Time
~Ihn -the Gorean Second. It is roughly equivalent to 1.35 of our seconds.
~Ehn -the Gorean Minute. It is roughly equivalent to 1 Minute and 48 Seconds of our time, or 108 Seconds.
~Ahn –the Gorean Hour. It is roughly equivalent to 1 Hour and 12 Minutes of our time, or 72 Minutes.
~There are 80 Ihn (Gorean Seconds) in one Gorean Ehn (Minute.) 40 Ehn make One Gorean Ahn (Hour). And 20 Ahn make a complete Gorean day.
The Gorean Noon is at the Tenth Ahn, and Midnight is at the Twentieth Ahn. Let’s take a look at it on an analog clock.
So if we look at what’s more familiar to us we can see that the Gorean day is divided into 20 Ahn or hours, instead of our usual 24 Hours. The first Ahn starts at midnight, just like our first hour. We can start to roughly see that 6AM is known as the fifth Ahn. 9AM would be more like half past the seventh Ahn. 3PM would be at half past the twelfth Ahn. 6PM is the fifteenth Ahn, and 9PM is half past the seventh Ahn.
Ihn, Ehn, & Ahn are always capitalized.
Telling Time
“I thought it might be the eighth Ahn, but was less than sure. Gorean children would be more adept at such estimations than I. They are taught to estimate the time of day by the position of Tor-tu-Gor, Light- Upon-the-Home-Stone, rather as they are taught to recognize fruits and blossoms, trees and flowers, and a thousand small things within their environment, things which children of my world seldom notice, and in which they are seldom interested.” Smugglers of Gor
~Gorean clock hands move in the opposite direction as earth.
~Chronometers are rare and valuable.
~Civil Authorities mark time for cities with official clocks utilizing a variety of astronomical measurements. Sometimes they even make adjustments to the length of the Ahn depending on the season.
~Time Bars are the most common method of keeping time in cities.
~Sand clocks and water clocks, known as clepsydra are also available. There are also ringed or marked candles, and sun dials as well.
~There is even a Monthly Clock, and what appears to be an electric blanket(but isn’t electric) called a chronometric temperature device that turns off at a certain hour to wake people up.
Weeks & Months
~Normal Gorean weeks are never called “hands” in the books, they are called “weeks.”
~There are five days in a Gorean week, and five weeks in the Gorean month. They are normally just referred to as first, second, third, fourth and fifth day or week. Example: The 3rd Day of the Second Week of the Fifth Month.
~The word hand comes in when we discuss the week between ~every~ month known as the Passage Hand. The First Passage Hand follows the first month, and so on.
~There are twelve Gorean months but they are not all named, and sometimes even have different names depending on the city. If they are not named they are just known as the fifth, sixth, (and etc) month.
~Among the civilized cities, there are four months which do have common names:
En`Kara – The first month of the year, beginning with the Spring or Vernal Equinox, known as “The First Turning.”
En`Var – The fourth month – Summer Solstice, known as the “The First Resting.”
Se`Kara – The seventh month – Autumnal Equinox, known as “The Second Turning.”
Se`Var – The tenth month – Winter Solstice, known as “The Second Resting.”
~At the end of the year there is another formal five day period, a week that follows the twelfth Passage Hand, called the Waiting Hand which marks the end of the year.
Festivals & Observations
~Gorean New Year: the first day of En`Kara starts a ten day party; doors are painted green, the brak bush is burned. The Administrator or Ubar greets the sun for the people, and even slaves are given a small cake and a bit of paga. Sometimes, households adds slaves at to their households at the start of the new year.
~Sardar Fairs: four great fairs held in the shadow of the Sardar during the Gorean year. Fighting and killing are not permitted. While no one can be enslaved at the fairs, it’s a time to discuss Caste trade secrets, debate Merchant laws, buy/sell/trade slaves and goods; measurements and standards are usually set at these fairs, and many games like Girl Catch is played. The Sardar fairs are organized, regulated and administered by the Merchant Caste.
-En`Kara: the spring fair.
En`Var: the summer fair.
-Se`Kara: the autumn fair.
-Se`Var: the winter fair.
~The Planting Feast: celebrated early in the growing season to insure a good harvest. Each Caste, in turn, pays homage before the Home Stone in prayer to the Priest Kings, as well as a member of the Ubar’s family that sprinkles red ka-la-na on it under the three full moons.
~Kajuralia: known as the Holiday of Slaves, or Festival of Slaves is one day a year where slaves may wander unsupervised, partake of wine or paga, and play small harmless pranks on the Free. They may take liberties which are otherwise not permitted them during the year, including the drinking of wine and liquor, the freedom to roam at will, and the freedom to choose their own sexual partners and to have sex with slaves of the opposite sex whom they find attractive. Temporary suspension of all work and duties, and even the opportunity to play small tricks and practical jokes upon the free are tolerated. They have until the twentieth Ahn to return home, or they may be captured and possibly executed. This is celebrated on different days in different cities, but in Ar is celebrated on the last day of the fifth month, the day preceding the Love Feast.
~The Love Feast: late summer feast that last five days, and is the highest slave selling holiday of the year. It is a time of great feasting, of races and games with The Ubar’s Race as the final and climactic race.
