Gorean Ceremonies Part IV - "Goreans and Death"

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May 2012

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[Laja DeCuir]

ok..after I wrote the Part III already here we go with Part IV*winks


Ritual about looking into the blood

After slaying an enemy or beast the one who emerged victorious will drink from the blood of the slain and look into the liquid that lies within his hands, facing a kind of vision.

“Then, soberly, though I acknowledged it as a superstition, I performed the Gorean ritual of looking into the blood.  With my cupped hands I drank a mouthful of blood, and then, holding another in my hands, I waited for the next flash of lightning.
One looks into the blood in one's cupped hands.  It is said that if one sees one's visage black and wasted one will die of disease, if one sees oneself torn and scarlet one will die in battle, if one sees oneself old and white haired, one will die in peace and leave children.” Outlaw of Gor, chap. 4

Funeral Ceremony

Goreans who died may be either buried or cremated. Cremation generally takes place for more important persons. Buried in a grave you mostly won’t find headstones or other marks.

Goreans feel about death in a way that they believe that:

"No matter how insignificant or tiny one is, in the Gorean belief, one is an ineradicable part of history. That can never be taken from anyone." Dancer of Gor, p.426

There is no need for me to say more about the ceremony than stated in the following quote:

“The common ceremony of a warrior is one where a pyre is built by his friends and caste members of ka-la-na wood, which are trimmed and squared. The pyre takes the form of a structured, tiered, truncated pyramid. Free women then carry jars of perfumed oils and sprinkle it on the pyre. The body of the Warrior is borne on the shoulders of 4 Warriors, on crossed spears, lashed together. The body is wrapped in scarlet leather. The funeral procession follows, they do not chant, or sing, or carry the boughs of ka-la-na nor play an musical instrument. At such times Goreans do not sing or speak, they are silent, for at such times words mean nothing, and would demean or insult. For Goreans there is only silence, memory and fire. A family member or one who was close to the person lights the pyre.” Dancer of Gor p. 426 and Assassin of gor p. 2

City of Dust

Most Goreans do not believe in immortality, either physically or spiritually. Death is final. There is no worry of a heaven and hell. Though death is often called journeying to the “Cities of Dust,” this appears to be more a euphemism than a belief in an actual place one travels to upon death. The Initiates are the primary exception to this belief, as they accept that immortality is possible, though only by following a strict regimen that constitutes part of their Caste Codes. This regimen reflects much that was followed by the ancient Greek cult of the Pythagoreans such as abstaining from meat, alcohol and beans. The regimen also requires a study of mathematics. By this strict regimen, only Initiates, who are all men, can possibly earn immortality. Thus no woman or non-Initiate can ever achieve immortality. Many Goreans do not accept that Initiates can attain immortality. They simply accept that immortality cannot exist for anyone. http://www.gor-now.net/delphius2002/id131.htm

"Among warriors, the bite of an ost is thought to be one of the most cruel of all gates to the Cities of Dust; far preferable to them are the rending beak, the terrible talons of a tarn." Outlaw of Gor, p. 118

"I," said Thurnock, in a booming voice, "would follow you even to the Cities of Dust." Raiders of Gor, p. 89

...to be continued .. after that one you will find the important rites/ceremonies concerning the ones down on their knees and always on our side*smiles beningly and waves