GOREAN HISTORY
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"But surely," I protested,
"its existence could be discovered. One can't hide a planet the size of the
Earth in our own solar system! It's impossible!"
"You underestimate the Priest-Kings and their science," said my
father, smiling. "Any power that is capable of moving a planet--and I
believe the Priest-Kings possess this power--is capable of effecting adjustments
in the motion of the planet, such adjustments as might allow it to use the sun
indefinitely as a concealing shield."
---Priest Kings of Gor, 5:33
Gor is the planet of the Priest-Kings, a species of higher intelligence which hides in the depths of the Sardar Mountains. It is believed the planet shares the Earth's solar system but remains concealed from Earth scientists by careful shielding.
There was another possibility I mentioned to my father--perhaps the planet had been in our system all the time, but had been undiscovered, unlikely though that might be, given the thousands of years of study of the skies by men, from the shambling creatures of the Neander Valley to the brilliant intellects of Mount Wilson and Palomar. To my surprise, this absurd hypothesis was welcomed by my father.
"That," he said with animation, "is the Theory of the Sun Shield." He added, "That is why I like to think of the planet as the Counter-Earth, not only because of its resemblance to our native world, but because, as a matter of fact, it is placed as a counterpoise to the Earth. It has the same plane of orbit and maintains its orbit in such a way as always to keep The Central Fire between it and its planetary sister, our Earth, even though this necessitates occasional adjustments in its speed of revolution."
"But surely," I protested, 'its existence could be discovered. One can't hide a planet the size of the Earth in our own solar system! It's impossible!"
"You underestimate the Priest-Kings and their science," said my father, smiling. "Any power that is capable of moving a planet--and I believe the Priest-Kings possess this power--is capable of effecting adjustments in the motion of the planet, such adjustments as might allow it to use the sun indefinitely as a concealing shield."
"The orbits of the other planets would be affected," I pointed out.
"Gravitational perturbations," said my father, "can be neutralized." His eyes shone. "It is my belief," he said, "that the Priest-Kings can control the forces of gravity, at least in localized areas, and, indeed, that they do so. In all probability their control over the motion of the planet is somehow connected with this capacity. Consider certain consequences of this power. Physical evidence, such as light or radio waves, which might reveal the presence of the planet, can be prevented from doing so. The Priest-Kings might gravitationally warp the space in their vicinity, causing light or radio waves to be diffused, curved, or deflected in such a way as not to expose their world."
I must have appeared unconvinced.
"Exploratory satellites can be similarly dealt with," added my father. He paused. "Of course, I only propose hypotheses, for what the Priest-Kings do and how it is done is known only to them."
I drained the last sip of the heady wine in the metal goblet.
"Actually," said my father, "there is evidence of the existence of the Counter-Earth."
I looked at him.
"Certain natural signals in the radio band of the spectrum," said my father.
My astonishment must have been obvious.
"Yes," he said, "but since the hypothesis of another world is regarded as so incredible, this evidence has been interpreted to accord with other theories; sometimes even imperfections in instrumentation have been supposed rather than admit the presence of another world in our solar system."
"But why would this evidence not be understood?" I asked.
"Surely you know," he
laughed, "one must distinguish between the data to be interpreted and the
interpretation of the data, and one chooses, normally, the interpretation that
preserves as much as possible of the old world view, and, in the thinking of the
Earth, there is no place for Gor, its true sister planet, the
Counter-Earth."
---Tarnsman of Gor, 2:33-35
Some million years before the journey of Tarl Cabot to the counter-earth, the Priest-Kings brought the planet into the solar system it now resided in by the manipulation of gravity.
"I myself was hatched," said
Misk, "before we brought our world into your solar system." He looked
down at me. "That was more than two million years ago," he said.
---Priest Kings of Gor, 15:118
Indeed, it is through the control of
gravity that the Priest-Kings had, long ago, brought their world into our
system, an engineering feat that might have been otherwise impossible without
perhaps the draining of the gleaming Thassa itself for its hydrogen nuclei.
