The Gorean Compass – The Next Generation

The People of The Home Stone

The Gorean Compass is a class given every Thursday by Master Gorm Runo. Classes are held at the Gorean Campus and are given at noon and 6pm SLT. All are encouraged to come and join in the amazing discussions. This class was held on September 20, 2018

Tal and greetings

Today is the final day of this seminar. I have called it: “The Gorean Compass, The Next Generation.” That was because it was the second series of talks that have found their way onto our blog. I mention this because several of the sessions dealt with the concept of Home Stone. I have been speaking over the past couple of weeks of my personal three most influential passages in the Gorean novels, and today’s final one deals with Home Stones.

Caer Cadarn Home Stone

This past summer, my home village found and placed their Home Stone and it would be a good idea to go back over some of the sessions held during that period. We talked about the three levels of Home Stone, and we talked about the seriousness of the concept and I think you would enjoy re-reading those posts and once again reflecting on the importance of the Home Stone idea to the Gorean.

The passage that I am going to speak of today comes from Raiders of Gor in the chapter titled “What occurred one night in Port Kar.” I say “passage”, but that isn’t exactly accurate. The whole chapter is the passage. Here is a brief summary of the chapter.

One night, word reaches Port Kar that the combined fleets of Cos and Tyros are bearing down on the city. Immediately, panic breaks out, and people begin to flee the city. The major captains are taking their ships and treasure and slaves and leaving. Tarl, perhaps recalling already his lost honor, questions why no one will stand and fight to defend their home. He realizes that no one is thinking of making a stand because Port Kar does not have a Home Stone. It is the only major Gorean city that does not have one.

When he asks his men if Port Kar might actually have a Home Stone, they laugh at him. Everyone knows, they tell him, that Port Kar does not have one. Then, one of his Captains speaks and suggests that maybe Port Kar does have a Home Stone. Tarl agrees and says that maybe it has not yet been found. He sends a slave boy named Fish out to find a rock, and when the boy brings him back a fist sized stone, he carves the initials of Port Kar onto it with his knife and holds it up. The men accept it as their Home Stone, and the word quickly spreads through the city and people stop their panicked fleeing and began to cheer and sometimes cry with the powerful emotion of, finally, having one.

Just a common rock.

Tarl goes to the Counsel of Captains building and a large crowd gathers outside, and when Tarl goes out and holds up the simple rock, the people explode with joy and emotion. And of course, the city is saved.

In the course of the chapter, there are some questions asked. I want to talk about those questions today.

“It was true. Port Kar, of all the cities on Gor, was the only one that had no Home Stone. I did not know if men did not love her because she had no Home Stone, or she had no Home Stone because men did not love her.”
Page 250 Raiders of Gor

The rest of the chapter answers that question. It is obvious from the events of the night that men did love the city once it did have a Home Stone. On my radio show this week, I was reading from an essay by an early online Gorean named Marcus of Ar. He claimed Gor was all about love. I think he was spot on with that. I have talked about the idea that the biggest difference between Earth thinking and Counter Earth thinking is the idea of turning inward to the center and working out from there. You can see this difference on every level. Earth thinking is concerned, too often, about who other people are and what they are doing. Gorean thinking is concerned with self, and who and what you really are.

That is why we talk so much of personal responsibility. It is also why the Gorean world does not have the massive problems with race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation that are tearing Earth society apart. The Gorean is going to be concerned with his race, his ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, and not really give much of a damn about someone else’s. And he will have pride. It is said that the most proud Caste on Gor is the one with the lowest economic status. The Caste of Peasants consider themselves the most important one of all. They are “the rock on which the Home Stone rests.”

My more liberal minded listeners will be surprised by this next statement. As much as I decry the victimization and intersectionality so common on Earth, I like to see such things that tend to upset some of my fellow conservatives. I love to see “Black Pride” month or “Italian Pride” days. I love St. Patrick’s day parades, and I even salute people who march openly to proclaim “Gay Pride.” That seems to me to be pure Gorean thinking. Do people, I ask, not love themselves because they have no Home Stone, or do they have no Home Stone because they do not love themselves. If Gor is about love, it is going to have to start with loving yourself, and work out from there.

The second question?

