A Knowledgable People

The Wagon Peoples, it seems, or at least some, are privy to the First Knowledge. However, despite such First Knowledge, they are quite fond of, and even fascinated by, the future, its portents and signs, although they will not truly admit this.

"The Wagon Peoples are fascinated with the future and its signs and though, to hear them speak, they put no store in such matters, yet they do in practice give them great consideration." — Nomads of Gor, page 27.

Religious Beliefs

The Wagon Peoples, though they hold the Priest Kings in reverence, do not extend to them the dignity of worship, nor do they worship any sort of deity. The bosk and their weapons are considered holy, but it is to the sky that the warrior of the Wagon Peoples will pray, demanding victory and luck for themselves; defeat and misery for their enemies. The warrior prays only while mounted upon his kaiila and with his weapons at hand.

"By one fire I could see a squat Tuchuk, hands on hips, dancing and stamping about by himself, drunk on fermented milk curds, dancing, according to Kamchak, to please the sky. The Tuchuks and the other Wagon Peoples reverence Priest-Kings, but unlike the Goreans of the cities, with their castes of Initiates, they do not extend to them the dignities of worship. I suppose the Tuchuks worship nothing, in the common sense of that word, but it is true they hold many things holy, among them the bosk and the skills of arms, but chief of the things before which the proud Tuchuk stands ready to remove his helmet is the sky, the simple, vast beautiful sky, from which fans the rain that, in his myths, formed the earth, and the bosks, and the Tuchuks. It is to the sky that the Tuchuks pray when they pray, demanding victory and luck for themselves, defeat and misery for their enemies. The Tuchuk, incidentally, like others of the Wagon Peoples, prays only when mounted, only when in the saddle and with weapons at hand; he prays to the sky not as a slave to a master, nor a servant to a god, but as warrior to a Ubar…" — Nomads of Gor, page 28.

Here's a good example of a warrior of the Wagon Peoples praying.

The Paravaci, in his cape and hood of white fur, with the priceless necklace wrapped about the pommel of his saddle, sat stiff, not moving, utterly enraged. Then, furiously, the scars wild in his face, he sprang up in the stirrups and lifted both hands to the sky. "Spirit of the Sky," he cried, "let the lance fall to me!" Then abruptly, furious, he wheeled the kaiila and joined the others, whence he turned to regard me. — Nomads of Gor, pages 19-21.

Women of the Wagon Peoples and Religion

The women of the Wagon Peoples are forbidden to pray. Haruspexes, diviners of the Wagon Peoples, and soothsayers, the fortune tellers, play an integral part of life for the free women, providing items such as amulets, talismans, trinkets, philters of potions, spell papers, wonder-working sleen teeth, the marvelous powdered kailiauk horn, and colored, magical strings that, depending on the purpose, may be knotted in various ways and worn around the neck.

"… the women of the Wagon Peoples, it might be mentioned, are not permitted to pray; many of them, however, do patronize the haruspexes, who, besides foretelling the future with a greater or lesser degree of accuracy for generally reasonable fees, provide an incredible assemblage of amulets, talismans, trinkets, philters, potions, spell papers, wonder working sleen teeth, marvelous powdered kailiauk horns, and colored, magic strings that, depending on the purpose, may be knotted in various ways and worn about the neck." — Nomads of Gor, page 28.

Haruspex or Soothsayer?

I have seen many refer to a haruspex as a soothsayer, but this is incorrect. If, you will, read the following quote:

"Among them, too, were soothsayers and haruspexes…" — Nomads of Gor, page 34.

Yes, TWO distinctive persons with two distinctive disciplines. A haruspex is a diviner, who makes predictions based on reading of entrails, or in the case of the Wagon Peoples, blood and livers, from sacrificed animals (including slaves), although John Norman does have the haruspex selling amulets and such, and in one of the following quotes, reading things such as the stars, the wind and the grass. On the other hand, a soothsayer predicts the future using various magical amulets, powders and such. (Note: in the following paragraph detailing the haruspex of Rome… they were male. ~smiles~

Haruspex:
plural - ha·rus·pi·ces;
Etymology: Latin, from haru- (akin to gut, cord) + -spex, from specere to look; Date: 1584:
       "A diviner in ancient Rome basing his predictions on inspection of the entrails of sacrificial animals." — Merriam-Webster Dictionary ©2002-2006

"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…" — Nomads of Gor, page 12.

"I heard a haruspex singing between the wagons; for a piece of meat he would read the wind and the grass; for a cup of wine the stars and the flight of birds; for a fat-bellied dinner the liver of a sleen or slave." — Nomads of Gor, pages 27.

