Water of Life

Submission 3,253

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About

Water of Life is a poisonous blue liquid of power-unlocking qualities that appears in Frank Herbert's science-fiction novel series Dune and their cinematic adaptations. After the liquid appeared in the 2024 Dune: Part Two film, Water of Life became a subject of memes and references online, with users humorously suggesting what ingredients it could consist of.

Origin

In the Dune novels by Frank Herbert, Water of Life is the name given to a poisonous blue liquid used by the Bene Gesserit to turn their Sisters into Reverend Mothers, as well as by Fremen for the same purpose.^[1] Water of Life is extracted from a killed sandworm and is essentially sandworm bile. Water of Life is deadly for those not trained in prana/bindu body control, meaning that only those trained in the ways of the Bene Gesserit (or equivalent practices) could survive the ritual. If the taker successfully survived drinking the Water of Life, it would amplify their awareness and unlock their genetic memory.

In the original Dune novel, Lady Jessica and her son Paul Atreides both drink the Water of Life: Jessica as a part of the ritual of becoming the new Fremen Reverend Mother, and Paul to complete his transformation into the Kwisatz Haderach. Notably, Jessica undergoes the ritual while pregnant, with the Water altering her unborn daughter and imbuing her with intimidating mental abilities.

On March 1st, 2024, Dune: Part Two premiered in the United States. On March 3rd, 2024, X^[2] user @divalectics posted the earliest notable meme referencing the Water of Life scenes in the film, with their post (shown below) garnering over 1,300 reposts and 27,000 likes in 10 days.

Spread

More memes about Water of Life were shared in the following days. For example, on March 5th, 2024, X^[3] user @AlDANS_ posted a The Holdovers crossover meme that received over 1,100 reposts and 18,000 likes in eight days (shown below, left). On March 9th, the X^[4] parody account @DisbussingFilm posted a meme suggesting that the Water of Life was created using blue vodka, with the post garnering over 3,400 reposts and 47,000 likes in four days (shown below, right).

Some memes parodied the prescience-unlocking power of the drink. For example, on March 9th and March 11th, X users @batsdune and @DonQuixote616 posted^[5]^[6] photographs of blue-colored drinks they supposedly consumed, later quoting^[7]^[8] their posts with predictions of future events. The posts (shown below, left and right) received over 1,000 reposts and 28,000 likes and 2,600 reposts and 47,000 likes, respectively, in two days.