“How does a city obtain a Home Stone?” I asked.
“Men decide she shall have one,” said Tab.
“Yes, I said, “that is how a city obtains a Home Stone.”
Page 251 Raider of Gor

Once again, it is on us. We make this decision to change our thinking and we make the decision to become Goreans, the people of the Home Stone. This exists on every level. We make the decision to turn inward and begin to love and have pride in who and what we are, and we make the decision to accept our responsibilities for our slaves, our communities, our families, and to humanity itself. In the cave of Torvald in Marauders, Tarl says it is on us, and those like us.

And here is the quote that touches me the most deeply.

“There were great cheers, and cries, and shouts, and the lifting of torches and weapons. I saw men weep. And women. And I saw fathers lift their sons upon their shoulders that they might see the stone.”
Page 257 Raiders of Gor

From the first day I read this chapter, right up to this morning when I reread it to finish up this talk, I sensed that contained within it was the secret of Gor. Long ago, after reading it, I went outside and walked around my yard. Laying buried in the dirt and covered by weeds was a simple stone. I dug it out and cleaned it, and with a knife, carved a letter “G” and placed it on the mantle of my fireplace.

And I was with some friends and fellow believers this summer, when a simple slave girl named “lildevil” walked down to the edge of the marsh at Caer Cadarn, and came back with a simple stone. And men, and women, held it in their hand and said. “I accept the Home Stone of Caer Cadarn.”
I spent a lot of time deciding on the other two passages to call my favorite and most influential, but this chapter was a no brainer.

I want to end by thanking everyone who was involved in this seminar for the past year. Especially, the ones that attended and commented and even disagreed with me. I want to thank the people who built the Gorean Campus, and those that stepped up to keep it alive and growing. Marcus of Ar said Gor is about love. And he mentioned, the love of truth. That love is what I have tried to express here.

I would like you to take this opportunity today to critique how well this has been accomplished. What do you think of this seminar, and do you think we should continue to explore the Philosophy of Second Life Gor? Do you think this format of “short talk followed by discussion” works well? What changes should be made, and what topics should we pursue?

Wake up!

Tal and greetings

Today I want to talk about the second of my top three most influential passages from the early novels. I have suggested that each person might have their own list, and I had a hard time cutting my list to only three.

The last session was based on the incident in Raiders of Gor that took place in the paga tavern in Port Kar and led to the death of Surbus and the rescue of the slave girl from being fed to urts in the canal.

The second passage is from Marauders of Gor, the ninth book in the series.

In this passage, the Kur had launched a successful surprise attack on the men of Torvaldsland, and scattered the survivors.. Ivar Forkbeard and Tarl are fleeing and being chased by two Kur. Ivar leads Tarl up the slopes of the Torvaldsburg, a high rocky mountain.

Ivar has a plan, although he does not share it at first with Tarl. He tells Tarl he had been up the mountain as a child, and had cut handholds in the mountain to help the climb, and the smaller size of the handholds can not be used by the pursuing Kur because of their larger size. This gives them a short head start over the Kur who must find a different route to continue the chase.

Tarl is a little surprised that Ivar seems in fairly good spirits and not overly worried about the Kur, but soon discovers the reason. Ivar is leading Tarl to what he believes to be the tomb of the great warrior, Torvald. Legend tells that when the land is in the most danger, Torvald will waken and save them.

The men find the tomb and enter it only to find it is empty. Tarl and Ivar both notice that it does not look so much like a tomb as a sleeping chamber, however, it is empty. Ivar is devastated by this. He had been sure of the legend, but since the chamber was empty, he must have felt that his land was doomed and there was now no hope.

Tarl notices, lying among some weapons in the chamber, an “Arrow of War.” and he begins to grasp the truth of the situation, and the intent of the chamber. The following is from page 235 of Marauders of Gor.

“Send the war arrow,” I said.
The Forkbeard looked down on the arrow.
“I think,” I said, “I begin to understand the meaning of a man who lived more than a thousand winters ago. This man, call him Torvald, built within a mountain a chamber for sleep, in which he would not sleep, but to which men would come to waken him. Here they would not find Torvald, but themselves, themselves, Ivar, alone, and an arrow of war.”

“I do not understand, ” said Ivar.

“I think,” I said, “that Torvald was a great and a wise man.”
Ivar looked at me.
“In building this chamber,” I said, “it was not the intention of Torvald that it should be he who was awakened within it, but rather those who came to seek him.”