(Yep, John Norman does not use proper pluralization for haruspex and, in fact, even boo-boos regarding the two on occasion.)

Soothsayer::
Date: 14th century:
       "A person who predicts the future by magical, intuitive, or more rational means." —Merriam-Webster Dictionary ©2002-2006

The haruspex plays an important part in the lives of the Wagon Peoples. Each Omen Year, the haruspexes read the entrails of sacrificed animals to predict the favorability of electing a Ubar San.

I resolved that the best- time to steal the egg would be during the days of the Omen Taking. At that time Kutaituchik and other high men among the Tuchuks, doubtless including Kamchak, would be afield, on the rolling hills surrounding the Omen Valley, in which on the hundreds of smoking altars, the haruspexes of the four peoples would be practicing their obscure craft, taking the omens, trying to determine whether or not they were favorable for the election of a Ubar San, a One Ubar, who would be Ubar of all the Wagons." — Nomads of Gor, page 146.

Then, to my delight, Kamchak, borrowing two kaiila, which he seemed to have no difficulty doing from a Tuchuk warrior I had not even seen before rode with me to the Omen Valley. Coming over a low, rolling hill, we saw a large number of tents pitched in a circle, surrounding a large grassy area. In the grassy area, perhaps about two hundred yards in diameter, there were literally hundreds of small, stone altars. There was a large circular stone platform in the center of the field. On the top of this platform was a huge, four-sided altar which was approached by steps on all four sides. On one side of this altar I saw the sign of the Tuchuks, and on the others; that of the Kassars, the Kataii and the Paravaci.
       There were a large number of tethered animals about the outer edge of the circle, and, beside them, stood many haruspexes. Indeed, I supposed there must be one haruspex at least for each of the many altars in the field. Among the animals I saw many verrs; some domestic tarsks, their tusks sheathed; cages of flapping vulos, some sleen, some kaiila, even some bosk; by the Paravaci haruspexes I saw manacled male slaves, if such were to be permitted; commonly, I understood from Kamchak, the Tuchuks, Kassars and Kataii rule out the sacrifice of slaves because their hearts and livers are thought to be, fortunately for the slaves, untrustworthy in registering portents; after all, as Kamchak pointed out, who would trust a Turian slave in the kes with a matter so important as the election of a Ubar San; it seemed to me good logic and, of course, I am sure the slaves, too, were taken with the cogency of the argument. 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. — Nomads of Gor, pages 170-171.
       As yet the Omen Taking had not begun. The haruspexes had not rushed forward to the altars. On the other hand on each altar there burned a small bosk-dung fire into which, like a tiny piece of kindling, had been placed an incense stick. Kamchak and I dismounted and, from outside the circle, watched the four chief haruspexes of the Wagon Peoples approach the huge altar in the center of the field. Behind them another four haruspexes, one from each People, carried a large wooden cage, made of sticks lashed together, which contained perhaps a dozen white vulos, domesticated pigeons. This cage they placed on the altar. I then noted that each of the four chief haruspexes carried, about his shoulder, a white linen sack, somewhat like a peasant's rep-cloth seed bag.
       "This is the first Omen," said Kamchak, "The Omen to see if the Omens are propitious to take the Omens."
       Each of the four haruspexes then, after intoning an involved entreaty of some sort to the sky, which at the time was shining beneficently, suddenly cast a handful of something doubtless grain to the pigeons in the stick cage. Even from where I stood I could see the pigeons pecking at the grain in reassuring frenzy. The four haruspexes turned then, each one facing his own minor haruspexes and anyone else who might be about, and called out, "It is propitious!"
       There was a pleased cry at this announcement from the throng.
       "This part of the Omen Taking always goes well," I was informed by Kamchak.
       "Why is that?" I asked.
       "I don't know," he said. Then he looked at me. "Perhaps," he proposed, "it is because the vulos are not fed for three days prior to the taking of the Omen."
       I could now see the other haruspexes of the peoples pouring with their animals toward the altars. The Omen Taking as a whole lasts several days and consumes hundreds of animals. A tally is kept, from day to day. One haruspex, as we left, I heard cry out that he had found a favorable liver. Another, from an adjoining altar had rushed to his side. They were engaged in dispute. I gathered that reading the signs was a subtle business, calling for sophisticated interpretation and the utmost delicacy and judgment. Even as we made our way back to the kaiila I could hear two more haruspexes crying out that they had found livers that were clearly unfavorable. Clerks, with parchment scrolls, were circulating among the altars, presumably, I would guess, noting the names of haruspexes, their peoples, and their findings The four chief haruspexes of the peoples remained at the huge central altar, to which a white bosk was being slowly led. — Nomads of Gor, pages 171-173.

