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"Bless the Maker and all His Works; Bless the coming and going of Him; May His passing cleanse the world!" as the Fremen prayer goes.

Shai-Hulud are enormous animals, growing up to hundreds of meters in length, that burrow beneath the sands of the desert planet Arrakis. They begin their lives as sandtrout sometimes called "Little Makers". These small creatures have the habit of encapsulating water thus causing the desert to be dry. At some point in their lifecycle they switch from being individual creatures and form a kind of colonial organism. Over time this being metamorphoses into the giant sandworm. They have very long lifespans, in the thousands of years and little can harm them. Anything producing heat, such as a laser, is simply absorbed by their body, however, WaterDrinking water This article focuses on water as we experience it every day. The water (molecule) article describes water from a scientific and technical perspective. Water is an abundant substance on Earth. It exists in many forms, such as sea, rain, and is poisonThis article is about the dangerous substance. For the band see Poison. skull and crossbones symbol traditionally used to label a poisonous substance. In the context of biology, poisons are substances that cause injury, illness, or death to organisms, usuous to Shai-Hulud. All attempts to transplant these massive beasts to another planet have failed. It is suggested sandworms gain the energy to sustain themselves from the ingestion of 'sand plankton'. Exactly where sand-dwelling microorganisms would gain energy from is unclear - it is obvious they do not photosynthesise.

They produce, as metabolic byproducts, three important substances: oxygen which is expelled from their trailing body, sand from the constant consumption and excretion of rock, and the extremely valuable spice melangeDune Melange is the name of the fictional spice that is central to the Dune series of science fiction novels by Frank Herbert. The word already existed in English. It means a mixture, used to refer to spices or similar but also to various mixed cotton or which is released along with water as a waste product of sandtrout. This mixture is known as the pre-spice mass, and will generate carbon dioxide and other gases. The exact chemical processes remain unclear; what is known is that in open desert, if one smells the overwelming fragrance of cinnamon (melange's odor), one may be on the top of a pre-spice mass. The slightest vibration may cause the gases trapped beneath the sand to erupt, killing you and the thousands of sandtrout which have gathered to form the pre-spice mass. The resulting explosion scatters the raw spice all over the sand which dries in the sun. This is the substance the harvesters are seeking; Melange. Incidentally, this is also the catalyst in the life cycle of the sandworm, whereby the surviving sandtrout merge to form small worms, which grow and develop into Shai-Hulud.

A highly concentrated form of melange can also be obtained by drowning a sandworm in water. This produces spice essence, or the " Water of LifeThe Water Of Life is a fictional drug from Frank Herbert's science-fiction novel Dune. It is catagorized as an illuminating poison, or an awareness spectrum narcotic. Specifically, that liquid exhalation of a sandworm produced at the moment of its death f," a liquid exhalation which is highly toxic. It is used by both the Fremen and the Bene GesseritDune The Bene Gesserit are a key group from Frank Herbert's science fiction universe of Dune''. They are a secretive sisterhood of women who train their bodies and minds though years of physical and mental conditioning, attaining powers and abilities that in the Spice AgonyDune In the Dune series of science fiction books by Frank Herbert, spice agony is an ordeal, in which an acolyte of the Bene Gesserit takes a massive overdose of the spice melange and confronts her inner self, and the selves of all her female ancestors., the method by which Reverend MotherDune Reverend Mother is a title or salutation for the Abbess or female leader of a religious instition such as a convent or abbey. A Reverend Mother is a fictional character appearing in the novel Dune being a Bene Gesserit woman who has finished her trais are made.

Shai-Hulud are very dangerous, as they will aggressively attack anything that produces rhythmic vibrations on the surface of the sands. The Fremen have learned by observing the other wildlife of Arakis to "Walk without rhythm" thus failing to attract a worm. The Fremen have developed such a close relationship with Shai-Hulud that they can actually "Ride the Worm". The Fremen do this by first attracting a worm with a device called a Thumper. When the worm comes they maneuver along side of it and using a "Maker Hook" they open the space between one of the worms segments exposing the softer tissue beneath. This causes the worm to rotate this part of his body as far away from the irritating sand as possible, thus lifting the Fremen up onto its back. The Fremen use this technique to travel hundreds of miles at a time. It is also part of the Fremen "Coming of Age" ceremony.