“The chamber is empty,” said Ivar.
“No, ” I said, “we are within it.”
I put my hand on his shoulder.
“It is not Torvald who must awaken in this chamber. Rather it is we. Here, hoping for others to do our work, we find only ourselves, and an arrow of war.

Is this not Torvald’s way of telling us, from a thousand years ago, that it is we on who we must depend, and not on any other. If the land is to be saved, it is by us, and others like us, that it must be saved.

There are no spells, no gods, no heroes, to save us.

In this chamber, it is not Torvald that must awaken. It is you and I.

I regarded the Forkbeard evenly.

“Lift, ” said I, “the arrow of war.

page 235 Marauders of Gor.

Right after this, Ivar lifts the war arrow, and selects a couple of spears and tells Tarl that they have, “two Kur to kill.” And from there on , the Kur ass kicking begins and ends with Tarl sailing home and declaring that he gets it now and he “is Gorean.”

Now, of course, you can see this as a simple dramatic plot device, but I am going to see it as a masterpiece of symbolism.

The Kur represent the animal side of the human’s dual nature. They represent all those elements that make up the non-rational side, and although we learn later that these animal instincts and genetic hardwiring are not necessarily our enemy, they do include much that is dangerous.

The flight up the mountain is symbolic of our surrender to these dangerous instincts. One good example of this is addictive behaviors. We seem to have a lot of potential addictions that can easily destroy our life. Sexual addictions, substance abuse, and even my own demon, gambling addiction,are just a few examples.

Ivar is seeking help by leading Tarl to the tomb, but he is looking for someone else or something else to save him. Tarl’s message, and the message of the war arrow is that, ultimately, it is going to be on us.

It is a call to personal responsibility that is repeated over and over again in these early novels.

There is a slang expression that has gained popularity recently. People are said to “be woke.” You might think this expression reflects Tarl’s thinking when he tells Ivar that it is they that must “awaken.” However, the slang expression has come to mean just the opposite.

I remember a time long ago, at about the time, Marauders of Gor was being written, when the idea of intersectionality was first being developed. We would hear stories of horrible crimes being committed, and amidst the outrage and anger at a heinous crime, were the first suggestions that the criminal was actually the victim. His race, his economic status, the attitudes and institutional prejudices of the society were the true culprits, and the criminal only a victim.

In the years that followed, this trend became a very powerful force in our society. The theory of intersectionality claimed that our behaviors were a result of our level of victimization. Our skin color, our ethnic makeup, our sexual orientation, or economic status, and even our gender was the true reason for our circumstances and the successes and failures of our lifes, and our choices and actions had very little to do with it.

To be woke meant that you accepted this and were able to excuse bad behavior and terrible choices by individuals by blaming it on something else or someone else.

And it was a logical step to assume that if nothing was really your fault, you would have to look beyond yourself for solutions and help. Government was often the answer. It was like Government was some kind of mythical thing that could solve our problems and take care of all or our concerns. It was like a big mommy that would make it all better.

No, Tarl’s call to “wake up.” was not the same as the current slang term, ‘woke.” It was actually just the opposite. The nanny state government, the victimization theory of intersectionality, and the idea that our circumstances could always be blamed on external factors rather than our own actions, were the very myths and gods and heroes that Tarl said would not save us.

It is very likely that this passage is one of the most crucial passages to the understanding of the history of Second Life Gor, and the current problems our online community is facing.

Second Life Gor, in a symbolic sense, is one big “Torvald’s tomb” where people have been coming for years, trying to wake up Torvald and have their problems solved and to insure their happiness. They are, often, so used to shifting responsibility to others that they log it and wait for someone else to do something, and become discouraged when nothing good happens.
If all the hours of complaining; all the long written out posts condemning the faults and failures of others, and all the finger pointing and blame placing, could have been channeled into positive actions, Second Life Gor might have become a really special place.

I am not claiming any special exemption for myself here. I am as guilty as everyone else of falling into the trap of passing the buck, and of even trying to shake Torvald awake to come save me and make things better again.

But, when I catch myself climbing up that rocky mountain slope to seek an external solution to my own problems, I pick up my copy of Marauders and read Tarl’s words again.