Slaves and Religion

Slaves, of course, universal to Gor, are forbidden to pray.

The Pilgrimage to the Sardar

It is stated in the books of Gor, written by John Norman, that "every [free] person, whether male or female, will make a pilgrimage to the Sardar Mountains to honor the Priest-Kings before their 25th birthday. Of course, it must be assumed that only free persons are expected to make this pilgrimage as slaves are not allowed to pray or take part in any religious ceremony.

"Although no one may be enslaved at the fair, slaves may be bought and sold within its precincts, and slavers do a thriving business, exceeded perhaps only by that of Ar's Street of Brands. The reason for this is not simply that here is a fine market for such wares, since men from various cities pass freely to and fro at the fair, but that 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. Accordingly the pirates and outlaws who beset the trade routes to ambush and attack the caravans on the way to the fair, if successful, often have more than inanimate metals and cloths to reward their vicious labors. This pilgrimage to the Sardar, enjoyed by the Priest-Kings according to the Caste of the Initiates, undoubtedly plays its role in the distribution of beauty among the hostile cities of Gor. Whereas the males who accompany a caravan are often killed in its defence or driven off, this fate, fortunate or not, is seldom that of the caravan's women. It will be their sad lot to be stripped and fitted with the collars and chains of slave girls and forced to follow the wagons on foot to the fair, or if the caravan's tharlarions have been killed or driven off, they will carry its goods on their backs. Thus one practical effect of the edict of the Priest-Kings is that each Gorean girl must, at least once in her life, leave her walls and take the very serious risk of becoming a slave girl, perhaps the prize of a pirate or outlaw." — Priest-Kings of Gor, pages 12-13.

"Some six young people, in white garments, passed me. They would stand before the palisade, paying the homage of their presence to the mysterious denizens of the Sardar, the mysterious Priest-Kings, rulers of Gor. Each young person of Gor is expected, before their twenty-fifth birthday, to make the pilgrimage to the Sardar, to honor the Priest-Kings. These caravans come from all over known Gor. Most arrive safely. Some are preyed upon by bandits and slavers. More than one beauty who thought to have stood upon the platforms by the palisade, lifting laurel wreaths and in white robes singing the glories of the Priest-Kings, has found herself instead looking upon the snow-capped peaks of the Sardar from the slave platforms, stripped and heavily chained." — Beasts of Gor, page 47.

Now, does this also mean that those of the tribes of the Wagon Peoples must also make this pilgrimage? Those of the tribes of the desert nomads? Those of the tribes of the Schendi? Though the Wagon Peoples revere the Priest-Kings, they do not hold any religious tithing or worship to them.

"The Tuchuks and the other Wagon Peoples reverence Priest-Kings, but unlike the Goreans of the cities, with their castes of Initiates, they do not extend to them the dignities of worship." — Nomads of Gor, page 27.

This could lead to an argument of whether they uphold this law of the pilgrimage. In Nomads of Gor, there is no mention of this pilgrimage. However, in other books, there is mention of Wagon Peoples in attendance at the Great Fairs.

"I saw two men of the Wagon Peoples pass by, and, not a yard from them, evincing no concern, a fellow in the flowing robes of Turia. The fairs were truce ground." — Beasts of Gor, page 47.

The Wagon Peoples making the pilgrimage to the Sardar? Well… the books DO say… everyone. But then again, John Norman has been wrong before.

 

 

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Special Note

Because of the differences in publishing the books, depending upon whether published in the U.S. or Europe, depending upon whether a first publishing or a Masquerade Books release, page numbers will often vary. All of my quotes are from original, first-printing U.S. publications (see The Books page for a listing of publishers and dates) with the exception of the following books:

  • Tarnsman of Gor (2nd Printing, Balantine)
  • Outlaw of Gor (11th Printing, Balantine)
  • Priest-Kings of Gor (2nd Printing, Balantine)
  • Assassin of Gor (10th Printing, Balantine)
  • Raiders of Gor (15th Printing, Balantine)
  • Captive of Gor (3rd Printing, Balantine)

Disclaimer

These pages are not written for any specific home, but rather as informational pages for those not able to get ahold of the books and read them yourself. Opinions and commentaries are strictly my own personal views, therefore, if you don't like what you are reading — then don't. The information in these pages is realistic to what is found within the books. Many sites have added information, assuming the existences of certain products and practices, such as willowbark and agrimony for healing, and travel to earth and back for the collection of goods. I've explored the books, the flora, the fauna, and the beasts, and have compiled from those mentioned, the probabilities of certain practices, and what vegetation mentioned in the books is suitable for healing purposes, as well as given practicalities to other sorts of roleplaying assumptions.