~The Waiting Hand: a difficult time for many Goreans, it is a solemn time. Doors are painted white, and some are even sealed with pitch. Brak bush is nailed over their doors to ward off bad luck. Goreans do not go out and little food is eaten, little is drunk and there is to be no singing or public rejoicing in the city. it is not intended to be of any sort of religious significance; it is perhaps, in its way, a period of mourning for the old year, a time of mourning, meditation and fasting.
Directions & Maps
“Briefly, for those it might interest, all directions on the planet are calculated from the Sardar Mountains, which for the purposes of calculating direction play a role analogous to our north pole; the two main directions, so to speak, in the Gorean way of thinking are Ta-Sardar-Var and Ta-Sardar-Ki-Var, or as one would normally say, Var and Ki-Var; ‘Var’ means a turning and ‘Ki’ signifies negation; thus, rather literally, one might speak of ‘turning to the Sardar’ and ‘not turning to the Sardar’, something like either facing north or not facing north; on the other hand, more helpfully, the Gorean compass is divided into eight, as opposed to our four, main quadrants, or better said, divisions, and each of these itself is of course subdivided. There is also a system of latitude and longitude figured on the basis of the Gorean day, calculated in Ahn, twenty of which constitute a Gorean day, and Ehn and Ihn, which are subdivisions of the Ahn, or Gorean hour.
Ta-Sardar-Var is a direction which appears on all Gorean maps; Ta-Sardar-Ki-Var, of course, never appears on a map, since it would be any direction which is not Ta-Sardar-Var. Accordingly, the main divisions of the map are Ta-Sardar-Var, and the other seven; taking the Sardar as our “north pole” the other directions, clockwise as Earth clocks move (Gorean clock hands move in the opposite direction) would be, first, Ta-Sardar-Var, then, in order, Ror, Rim, Tun, Vask (sometimes spoken of as Verus Var, or the true turning away), Cart, Klim, and Kail, and then again, of course, Ta-Sardar-Var.” Nomads of Go
Compass
~Ta-Sardar-Var ~ North ~
~Rim ~ East
~Vask or Verus Var ~ South
~Klim ~ West
Measurements
~The Sardar fairs are responsible for standardization of the official measurements, and upheld by Merchant law. Each city keeps their standard for Merchants or anyone of their city to compare, and may at the fairs test theirs against the official weights and measures.
~Distance
-Hort: a Gorean inch. It measures approximately 1.25 of our own inch. Tape measures marked in horts are often used to measure slaves.
-Foot: called the Gorean Foot or Merchant Foot is ten horts or roughly twelve and a half inches.
-Hand: used to measure mounts or animals, no actual comparison in inches is given. On Earth, horses are measured in hands, and one hand equals 4 inches.
-Ah-il: used to measure cloth -the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, though no actual comparison in inches is given.
-Ah-ral: ten Ah-il.
-Pace: close to the English yard.
-Spear Length: approximately six to seven feet.
-Pasang: the Gorean mile that measures .7 of our own.
~Liquid Volume
-Gill: as a measure of liquid volume is used only once. But in another reference, “The leech plant can draw a considerable amount of blood in a short time”. Perhaps this means a gill is a “considerable amount”. In any event, no Earth comparison is stated.
-Talu: approximately two gallons.
~Dry Volume
Tef: a handful with the five fingers closed, not open.
-Tefa: six such handfuls, which is a tiny basket.
-Huda: five of these tiny baskets.
~Weight
-Stone: about four Earth pounds.
-Weight: ten stone.
Money, Gemstones & Minerals
~Coins
-Copper Tarsk Bit: generally accepted as the smallest denomination coin. There are quotes to support 4-10, 8, 8-10, 10, 10-20, and even 100 copper tarsk bits as equaling one Copper Tarsk. Some even literally broken from copper tarsks.
-Copper Tarsk: the next highest coin. Quotes support 10, 40, 50 and even 100 of these as equaling one Silver Tarsk. Copper is generally mined in the City of Rarn.
-Silver Tarsk: between the copper and golden coins, there are famous silver mines in Tharna and Argentum. Quotes support 10 and 100 Silver Tarsks as equaling one Gold Tarn.
-Gold Tarn: the highest coin; of both a normal and and Double Weight variety.
~Gemstones
-There are amber, amethyst, diamond, emerald, ruby, sapphire, and topaz gems. There are pearls, and opals as well. One gem unique to Gor is called a Sereem Diamond which is sparkling red with white specks.
~Minerals
-In addition to copper, silver and gold, there is bronze and iron as well as an iron oxide that attributes to the reddish tent of the Voltai Mountain range, sometimes called the Red Mountains. And of course, there is steel. There are quotes also in support of granite, feldspar, and a ferrous oxide that turns some of the salt red in the mines of Kilma which is sometimes referred to as the Red Salt of Kasra. There is a red lead and mica mentioned as well as porcelain and brick.
-Plastic and quartz are mentioned as well but usually only in conjunction to areas of the Priest Kings deep within the Sardar, or Kurii acquisition ships which would not be readily available in a common way.