I realize the truth of them. If the land (Second Life) is to be saved, it is us, and others like us that will save it. Here looking for others to do our work, we find only ourselves, and an arrow of war.

And I lift the arrow, and go back to the fight.

And just like in the book, I want to see it passed around from hand to hand. I want to see everyone touch it, and resolve to join in the effort to defeat the Kur, to control the irrational animal instincts that throw us into chaos and destroy our efforts to rise up to something higher and better.

It seems to me that everything else we have talked about in this seminar revolves around this idea. We can not become superior people, and we can not be beacons lit on the shore of Thassa, and we can not even really “pursue happiness”, until we really wake up and realize it is on us, and no others.

Lift the arrow of war.

When To Make A Stand

Tal and Greetings

I had said that I was going to do a class on each of the three most influential parts of the Gor novels. At least,these are my three choices, and I am sure others have their own favorites.

The first one is from the book, Raiders of Gor, which is the 6th book of the series.

The scene is set in the city of Port Kar and in a paga tavern. I will give the quick version of what happens first, and then will try to explain the impact that it has had on my understanding of the novels and the development of what I like to call “the Moral High Ground” theory of Gor.

Tarl Cabot has just come through a low point in his adventures on Gor. He had been enslaved by the Rencers in the marshes, humiliated by a female, and although safe in Port Kar now, he was despondent over his lost honor and showing clear signs of what we would now call clinical depression.

As he sits drinking in the tavern in the early hours of the morning, and after a long and harrowing night, he muses on how disgusting everything in Port Kar is and becomes annoyed even by the cries of a slave from the alcoves.

Then, a large pirate named Surbus emerges from the alcove with a skinny blond slave girl over his shoulder and takes her to the proprietor of the tavern.

“I am not pleased with her, ” he said to the proprietor.
“I am sorry, Noble Surbus,” said the man. “I shall have her beaten.”
“I am not pleased with her!” cried Surbus.
“You wish her destroyed?” asked the man.
“Yes, ” said Surbus, “destroyed.”
“Her price is five silver tarsks.”

Page 121 Raiders of Gor

Tarl steps in, and ends up mortally wounding Surbus. The slave girl, surprisingly moves to comfort the dying the Pirate, and then begs Tarl to help her carry him up to the roof of the tavern so that he might see the ocean one more time before he died. Although clearly confused by the girl’s reaction, he helps her. On the roof, Tarl sees Thassa, the sea, for the first time, and the dying man for the last time. Surbus’ last words are, “Thank you.”

When Tarl returns downstairs, he finds 70 or 80 pirates waiting for him. They are members of Surbus’ crews and their only question is: Did you let him see the sea?

When Tarl says he did, the leader tells him. “Then we are your men now.”

Just about six pages in all, and yet I know I could talk for hours and do a whole series of classes on the ramifications of that short encounter.

But, since this is supposed to be a “short talk” to introduce the subject, I will try to limit myself to making three important points.

Point #1 Get over it

As Tarl sits drinking in the tavern, and sees what is happening, he has the opportunity to make several excuses and justifications for inaction. All of us are familiar with them, and our society on Earth is raising the idea of victimization to loftier heights all the time. Your mother was to thin, and your father was too fat. You are the wrong color or the wrong gender or live in the wrong place. Other people did that, and still other people did this, and poor, poor, pitiful you.

There is such a thing as an absolute right and there are absolute wrongs. If you disagree with me on this, I will be more than willing to listen to the pro-throw a girl into the canal and let her be eaten alive by giant urts for being displeasing in a sexual encounter- argument during our discussion today.

I understand and have sympathy for people’s troubles. My own life has been marked by some horrible events. I understand how poor health, and societal pressures, and discrimination, and a host of other factors can beat a person down.

However, none of those things are excuses for not doing the right thing. And none of them are justifications for doing the wrong thing.

Point #2 Violence should be the last option, but, sadly, it is sometimes the only option.

Tarl attempts to outbid Surbus first. He offers a higher price to buy the girl. But, Surbus refuses, and the proprietor , representing what I call the immoral legality of Gor, defends Surbus by saying that he paid for her fair and square, and often destroys girls that displease him, establishing a precedent, and even suggests that Surbus is a very tough cookie, appealing to the “might makes right” idea.

