The scattering - Definition and Overview

A [fictional] event taking place in Frank Herbert's "Dune" books. When the 3,500 year reign of Leto II, God Emperor, came to an end with his death (as a result of actions taken by a conspiracy, the principle of which was Siona Atreides, end product of Leto's breeding program for invisiblity to prescience and a descendent of Ghanima Atreides), humanity was thrown in chaos. The breakdown of Leto's Empire, severe famine on many worlds, and the introduction of Ixian Navigation Machines (which ended the Spacing Guild's monopoly on interstellar travel), caused millions or billions of people to leave the settled worlds, striking off into unknown space. This was foreseen by Leto II and constituted the main goal of his "Golden Path," a plan for the survival of humanity. The exponential growth in human numbers and colonized planets, combined with the dissemination of Siona's genes which rendered their bearer invisible to prescience, ensured that humanity will never again have only one direction.