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