In this seminar, I have often advanced the idea that the lesson of the books is that Earth sucks for being too soft, and Gor sucks for being too hard, and we need to find the middle ground. The proprietor is the poster child for the “Gor sucks” idea.

He is advocating three important justifications for immorality. It is legal. It is traditional. Doing anything about it might be risky.

When there is no other options available, Tarl says, “No”, and draws his sword and kills Surbus to save the girl.

It would be nice to imagine a world that had no evil. It would be nice to have no need for weapons, or armies, or wars. It would be nice to confront violence like the hippy girl in the 60’s sticking a flower in the barrel of a rifle.

In the book, Excalibur, by Bernard Cornwell, a warrior makes this comment about war, and explains a bit about why we have made warriors into heroes and even a bit about why we have tended to sometimes focus more on the glory and honor involved rather than the tragedy and horror of it.

“Only a fool wants war, but once a war starts then it can not be fought half-heartedly. It cannot even be fought with regret, but must be waged with a savage joy in defeating the enemy, and it is that savage joy that inspires our bards to write their greatest songs about love and war. We warriors dressed for battle as we decked ourselves for love; we made ourselves gaudy, we wore our gold, we mounted crests on our silver-chased helmets, we strutted, we boasted, and when the slaughtering blades came close we felt as if the blood of the Gods coursed in our veins. A man should love peace, but if he cannot fight with all his heart then he will not have peace.”

Page 192 Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell.

Although one might abhor the violence of his act, Tarl fights with all his heart and with a savage elation, to save the life of the innocent slave girl

Point #3 It is the duty of the strong to protect the weak.

One of the points of this story is the contrast between the big bully Surbus and the skinny blond slave girl. Nothing I am saying calls for butting into a dispute between two idiots about to have a fight, and Tarl was not involved when the girl was crying and being mistreated in the alcoves. He considered that she was paying the dues of a slave girl.

The moral high ground is not the place to fight over every little social injustice that you encounter. However, once again, there are certain times where the issue is no longer in doubt and obvious bullying brutality is most likely one of those times.
The interesting thing about the paga tavern story is that Surbus becomes the weak one in the end after he lays dying on the floor. Sure, he was a pirate, a brute, an asshole, and got what he deserved, but now he is just a human being about to stop living. That changes everything.

Tarl, with a bit of blood lust still pumping adrenaline through his veins is a bit slower to pick up on this, but the slave girl understands. It is no longer a time for hate or revenge. It was a time for respect and for compassion. Tarl’s act of compassion and respect for tradition, even to grant the dying wish of an enemy, ends up changing his life and leads to great wealth. This is John Norman’s rather blatant morality tale.

Do the right thing and good things will follow. Actions have consequences and they can be both good and bad.

Goreans talk about strength and honor, and there is no model or myth where using strength to bully the weak is honorable. It is the duty of the strong to protect the weak, and many have discovered much about honor and true strength in doing so. And defeated enemies who no longer pose a threat, but are bleeding out on the tavern floor are now ‘the weak”, just as the helpless slave girl was the weak one before the fight.

I read this story again and again, and think about it more and more. I question myself, too. Would I have the courage to stand up for the girl against “the best sword in Port Kar?” Would I have the compassion and self control to not gloat over my victory, but help him up the stairs to see the sea one last time? And would I stand proud with my actions and deed, even in the face of many of his former crew?

Those are the questions you ask yourself when you take on the mantle of Gorean man, and take it seriously. It sets a high standard of behavior and demands you become a warrior for the moral high ground and a seeker of truth and protector of the weak, and it doesn’t let you make any bullshit excuses for falling short of that standard.

Clear The Mechanism

Tal and greetings

We are well into the summer, and I know that the time has come to wrap up this series of classes.

We have called it The Gorean Compass, The Next Generation, because it was the second full year of classes, and I realized that taken together, the two years of classes represented a rather coherent philosophy of Second Life Gor.

Or did it?

On my radio show this Tuesday, I read from Renegades of Gor, and made a little bit of fun at what I thought was very poor writing. A lot of people consider John Norman a poor writer. And his habit of stopping to describe the organization of tharlarion cavalry for two pages, right in the middle of a hot slave seduction is annoying.