---Priest Kings of Gor, 28:241
Gor is a planet not unlike Earth, though said to be smaller in size and different in mass, making its gravity field lighter enough to have visible effects on those of Earth. Like Earth, Gor has satellites it calls moons; unlike earth, these moons are three.
...I leaped to the top of the table
almost as I would have climbed a stair in the alumni house. It was different, a
different movement. Less gravity. It had to be. The planet, then, was smaller
than our earth, and, given the apparent size of the sun, perhaps somewhat closer
to it.
---Tarnsman of Gor, 2:23
I was aware again of the somewhat
lesser gravity of the planet, but this awareness would pass as my system
accommodated itself naturally to the new environment. Given the lesser gravity,
feats of prowess that might seem superhuman on earth were commonplace on Gor.
The sun, as I remembered it, seemed a bit larger than it did when viewed from
the earth, but as before it was difficult to be altogether sure of this.
---Outlaw of Gor, 2:19
The planet is populated by various species brought to it via the voyages of acquisition, from planets known to Priest-Kings. Earth is one of those planets, and certainly appears to be the source of most of Gor's population, though one needs to remember that most of those brought from Earth to Gor came many years before the spoilings of industrialization, and hence would remain more akin to the men of ancient Earth civilizations than they would be to the watered down version of the male species we are more familiar with.
It is explained that the Priest-Kings brought men of Earth to Gor because they found them to be an interesting species and believed they would, on earth at least, end up destroying themselves. In essence, the intent explained here is one of protection of the species.
"We keep in touch with the earth," said Misk, "for it might, in time, become a threat to us and then we would have to limit it, or destroy it or leave the solar system."
"Which will you do?" I asked.
"None, I suspect," said Misk. "According to our calculations, which may of course be mistaken, life as you know it on the earth will destroy itself within the next thousand years."
I shook my head sadly.
"As I said," went on Misk, "man is sub rational. Consider what would happen if we allowed him free technological development on our world."
I nodded. I could see that from the Priest-Kings' point of view it would be more dangerous than handing out automatic weapons to chimpanzees and gorillas. Man had not proved himself worthy of a superior technology to the Priest-Kings. I mused that man had not proved himself worthy of such a technology even to himself.
"Indeed," said Misk, "it was partly because of this tendency that we brought man to the Counter-Earth, for he is an interesting species and it would be sad to us if he disappeared from the universe."
"I suppose we are to be grateful," I said.
"No," said Misk, "we
have similarly brought various species to the Counter-Earth, from other
locations."
---Priest-Kings of Gor, 16:124-125
The self-destructive tendencies of the men of Earth are believed by Priest-Kings to be a direct result of access to advanced technologies, and to prevent such tendencies from manifesting themselves, such access on Gor is limited. Indeed, if the Holy Priests remain hidden from the human eye, they keep tight and constant control of man's access to technology, believing it to be something man is not yet ready to handle safely. In areas as simple as weaponry and sometimes as advanced as political alliances, careful surveillance and intervention are maintained and handled swiftly.
...I would have supposed that armor, or
chain mail perhaps, would have been a desirable addition to the accoutrements of
the Gorean warrior, but it had been forbidden by the Priest-Kings. A possible
hypothesis to explain this is that the Priest-Kings may have wished war to be a
biologically selective process in which the weaker and slower perish and fail to
reproduce themselves. This might account for the relatively primitive weapons
allowed to the Men Below the Mountains. On Gor it was not the case that a
cavern-chested toothpick could close a switch and devastate an army. Also, the
primitive weapons guaranteed that what selection went on would proceed with
sufficient slowness to establish its direction, and alter it, if necessary.
---Tarnsman of Gor, 3:48
..."From Sarm's point of view of course your utilization there was simply to curtail the spread of the Empire of Ar, for we prefer humans to dwell in isolated communities. It is better for observing their variations, from the scientific point of view, and it is safer for us if they remain disunited, for being rational they might develop a science, and being sub rational it might be dangerous for us and for themselves if they did so."
