references TLEILAXU SPACINO GUILD OPERA TIONS lUma Greaharee Tletiaxu Products and Plans in the Atre des Impenum (Chusuk Salrqina) T L Hcrt Rccombinant Research in the Tleilax Tradition Journal of Humanistic Biology 17812-831 AZHAR BOOK (also known as The Collec tion of the Great Secrets) A compilation by the Bene Gessent of religious mythos and dogma supposedly containing all the van ante of theology practiced by known sen-ttents in the history of the universe The word book is somewhat misleading al though selections from the collection in bound volumes are available to scholars in the Bene Gessent Library on Wallach IX and four volumes have been published publicly In its entirety, however the Azhar Book is an open-ended collection which fills several rooms of the Bene Gessent Archives and is indexed there m forty two volumes In the collection arc tales of gods and goddesses of every description and inclination tutelary figures from multiple environments, rituals performed in the dawn of Terran time and on the shores of the lost planet Lauvrant a compendium of all the attempts to reconcile universal chaos and a sentient love for order Though traditionally the collection was thought to have been assembled during the period of the Commission of Ecumenical Translators (in order to preserve the secrets of the ancient faiths and to serve as a source for the developing Orange Bible) evidence discovered at Dar es Balat and information recently received from the Bene Gessent indicate that the collection began in the ancient long forgotten Terran libraries of what might be the distant ancestors of the Bene Gessent Sisterhood Recent work also suggests that the Azhar Book has been kept up to date and includes all religions now openly practiced The actual use of such a collection is open to debate Though Bene Gessent authonties insist that the collection is maintained for academic reasons to provide a compendium of theological works available for scholars philosophers and theologians many recent investigations indicate a more self serving purpose The Azhar Book is probably the main source of matenal for the Sisterhood s religious engmeenng projects From the oldest traditions the Sisterhood has developed adaptive methods and legends to seed m raw cultures a process which in turn has estab hshed new religions all supportive of the Bene Gessent cause The Azhar Book is to a theological historian or a mythologist much as 8 thousand meter chasm is to a geologist a slice which shows the mtncate layered accretion of matenal through time Though anthropologists and mythologians as well as linguists of all vaneties particular!} appreciate the academic value of the collection the Bene Gessent has another practical use for the Azhar Book All the particularized traditions and rituals of the Sisterhood itself are contained therein For example the vana tions of the Bene Gessent Water of Life ceremony as it changed through time and locale are recorded as are the adjunct devel opments of this ceremony in seeded cultures such as the Fremen and the Mexo Quechuan The first volume gives regulations and prohi bitions of service with such entries as Abomination Kwisatz Haderach and menstruation rites carefully delineated Be cause the major portion of the collection is unavailable to general stholdrship however only the myths legends and ntuals de scnbed m the bound volumes have been assessed This small sample however mdi cates the vast riches waiting in the recesses of the Bene Gessent Archives for scholars to explore Further references Anon The A har Book ed K R Barauz vol 1-4 Arrakis Studies 49 (Grumman United Worlds) Maro Ghappato M raculous Voices at Rakis (Diana Sviuny i) R M Cassius Ida Treac New Vews of in Old System Archves Quarterly Revew 15 199 253 R M Treac and Anna Judeh c The Rooti of Tomorrow (Wallach Soror) BALJSET.