Early life
As a child on Rossak
As an assistant to Tio Holtzman
As an independant scientist
Reborn life
While on a spaceflight, the Titan Xerxes captured her and tortured her for hours while many neo-cymeks watched. The event triggered latent mental powers, and caused her soostone pendant to fuse with her. The ultimate result was that she gained amazing powers to control her molecular structure and utilize formidable new prescient abilities. With just a thought she killed Xerxes and the neo-cymeks and then transformed her body from an unappealing dwarf-like being into a woman of great elegance and beauty.
Reunion with Zufa Cenva
Norma then went to the planet of Junction where she summoned her mother, the supreme sorceress of the Jihad, Zufa Cenva. Her mother realized she had made a mistake in abandoning her child before and redoubled her efforts to help Norma. Aurelius Venport was also invited and together the three set about transforming Junction into a massive construction yard to build ships with Holtzman engines. It is during this time that Aurelius and Norma finally consumated their love, resulting in four children of which only Adrien had his father's talent.
The space travel problem
After many years Norma still couldn't find a way to fold space safely. One out of every ten flights was lost due to this reason. In the years between her husband had died and Adrien had taken over. She first contemplated using robotic pilots with lighting fast reflexes, but when the Jihad discovered this they insisted on their complete detruction. Norma subsequently devoted all her efforts into finding a solution and consumed ever increasing amounts of melange.
While comsuming melange, she had an epiphany. Her unique talents, combined with the power of the spice melange, helped her realize the potential for carefully screened and trained humans to fold space safely. Her discovery and adoption of such a practice caused not only her own irrevocable transformation into the first navigator, but also laid down the foundations of what would become the Spacing Guild.
Existance after creation of Spacing Guild
While remaining sealed in her spice chamber, her body continued to transform, even to the extent that her body no longer existed and she remained nothing less than a disembodied consiousness in a clearplaz globe. This consiousness came to be known as the Oracle of Infinity.
Behind the Scenes
Norma Cenva is referred to briefly by Frank Herbert in God Emperor of Dune, where she is credited as the mistress of Aurelius Venport and the inventor of the first Guild ship.