"That is the reason then for your limitations of their weaponry and technology?"
"Of course," said Misk...
---Priest-Kings of Gor, 16:123-124
The result:
--A savage world where survival is ensured by strength and the ability of man to take his place in the natural order of things, be it in relation to other animal species, amongst the human species or surviving the elements of nature, either alone or via cultural and social standards-based primitive instincts. On Gor, the strong survive, the weak die.
--A world where incredible advances in medicine have essentially eliminated disease and even aging, yet where men must walk or ride journeys of thousands of pasangs without the help of a motor and where predators of prehistoric size roam free to hold their place in the food chain.
The meaning of history lies not in the future but in the moment. It is never anywhere but within our grasp. And if the history of man, terminated, should turn out to have been but a brief flicker in the midst of unnoticing oblivions let it at least have been worthy of the moment in which it burned.
But perhaps it would prove to be a spark which would, in time, illuminate a universe.
---Explorers of Gor, p 230Time
The clock
the ihn... the Gorean second. (1.35 earth seconds)
the ehn... the Gorean minute, it consists of 80 ihn. (1.8 earth minutes or 1 minute, 48 seconds)
the ahn... the Gorean hour, it consists of 40 ehn. (1.2 earth hours or 1 hour, 12 minutes) the Gorean day consists of 20 ahn
the tenth ahn... the Gorean equivalent of noon or midday.
the twentieth ahn... the Gorean equivalent of midnight.It was past the fourteenth Gorean Ahn, or hour, the Gorean Day is divided into twenty Ahn, which are numbered consecutively, the tenth Ahn is noon, the twentieth, midnight. Each Ahn consists of 40 Ehn, or minutes, and each Ehn of eighty Ihn, or seconds
---Outlaw of Gor, p 26The calendar
the hand... the Gorean week, five days
the Gorean month... it consists of 5 hands
each 5 week month is followed by a 5 day period called the "passage hand", this hand is not included in the month ending nor the month beginning.
The Gorean year... 12 months
At the end of the twelvth month, the usual passage hand of five days passes and is then followed by another hand called the "waiting hand" which seperates the years. So in effect then, the Gorean year consists of 73 hands: twelve 5 hand months, 12 passage hands and one waiting hand.There are twelve twenty-five day Gorean months, incidentally, in most of the calendars of the various cities. Each month, containing five five-day weeks is separated by a five-day period, called the Passage Hand, from every other month, there being one exception to this, which is that the last month of the year is separated from the first month of the year, which begins with the Vernal Equinox, not only by a Passage Hand, but by another five day period called the Waiting Hand.
---Assassin of Gor, p 78It was now the month of the vernal equinox on Gor, called En'Kara, or The First Kara. The full expression is En'Kara-Lar-Torvis, which means, rather literally, The First Turning of the Central Fire. Lar-Torvis is a Gorean expression for the sun. More commonly, though never in the context of time, the sun is referred to as Tor-Tu-Gor, or Light Upon the Home Stone. The month of the autumnal equinox is called fully Se'Kara-Lar-Torvis, but usually simply, Se'Kara, The Second Kara, or The Second Turning. As might be expected, there are related expressions for the months of the solstices, En'Var- Lar-Torvis and Se'Var-Lar-Torvis, or, again rather literally, the First Resting and the Second Resting of the Central Fire. These, however, like the other expressions, usually occur in speech only as En'Var and Se'Var, or The First Resting and The Second Resting.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 178...during the ninth passage hand, that preceding the winter solstice.
---Assassin of Gor, p 192Chronology, incidentally, is the despair of scholars on Gor, for each city keeps track of time by virtue of its own Administrator Lists...sometimes cities are willing to add, in their records, beside their own dating, the dating of Ar, which is Gor's greatest city...Time is reckoned "Contasta Ar", or from the "founding of Ar."
---Outlaw of Gor, pp 178-179He did so late in the spring, on the sixteenth day of the third month, that month which in Ar is called Camerius, in Ko-ro-ba Selnar.