But, as I thought about his writing, I realized my concept and vision of Gor was based on a very small number of extremely well written passages from the books. I have almost committed them to memory, and in every class, every discussion, every issue, I go back to them like a soldier who stops the patrol for a moment to flip open his compass and take a reading.

It seemed a good way to end this second year of the seminar by looking at four of the most important of these passages.

The first one would have to be the one that sets the stage. It is the bedrock on which the whole vision rests.

I used to laugh and mock those who referred to the Gorean novels as “the scrolls” , but, I admit to very strong feelings and feel very much like a Preacher telling you to open your bibles to page so and so. when I say, this is from page 7 of Marauders of Gor.

“Many of the competitive moralities of Earth are mistaken.
But what is not mistaken?
The Goreans have very different notions of morality from those of Earth.
Yet who is to say who is more correct?
I envy sometimes the simplicities of those of Earth and those of Gor, who, creatures of their conditioning, are not troubled by such matters, but I would not be as either of them.
If either should be correct it is for them no more than a lucky coincidence.
They would have fallen into truth, but to take truth for granted is not to know it.
Truth not won is not possessed.
We are not entitled to truths for which we have not fought.”
“But, I would not be like either of them”

If that passage is going to be the bedrock of your philosophical approach to Gor, the first step is to accept the idea that Earth and Gor both suck for opposite reasons. And they both are very amazing, but again for opposite reasons.

The goal of our Gorean experience would be to discover the truth, and be able to clearly recognize what are the boundaries of that middle balanced ground that is “not to soft, but not too hard.”

And it would not be easy. If we could come into Gor, and someone tell us the “truth” and we were to go, “ahhhhh” that wouldn’t work. Truth not won is not possessed. So, what happens when we come into Gor is not that we are told the answers, but that we are given the questions. And we have to fight our way to the answers and then fight on to the truths.

This is what gives such life to Second Life Gor. It is like a giant laboratory where we can ask some very hard questions about ourselves, and our true natures, and our darker sides, and a host of others that can not be as safely or easily addressed in First Life.

This gives some meaning to role play. If we can create Gor as closely as possible to how it might have been, we can get close enough to see the pimples on its ass, too We can safely experiment with the limits of “too hard.” And we can escape the grip of “too soft” that is often so prevalent in our first life.

In many of the classes over the last two years, I have spoken of baggage. There is a lot of things very, very wrong with Earth society and the state of human relationships in that society.

We can not create either the balanced Gor of the superior person, or even the role play imaginary world of fictional Gor, if we smear it with the baggage of Earth that we bring with us way too often, when we should leave it safely in a locker behind.

In many ways, my biggest baggage problem might even be in the area of politics. I am very conservative politically, and have found that a majority of Goreans that I have come to know in my time here are very conservative as well. But, not all of them are, and this seminar has been a most excellent place to discover that fact. Over the years, we have had some very liberal ideas expressed and argued here.

For example, if the Priest-Kings, who represent rational thought, have banned guns, limited technology that would lead to pollution and environmental damage, and have guided technology into improved health care and longer life spans for all, it would seem to be a pretty good argument that some liberal ideas are at least rational.

I think we all should pause a moment while Second Life is loading up, and be a bit like Kevin Costner in the movie. “For the Love of the Game” He is a baseball player, and when he starts to play, he says, “clear the mechanism” and the noise of the crowd fades away, and he can focus.

We need to clear the mechanism, too. We have to clear our minds of the noise of our Earth conditioning and the horrors of our past experiences, and come into this Brave New World of online Gor with as little baggage as possible.

If our Gorean experience is going to be a journey to a new land, and we are going to have to be asking a lot of hard questions about ourselves, and we are going to have to actually fight for truths, it behooves us to embark on it with a clear head and an open mind.

This is also why these seminars and classes have often called Second Life Gor the big kids playground, and suggested it is not a place to come to heal or to recover, or be pampered and indulged.

Sometimes truth is a hard thing, and sometime the fight for it is very bloody.

I have given this much thought, and it was a hard choice, but I have decided that the three most influential parts of the early Gorean novels in the forming of my personal philosophy and vision were as follows:

The death of Surbus in Raiders of Gor
Lifting the Arrow of War in Marauders of Gor
The finding of Port Kar’s Home Stone in Raiders of Gor

The Final three classes of this seminar will cover one of those major events.

if there are any parts of the books that have impacted you more than any other, or seemed to point your way to a truth, please feel free to share that with us today.

