Brak Bush ...
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 had been 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. Rations even in the House of Cernus were halved during this period. Paga and Ka-la-na were not served. The slaves in the pens received almost nothing. ~ Assassin of Gor, 16:211
] Free Companionship
There is no marriage, as we know it, on Gor, but there is the institution of the Free Companionship, which is its nearest correspondent. Surprisingly enough, a woman who is bought from her parents, for tarns or gold, is regarded as a Free Companion, even though she may not have been consulted in the transaction. More commendably, a free woman may herself, of her own free will, agree to be such a companion. And it is not unusual for a master to free one of his slave girls in order that she may share the full privileges of Free Companionship. One may have, at a given time, an indefinite number of slaves, but only one Free Companion. Such relationships are not entered into lightly, and they are normally sundered only by death. ~ Outlaw of Gor - Page 54 A Gorean free woman does not change her name in the ceremony of the Free Companionship. She remains who she was. In such a ceremony two free individuals have elected to become companions. The Earth woman, as a consequence of certain mating ceremonials, may change her last name. The first and other names, however, tend to remain constant. From the Gorean point of view the wife of Earth occupies a status which is higher than that of the slave but lower than that of the Free Companion. ~ Explorers of Gor - Page 365
Branding
The thighs and the lower left abdomen are the brand sites recommended by Merchant Law. Masters, of course, may brand a girl wherever they please. She is theirs. Sometimes brands are placed on the left side of the neck, on the left calf, the interior of the left heel, and on the inside of the left forearm. The customary brand site, incidentally, is high on the left thigh. That is the site almost invariably utilized in marking Gorean kajirae. ~ Fighting Slave of Gor - Page 349 The brand of the Tuchuk slave , incidentally, is not the same as that used in the cities, which for girls is the first letter of the expression Kajirain cursive script, but the sign of the four bosk horns, that of the Tuchuk standard , the brand of the four bosk horns, set in a manner to somewhat resemble the letter H, is only about an inch high ~ Nomads of Gor - Page 62 Most girls wear their brands on the left thigh, where they may be conveniently caressed by the right-handed master. Some girls, on the other hand, are right-thigh branded. Some too, though very few, are branded on the lower left abdomen. ~ Explorers of Gor - Page 147 Her brand however, was not precisely as the same as mine. it was more slender, more vertical, more like a stem with floral, cursive loops, about and inch and a half in height, and a half inch in width; it was, I would later learn, the initial letter in cursive script of the Gorean expression 'kajira': my own brand was the "dina"; the dina is a small, lovely multiply petaled flower, short-stemmed, and blooming in a turf of green leaves, usually on he slopes of hills, in the northern temperature zones of Gor; in its budding, though in few toher wasys, it resembles a rose, it is an extoic alien flower; it is also spoken of, in the north, where it grows freequently, as the slave flower ~ Slave Girl of Gor - Page 61 Her own brand was the customary Kajira brand, the initial in cursive Gorean script, about an inch and a half high, and a half inch wide, of the expresion "Kajira," the most common Gorean expression for a female slave. ~ Slave Girl of Gor - Page 253
Sardar Fairs
There are four Sardar Fairs held annually. They are held at En'Kara (vernal equinox), En'Var (summer solstice), Se'Kara (autumnal equinox) and Se'Var (winter solstice) "During of the Fair the area is neutral territory: no one may be enslaved at the Fair (though slaves captured elsewhere may be sold) & no blood may be spilled; serves as a trading point for information and merchandise; every Gorean is required to visit the Fair at least once before the age of 25." ~ Outlaw of Gor - page 179 [edit] Gorean Sayings "Tonight, let us drink wine." A fatalistic maxim used when it is understood the events to come are in the hands of the Priest Kings, beyond one's personal control. "Gold has no caste." "Curiosity," he said, "is NOT becoming in a Kajira." I did not understand him. "You might be beaten for it," he said." ~ Captive of Gor" - Page 14 "I am chained at your feet," I said. It was a saying of a Gorean slave girl, to express her feelings. ~ Captive of Gor - Page 347
Miscellaneous * Goreans applaud by striking the left shoulder with their right hand. * Free Men will typically stand when a Free Woman enters the room. * Those speaking of home stones stand, for matters of honor are involved. * The average Gorean workday is 10 ahn, but its not unheard of or uncommon for there to be a 2 ahn break for lunch, or to leave an ahn early for paga.