---Assassin of Gor, pp 234-235...for the Wagon Peoples calculate the year from the Season of Snows to the Season of Snows; Turians, incidentally, figure the year from summer solstice to summer solstice; Goreans generally, on the other hand, figure the year from vernal equinox to vernal equinox.
---Nomads of Gor, p 11Gor to Earth date comparisons
En'Kara (the first turning)
1st Hand Mar 21 22 23 24 25 2nd Hand 26 27 28 29 30 3rd Hand 31 Apr 1st 2 3 4 4th Hand 5 6 7 8 9 5th Hand 10 11 12 13 14 1st passage 15 16 17 18 19 Second month
1st Hand Apr 20 21 22 23 24 2nd Hand 25 26 27 28 29 3rd Hand 30 May 1st 2 3 4 4th Hand 5 6 7 8 9 5th Hand 10 11 12 13 14 2nd passage 15 16 17 18 19 Third Month (Camerius in Ar, Selnar in Ko-ro-ba)
1st Hand May 20 21 22 23 24 2nHand 25 26 27 28 29 3rd Hand 30 31 Jun 1st 2 3 4th Hand 4 5 6 7 8 5th Hand 9 10 11 12 13 3rd passage 14 15 16 17 18 Month of En'Var (The First Resting)
1st Hand Jun 19 20 21 22 23 2nHand 24 25 26 27 28 3rd Hand 29 30 Jul 1st 2 3 4th Hand 4 5 6 7 8 5th Hand 9 10 11 12 13 4th passage 14 15 16 17 18 Fifth Month
1st Hand Jul 19 20 21 22 23 2nHand 24 25 26 27 28 3rd Hand 29 30 31 Aug 1st 2 4th Hand 3 4 5 6 7 5th Hand 8 9 10 11 12 5th passage 13 14 15 16 17 (In Ar, and certain other cities, Kajuralia is celebrated on August 12,
the Love Feast then beginning the next day for five days)Sixth Month
1st Hand Aug 18 19 20 21 22 2nHand 23 24 25 26 27 3rd Hand 28 29 30 31 Sept 1st 4th Hand 2 3 4 5 6 5th Hand 7 8 9 10 11 6th passage 12 13 14 15 16 Month of Se'Kara (The Second Turning)
1st Hand Sep 17 18 19 20 21 2nHand 22 23 24 25 26 3rd Hand 27 28 29 30 Oct 1st 4th Hand 2 3 4 5 6 5th Hand 7 8 9 10 11 7th passage 12 13 14 15 16 Eighth Month
1st Hand Oct 17 18 19 20 21 2nHand 22 23 24 25 26 3rd Hand 27 28 29 30 31 4th Hand Nov 1st 2 3 4 5 5th Hand 6 7 8 9 10 8th passage 11 12 13 14 15 Ninth Month
1st Hand Nov 16 17 18 19 20 2nHand 221 22 23 24 25 3rd Hand 26 27 28 29 30 4th Hand Dec 1st 2 3 4 5 5th Hand 6 7 8 9 10 9th passage 11 12 13 14 15 Month of Se'Var (The Second Resting)
1st Hand Dec 16 17 18 19 20 2nHand 21 22 23 24 25 3rd Hand 26 27 28 29 30 4th Hand 31 Jan 1st 2 3 4 5th Hand 5 6 7 8 9 10th passage 10 11 12 13 14 Eleventh Month
1st Hand Jan 15 16 17 18 19 2nHand 20 21 22 23 24 3rd Hand 25 26 27 28 29 4th Hand 30 31 Feb 1st 2 3 5th Hand 4 5 6 7 8 11th passage 9 10 11 12 13 Twelfth Month
1st Hand Feb 14 15 16 17 18 2nHand 19 20 21 22 23 3rd Hand 24 25 26 27 8 4th Hand Mar 1st 2 3 4 5 5th Hand 6 7 8 9 10 12th passage 11 12 13 14 15 (Some cities celebrate Kajuralia on March 15)
Waiting Hand Mar 16 17 18 19 20
