Editing Bene Gesserit (section)

===Spice agony===
The '''spice agony''' is an ordeal in which an acolyte of the Bene Gesserit takes a poisonous "awareness spectrum" narcotic and, by internally changing the substance and neutralizing its toxicity, gains access to [[Other Memory]], the combined ego and memories of all her female ancestors. In ''Dune'', Lady Jessica notes that the ritual originated with the "discovery of the poison drug on [[Rossak]]", although by her time, the Rossak drug has long since been replaced by melange. On [[Arrakis]], the Fremen Reverend Mothers use a poison called [[Water of Life (Dune)|Water of Life]], which is the exhalation of a drowning "little maker" (small sandworm) in water. In the Fremen version of the rite, after the ordeal the Reverend Mother also provides the changed poison for the [[sietch orgy]].

An acolyte unable to effect this change dies. Only women have ever survived the agony, but through their breeding program the Bene Gesserit seek the male Kwisatz Haderach who will be able to change an illuminating poison. The Bene Gesserit try over many generations through selective breeding to produce such a being. A Kwisatz Haderach is given abilities different from those of a Reverend Mother. During the spice agony, there are two areas of the soul that the acolyte may visit — the part that gives, and the part that takes; a Reverend Mother cannot access the memories of her male ancestors, and is terrified by the psychic space within her that the masculine memories inhabit. Until Paul Atreides, all men who had attempted the spice agony had died.

In ''Dune'', Jessica endures the agony while pregnant with her daughter, [[Alia Atreides|Alia]]. This has a profound effect on the unborn Alia, who is consequently born a full Reverend Mother with the complete Other Memory of both her female and male ancestors. The Bene Gesserit refer to children born this way as "[[#Abomination|Abominations]]". Without the benefit of a fully formed adult ego of her own, Alia is susceptible to the influence of her ancestral memories. This ultimately leads to her downfall, as she is eventually [[spiritual possession|possessed]] by the persona of her evil grandfather Baron [[Vladimir Harkonnen]], whom she herself had murdered as a child in the events of ''Dune''.

The origin of the ritual is explained in the prequel novel ''[[Dune: The Battle of Corrin]]'' (2004) when Raquella Berto-Anirul is poisoned by Rossak Sorceress Ticia Cenva with the '''Rossak drug'''. Raquella manages to internally convert the poison into a harmless substance and is thus the first to experience the awakening of Other Memory. Raquella later establishes the Bene Gesserit, presumably perfecting the technique and training others to survive the ordeal.