The Pursuit of Happiness

Tal and greetings,

I am happy to be back here after a week off. I have been thinking of the word “entitlement” lately, and also of happiness.

Are we entitled to be happy?

Well, one of the definitions of entitlement tells us that it is the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.

And in the famous Declaration of Independence, it says

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

So, the pursuit of happiness is an unalienable right. But, is happiness itself an unalienable right?

I think there is where our confusion lies, and the words entitlement and happiness connect. We have a right to pursue it, but we aren’t granted any privileges or special treatment that guarantee we will find it.

In the book, Fighting Slave of Gor, #14 of the series, Jason is talking to a slave girl and decides to tell her about the women of Earth. Here is the conversation.

“Would you like to tell me about the woman on my world,” I asked, “who are fine and free.”

“Are they happy?” she asked.

“No, ” I said. “But neither are the men,” I added hastily.

“Surely some men and women on your world must be happy,” she said.

“Some, I suppose,” I said. “I shall hope so.”

There did not seem much point to me to tell her in detail of the broadcast misery on my world, its pettiness and frustrations. If one judges a civilization by the joy and satisfaction of its populations the major civilizations of Earth were surely failures. It is interesting to note the high regard which certain civilizations are held which, from the human point of view, the point of view of human happiness, would appear to be obvious catastrophes.”

Page 112-113 Fighting Slave of Gor

John Norman wrote that 38 years ago. I have pondered on if that has become another of his remarkable predictions on the direction that Earth was heading. Is there more broadcast misery on our world right now than true happiness and satisfaction?

I think so. I think we have been sliding further and further into a morass that drains our chance of engaging in the “pursuit of happiness.”

And that morass is our sense of entitlement. Somehow we have come to believe that we do not need to pursue happiness any longer. That it is a privilege and someone else has the responsibility to provide it to you seems to be the idea today.

1697000-Steve-Maraboli-Quote-A-sense-of-entitlement-is-a-cancerous-thought

On my radio show this week, I talked about the early days of Second Life. I said that most people, calling SL a game, came into it expecting it to be a lot like Mario Brothers or Final Fantasy. A world had been created by someone else and filled with mushrooms to jump over and dragons to battle, and you just paid your money, jumped over the mushrooms, and slayed the dragons.

What they missed was that SL was a blank and empty platform, and other users (players?) were the ones creating everything and paying for it, too. But the sense of entitlement is strong in us and we came into SL expecting others to provide our fun and happiness, not realizing we were not going to be given it, but would have to pursue it.

This is at the core of entitlement, in my opinion. We expect other people to provide our happiness, our security, even our liberty, and are upset and disappointed when they fail to do so.

A underlying idea in the Gorean mindset is personal responsibility. The Gorean does not expect others to be responsible for his happiness. And he does not tend to blame others for his lack of it. It is on him.

Where this gets a bit more complicated is when we are discussing the M/s relationship that is such a part of Gor.

The slave girl is going to surrender to the Master, give him control, yield to his wishes and desires, and submit to his will. Doesn’t that effectively transfer responsibility from slave to Master. Is he not now responsible for her happiness?

One of my girls has been posing this question lately. Is the Master or the slave “responsible” for keeping her slave fires lit?

At first glance it certainly seems that the act of surrender is going to change the responsibility dynamic greatly. A Master is going to be accepting the responsibility that a girls basic needs are met, and if he wants to keep her surrendered and submitted to him, he had better be showing some concern with the “igniting of slave fires within her.”

But, I don’t think the Master is going to accept the responsibility for her ultimate happiness or lack of happiness.

Remember, the slavery we talk about in Second Life Gor is consensual slavery, and not the forced slavery of the books.

Who he is, how much honor and decency is within him, what he believes, what codes he follows and how closely he lives by them, how many other slaves her owns, and a host of other factors about the Master will determine if the slave girl is going to be happy submitted to him or not.

But, the sad truth is that she is not going to change him if something about him is standing in the way of her happiness. Her status as his slave does not entitle her to happiness. She can’t demand he alter himself, betray his codes, violate his standards, or even deny his own “pursuit of happiness” because she has surrendered to him! The idea of vector is totally skewed once that happens and the whole M/s dynamic becomes something else.

