in the sand chanteys, then refined through their own Reverend Mothers with the discovery of the poison drug on Rossak . . . and now developed to subtle strength on Arrakis in the discovery of the Water of Life."]

Abomination and the Kwisatz Haderach

It is extremely dangerous for a pregnant woman to ingest large amount of spice or consume the Water of Life. The spice agony not only forces her to confront her inner awareness and that of her female ancestors, it also awakens the consciousness of her unborn children and exposes them to their ancestral memories. Without a stable personality and self-awareness, the child is exposed to the danger of Abomination: possession by the personality of an ancestor. When Lady Jessica experiences the agony in "Dune", her unborn daughter Alia Atreides is exposed to the Water of Life, and is later possessed by the ego-memory of her grandfather, the evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. While pregnant with Leto II and Ghanima in "Dune Messiah", Chani consumes a diet high in spice as a defense against poisoning. Both Leto and Ghanima are brought to full consciousness and awareness of their ancestors while in the womb. Ghanima later avoids Abomination through hypnosis, which suppresses her ancestral memories while she develops unconscious barriers; Leto claims to have avoided Abomination as well, but privately confesses to having made an alliance with a particularly strong inner personality to quell the others.

Historically, only females have been able to survive the spice agony, and thus both the Bene Gesserit and the Fremen religious order consist only of consecrated women. The Bene Gesserit engaged in a centuries-long breeding program to create a male with the powers of a Reverend Mother, which they named the Kwisatz Haderach ("shortening of the way"). Paul Atreides — the early result of this program — and his son Leto II are the only males known to have survived the ordeal.

Chronology

In the original novel "Dune", Lady Jessica refers to the ritual as "the Reverend Mother ordeal" as she experiences it. [Herbert, F. "Dune". "At the school there had been rumors that some did not survive the Reverend Mother ordeal, that the drug took them."] Jessica realizes that although the Fremen and Bene Gesserit rituals are different, the results are the same. [Herbert, F. "Dune". "And she knew with a generalized awareness that she had become, in truth, precisely what was meant by a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother. The poison drug had transformed her. This wasn't exactly how they did it at the Bene Gesserit school, she knew. No one had ever introduced her to the mysteries of it, but she knew. The end result was the same."] When attempting it himself later in the novel, Paul says, "We will see now whether I'm the Kwisatz Haderach who can survive the test that the Reverend Mothers have survived." The term "spice agony" is not actually used until the novel "Heretics of Dune", though its use within the "Dune" universe seemingly predates the events of the novel itself. [Herbert, F. "Heretics of Dune". "Duncan nodded. Library records referred to 'spice agony,' a mysterious trial that created a Reverend Mother."]

In "Children of Dune", the term "spice trance" is used to describe the effects of an overdose of spice. Alia had previously subjected herself to such an overdose late in "Dune Messiah", hoping to enhance her prescient visions; she achieves some success, but in "Children of Dune", Leto II and Ghanima blame the trance for Alia's descent into Abomination. Fearful of the same fate, they resist Alia's urgings to undergo the spice trance themselves. The trial is later forced upon Leto at Jacurutu when it is suspected that he too is an Abomination, or one that has become possessed by one of his ancestors as a result of being exposed to high doses of melange while in his mother's womb. Leto survives the challenge and escapes, and rather than harm him, the spice trance opens his eyes to the Golden Path that will ultimately save humanity.

References