| On Gor there are numerous ways to measure time from the simple sundials which sit atop every pasang stone marker on roads, to the intricate mechanical clocks, beautiful water clocks and even battery powered time pieces - technological masterpieces which are very rare and very expensive. |
| Gorean: | ||
| 1 second | ihn | |
| 1 minute (consisting of 80 ihn) | ehn | |
| 1 hour (consisting of 40 ehn, or 3200 ihn) | ahn | |
| 1 day (consisting of 20 ahn, or 800 ehn, or 64000 ihn) | ||
| 1 week (consisting of 5 days) | hand |
| Date keeping varies widely from city to city, most cities calculate
their time from the last major significant event.
Contasta Ar - Meaning, "From the Founding of Ar", Ar claims a history going back over 10,000 years, the most ancient historical lineage claimed on Gor. Time is often reckoned by this measure, it is used as a standard to synchronize the otherwise very confusing time lines found from city to city across Gor.
There are 12 twenty-five day Gorean months, in most of the calendars of the various cities. Each month, contains five day weeks, is separated by a five-day period, called the Passage Hand, from every other month, there being one exception, which is 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. During the Waiting Hand is the time doorways are painted white, little food is eaten or drunk, no singing or public rejoicing is done. In its way it is akin to a period of mourning for the old year gone. Goreans spend much of their time outdoors, on the bridges between the cylinders and in the streets. They have a reverence for nature that is not always as appreciated on earth as it is on Gor.
On the Vernal Equinox, which marks the first day of the New Year there is great rejoicing; the doors are painted green there is song, games, contests, visiting of friends and feasting which lasts for the first ten days of the month, thereby doubling the period taken by the Waiting Hand. Month names differ from city to city, but among the civilized cities there are four months, associated with the equinoxes and solstices and the great fairs of the Sardar.
En`Kara - Lar-Torvis (First turning) - the first month of the Gorean calendar, that of the vernal equinox, which is the Gorean new year; roughly equivalent to the Earth calendar month of March
En`-Var - Lar-Torvis (First resting) - the fourth month of the Gorean calendar, that of the summer solstice, roughly equivalent with the Earth calendar month of June.
Fifth Passage Hand - Love Feast occurs in late summer
Se`Kara - Lar-Torvis (Second turning) - the seventh month of the Gorean calendar, that of the autumnal equinox, roughly equivalent to the Earth calendar month of September
Se`Var - Lar-Torvis (Second resting) - the tenth month of the Gorean calendar, that of the winter solstice, roughly equivalent with the Earth calendar month of December |
Earth Hours / Gorean Ahn
| 12:01 AM - 1:12 AM | 1st ahn | |
| 1:13 AM - 2:24 AM | 2nd ahn | |
| 2:25 AM - 3:36 AM | 3rd ahn | |
| 3:37 AM - 4:48 AM | 4th ahn | |
| 4:49 AM - 6:00 AM | 5th ahn | |
| 6:01 AM - 7:12 AM | 6th ahn | |
| 7:13 AM - 8:24 AM | 7th ahn | |
| 8:25 AM - 9:36 AM | 8th ahn | |
| 9:37 AM - 10:48 AM | 9th ahn | |
| 10:49 AM - 12:00 PM | 10th ahn | |
| 12:01 PM - 1:12 PM | 11th ahn | |
| 1:13 PM - 2:24 PM | 12th ahn | |
| 2:25 PM - 3:36 PM | 13th ahn | |
| 3:37 PM - 4:48 PM | 14th ahn | |
| 4:49 PM - 6:00 PM | 15th ahn | |
| 6:01 PM - 7:12 PM | 16th ahn | |
| 7:13 PM - 8:24 PM | 17th ahn | |
| 8:25 PM - 9:36 PM | 18th ahn | |
| 9:37 PM - 10:48 PM | 19th ahn | |
| 10:49 PM - 12:00 AM | 20th ahn |
"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, page 78
"It 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, page 178
"...publically sold during the ninth passage hand, that preceding the winter solstice." Assassin of Gor, page 192 "Chronology, 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, pages 178-179
"He 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, pages 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, page 11
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RITUAL LIBATION
"I am offering a libation..Ta-Sardar-Gor...It means..To
the Priest-Kings of Gor."
