Spark
From A Wheel of Time Wiki
People born with the spark of channeling will start no matter what. Four out of five women do not survive this learning process on their own. Most who do not receive formal training (wilders) either die or achieve a rudimentary control accompanied by unconscious blocks preventing them from hurting themselves by drawing too much and burning themselves out. The White Tower finds every girl born with the spark in the Westlands that it can, and almost everyone will send a daughter to the tower if she shows signs of channeling, even those who dislike the Aes Sedai, such as Tear.
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[edit] Learning
After the first touching of the True Source the channeler will experience a reaction less than ten days later. They will experience: violent shivers, head aches, bouts of mania, numbness, dizziness, and many other possible symptoms. These affect the person closer to the actual time of touching until it happens almost at the same time. At that point the visible symptoms stop, and control must be learned or death is inevitable. In as short a time as one year and as many as five the channeler will fall to the ground screaming and convulsing; once this happens not even the One Power can save them.
[edit] Men
Men can also learn to channel on their own, although they usually manifest this trait later than women, who tend to display it in their early teens. Men may not show any sign until their mid-twenties, such as Mazrim Taim. Of course the taint has long been an additional difficulty facing those men who do achieve some degree of control. With the cleansing of saidin and the establishing of the Black Tower, these risks have been alleviated somewhat.
[edit] Strength
Those who have the spark in them often become very strong channelers, although this correlation is not necessarily absolute. Or perhaps it is, as in the Age of Legends you had to be born with the spark to become Aes Sedai; all were tested for it until they were too old to be a possibility.
[edit] Seanchan
In Seanchan those who are born with the spark are held by an a'dam and made into damane. They are controlled by sul'dam who collar them and treat them like beasts, not knowing that the sul'dam themselves are women who can be taught to channel.
