- Etiquette towards Initiants
Initiates are forbidden to use or handle weapons or to shed blood, although they may hire others to do so for them. Those visiting a Temple should remove their weapons before entering the sacred space. Weapons may be left in the care of the Temple guards.
Women and slaves are not permitted within the sacred space of the Temple itself. In Piedmont, they may come within as far as the
blue circle inside the doorway, but no further. Free Men may walk freely within the Temple, but no one except members of the
White Caste may go within the area set off by the white railing in front of the altar. Any not of the Initiates who have business
within the Temple ( such as workmen ) must be anointed with sacred chrism before beginning their duties.
Initiates are forbidden the slightest touch of a woman. This means far more than simply not furring; it means no contact whatever.
Free Women fear to allow their robes even to brush against an Initiate in the street, and female slaves serving an Initiate must take care to present food or drink in such a way that the Initiate may take it without touching them. Initiates are forbidden meat, beans, or alcohol in any form. Black wine or tea is permitted.
Slaves should tower in the presence of an Initiate, unless their Owner has forbidden them to do so. Initiates value Purity and have
no interest in the heat of slave girls. Slaves should address an Initiate as "Blessed One" or "Holy One" rather than as "Master".
"Blessed Master" is not a proper form of address.
Free generally address an Initiate as "Blessed One", "Holy One" or "initiate".
Initiates should be treated with respect and deference by all:
(Initiates) "regard themselves as the highest caste, and, in many cities, are so regarded generally. There is often a tension between them and the civil authorities, for each regards himself as supreme in matters of policy and law for their districts."
Maurauders of Gor pgs: 37-39
The High Initiate of each City jealously guards his own power and independence against the High Initiates of other cities, and against
the claims of the civil authories to infringe on the Initiates' judicial powers and their ecclesiastical courts. :
"There are two systems of courts on Gor those of the City, under the jurisdiction of an Administrator or Ubar, and those of the Initiates, under the jurisdiction of the High Initiate of the given city. The division corresponds roughly to that between civil and what, for lack of a better word, might be called ecclesiastical courts. The areas of jurisdiction of these two types of courts are not well defined. The Initiates claim ultimate jurisdiction in all matters, in virtue of their supposed relation to the Priest-Kings, but this claim is challenged by civil jurists."
-Tarnsman of Gor,p 194
Few, if any, Goreans believe Priest-Kings do not exist; the periodic evidence of the Flame Death, which reduces those who
violate the Will of Priest-Kings to ashes, is quite convincing. However, equally few, even among the members of the White Caste
itself, know the real nature of Priest-Kings, and most believe them to be gods without corporeal form. Because the Initiates
interpret the Will of Priest-Kings and present their commands to the rest of Gor, they are respected and often feared by all
Goreans, and wield vast power. The Low Castes often believe most fervently in the mystical power of the White Caste and fear
their wrath. This provides the Initiates with a strong social power base. In addition, Temples are often rich, and have their own
armed guards and an Assassin on retainer.
"The spiritual power of the Supreme Initiate was almost sensible in the air. The religious conditioning of the men of Gor, based on superstition though it may be, was as powerful as a set of chains - more powerful than chains because they did not realize it existed.
They feared the word, the curse, of this old man without weapons more than they would have feared the massed swords of a thousand foemen."
Tarnsman of Gor, page 210