Outlaw of Gor, page 13
THE SARDAR FAIRS
The fairs happen four times per year, one at each of
the vernal and autumnal equinox and one each at the summer and winter solstice.
Each fair is named for the month in which it is held. For example, the
Fair of En'Kara, the Fair of Se'Var, etc.
"One is the fairs at the Sardar Mountains which occur
four times a year and are number chronologically."
Outlaw of Gor, page 179
"...each Gorean, whether male or female, is expected
to see the Sardar Mountains, in honor of the Priest-Kings, at least once
in his life, prior to his twenty-fifth year."
Priest-Kings of Gor, page 12
"They had thought to come to the Sardar as free women,
discharging their obligation to the Priest-Kings. They would leave as slave
girls."
Priest-Kings of Gor, page 13
KAJURALIA
Kajuralia (the Holiday of Slaves, the Festival of Slaves)
occurs once a year in most northern Gorean cities. It is a day when
the slaves play pranks on the Masters and Mistresses or when the slaves
have a FreeMan or FreeWoman serve them. Some cities observe it on
the last day of the twelfth Passage Hand, others on the last day of the
fifth month.
"The Kajuralia, or Holiday of Slaves, or Festival of Slaves,
occurs in most of the northern, civilized cities of known Gor once a year.
The only exception to this that I know of is Port Kar, in the delta of
the Vosk. The date of the Kajuralia, however, differs. Many cities celebrate
it on the last day of the Twelfth Passage Hand, the day before the beginning
of the Waiting Hand; in Ar, however, and certain other cities, it is celebrated
on the last day of the fifth month, which is the day preceding the Love
Feast."
Assassin of Gor, page 229
LOVE FEAST
The five days of the fifth passage hand. It is a time
of feasts and races and games. It is also a very big time in the sale of
slaves from the Curulean in Ar.
"On the other hand, the single greatest period for the
sale of slaves is the five days of the Fifth Passage Hand, coming late
in the summer, called jointly, the Love Feast."
Assassin of Gor, page 193
"The Love Feast...is also a time of great feasting, of
races and games....The evening of the fourth day of the Love Feast is usually
taken as its climax from the point of view of slave sales. The fifth day,
special races and games are celebrated, regarded by many Goreans as a fitting
consummation of the holidays."
Assassin of Gor, page 281
THE LOVE WAR
Takes place annually between the Wagon Peoples and Turians.
Up to 1000 Free Women each from the Wagon Peoples and Turia stand bound
to a stake. A warrior from each side stands as her champion. The winning
warrior takes the woman from the opposite side as slave. (Ex. If the Wagon
Peoples warrior wins, the Turian woman then becomes a slave of that warrior).
The Love War started in ancient times and give the warriors of both sides
a chance to show their prowess to the other....the fights are generally
to the death.
"The institution of Love War is an ancient one among the
Turians and the Wagon Peoples...The games of the Love War are celebrated
every spring..."
Nomads of Gor, page 115
"The theoretical justification of the games of the Love
War, from the Turian point of view, is that they provide an excellent arena
in which to demonstrate the fierceness and prowess of Turian warriors,
thus perhaps intimidating or, at the very least, encouraging the often
overbold warriors of the Wagon Peoples to be wary of Turian steel."
Nomads of Gor, page 116
"As I knew, not just any girl, any more than just any
warrior, could participate in the games of the Love War. Only the most
beautiful were eligible, and only the most beautiful of these could be
chosen."
Nomads of Gor, page 117
THE OMEN YEAR
Occurs once every ten years among the Wagon Peoples.
All four tribes of the Peoples; Tuchuks, Paravaci, Kataii, and Kassars
gather for the Omen takings; to see if there will be an Ubar-San (the One
Ubar), who would lead all of the Wagon Peoples.
"The games of the Love War are celebrated every spring...whereas
the Omen Year occurs only every tenth year."
Nomads of Gor, page 115
" 'It is the Omen Year,' had said Kamchak of the Tuchuks....It
is in the spring that the omens are taken, regarding the possible election
of the Ubar San, the One Ubar, he who would be Ubar of all the Wagons,
of all the Peoples."
Nomads of Gor, page 55
"The animals sacrificed, incidentally, are later used
for food, so the Omen taking, far from being a waste of animals, is actually
a time of feasting and plenty for the Wagon Peoples, who regard the Omen
taking, provided it results that no Ubar San is to be chosen, as an occasion
for gaiety and festival. As I may have mentioned, no Ubar San had been
chosen for more than a hundred years."
Nomads of Gor, page 171
"In the thinking of the Wagon Peoples it is called the
Omen Year, though the Omen Year is actually a season, rather than a year,
which occupies a part of two of their regular years, for the Wagon Peoples
calculate the year from the Season of Snows to the Season of Snows...the
Omen Year, or season, lasts several months, and consists of three phases,
called the Passing of Turia, which takes place in the fall; the Wintering,
which takes place north of Turia and commonly south of Cartius, the equator
of course lying to the north in this hemisphere; and the Return to Turia,
in the spring, or as the Wagon Peoples say, in the Season of Little Grass.
It is near Turia, in the spring, that the Omen Year is completed, when
the Omens are taken, usually over several days by hundreds of haruspexes,
mostly readers of bosk blood and verr livers, to determine if they are
favorable for a choosing of a Ubar San, a One Ubar, a Ubar who would be
High Ubar, a Ubar of all the Wagon Peoples, a Ubar of all the Peoples,
one who could lead them as one people...The omens, I understood, had not
been favorable in more than a hundred years."
Nomads of Gor, pages 11-12
" ' This is the first Omen, said Kamchak, '--the Omen
to see if the Omens are propitious to take the Omens.' "
Nomads of Gor, page 172
" Conrad spoke. 'The Omens have been taken, ' he said.
'They have been read well, ' said Hakimba.
'For the first time in more than a hundred years,' said
the Paravaci, 'there is a Ubar San, a One Ubar, Master of the Wagons!'...
'Kamchak,' they cried, 'Ubar San!' "
Nomads of Gor, page 334
THE PLANTING FEAST
"The Home Stone of a city is the center of various rituals.
The next would be the Planting Feast of Sa-Tarna, The Life-Daughter, celebrated
early in the season to insure a good harvest. This is a complex feast,
celebrated by most Gorean cities, and the observances are numerous and
intricate. The details of the rituals are arranged and mostly executed
by the Initiates of a given city."
Tarnsman of Gor, page 68
THE PROCESSION TO THE SEA
Happens annually in Port Kar.
"...in the annual Procession to the Sea, which takes
place on the first of En'Kara, the Gorean New Year."
Raiders of Gor, page 134
VERNAL EQUINOX (NEW YEAR) and THE WAITING HAND
During the Waiting Hand (the week before the New Year
begins), many Goreans observe the passing of the old year by eating little,
no singing or rejoicing, and painting their door white and attaching the
branches of the Brak Bush to discourage the entry of bad luck into the
house in the coming year. Then, on the vernal equinox, there is much rejoicing
and celebrating.
*
"On the first day of the Waiting Hand, the last five
days of the old year, the portals of Ar, including that of even the House
of Cernus, had been painted white, and in many of the low caste homes,
sealed with pitch, not to be opened until the first day of En'Kara. Almost
all doors, including that of the House of Cernus, had nailed to them some
branches of the Brak Bush, the leaves of which, when chewed, have a purgative
effect. It is thought that the pitch and the branches of the Brak Bush
discourage entry of bad luck into the houses of the citizens. During the
days of the Waiting Hand the streets are almost deserted, and in the houses
there is much fasting, and little conversation, and no song."
Assassin of Gor, page 211
"...but on the Vernal Equinox, which marks the first
day of the new year in most Gorean cities, there is great rejoicing; the
doorways are painted green, and there is song...and much feasting..."
Assassin of Gor, page 78
Weights and Volumes:
gill = liquid volume
"In a matter of perhaps two or three seconds, it had
drawn perhaps a gill of liquid."
|
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"Without speaking, the man took twenty pieces of gold, tarn disks of Ar, of double weight, and gave them to Kuurus..."