I guess on the planet Gor where slavery was legal , an unhappy slave girl was just screwed. That is why we do not really advocate for force and non-consensual slavery. Everyone has an inalienable right to pursue happiness, and with consensual slavery a girl is free to do just that

Pursue it. Chase it. Seek it. It doesn’t say it is easy to catch. It didn’t apply that it is laying around all over the place and you just have to bend over a pick up a handful of it. It didn’t say other people may be selected and appointed to provide it for you. It is something we have a right to pursue.

Even within the world of pure role play, the idea of pursuit of happiness is important. When a slaver has a girl begging to be sold or given to someone else, he has to rp that out. To deny it and “force” her to remain in an unhappy or uncomfortable position will just lead to the big red X being used, and the girl might even be lost forever to our community.

Here is what I think, in summary. We come to Gor to pursue happiness. It is our right. And we are responsible , totally, responsible for finding it. We can’t look to others and demand that they accommodate our search. Your Master, your slave, your fellow citizens, your fellow Goreans, the things you do here, can be the source of your happiness. But, they are not responsible for providing it.

If you want to be happy, get out there and exercise your right to pursue it.

The Gorean Compass Broadcast – featuring The Horettes

The Gorean Compass broadcasts on Goreans Portal Radio every Tuesday at 1pm SLT. This is a broadcast/radio version of the Gorean Compass Class which is held at The Gorean Campus every Thursday at noon and 6pm SLT. The radio broadcast usually is on a different topic.

This last Tuesday 8/28/18 the topic was about being a beacon – shining as an example of how Second Life Gor really should be and of how Goreans should really behave. In other words, not making the same old mistakes that others have made which have caused others to fail.

The Horettes were invited to dance at this broadcast (as they sometimes are) given only 30 minutes warning they were able to pull it off thanks to everyone’s cooperation. Rhiannon pulled together the choreography and each girl wrote out their own emotes. We would like to share this performance with you all and hope that you enjoy.

*note – the film was recorded and edited by tabi

Below please find each girl’s emotes:

Pretty SiXx-StRiNg (xWendyx Resident): It is the responsiblity of the interesting to be a beacon of inspiration for the mediocre; to stand out and act as an example of what life should be.

TABI (Xtabi Galaxy): /me stretches to full length, head held high, breasts lifted with arched back, displaying for all to see the assets of the property of her Master, lithe arms lift beckoning the attentions of those watching, obedient and submissive in all ways as a beacon should be, the slave undulates in the glory of her slavery and the excitement of the message of her owner, eager to please and serve, an example of his words in action.

Imp (Hoshi Tamura): Long alabaster strands catching the gold of reflected light. green eyes flash like an pair of emerald flames. Lips of ruby that entice, a form to create dreams. Hips of rounded shape to hold and caress. To stand as a light in a dark cold night to a Masters repaste.

Rhiannon (rhiannon0327 Resident): /me the need to please blazed brightly within the slave girls forest green gems overshadowing the chip perceived upon her shoulder. Mustering all her strength in the face of life shaking truths she popped up to dance with her sisters in bondage. Flashing a smile to those gathered she yearned to be the beacon her Owner wished her to be. Shaking hips and rolling shoulders the girl tried with all her might to blaze brightly for others to see, to serve even when she didn’t feel like it and to do all she could with perfection to promote her Masters vision of a united Gorean Community for all to enjoy.

Ruby (delilah1976 Resident): Lifts up dainty hands to the Three moons thassa green eyes glance to those who are gathered here this day, moves her body to the beat of the drums, Touches collar on slender neck, wants to be a shining beacon in all Ruby does, moves into the light as it shines upon her body, a sudden submissive start falls upon her…. Glances over shoulder to Master of me, green eyes show a beacon to all those she serves, taps out heartbeat on thigh

– Tigglet – (Kel Blindside): /me listened to the unusual harmony that sounded from the musician’s instruments. Their song not what tiggy was used to. The beat different yet propelling the lusty vixen into uplifting motion. Wide hips bucking as feet kick up into the evening air. Mixed matched eyes of peculiar colors alight with the fires that burn within. The beast wanting nothing more then to please with every once of her being. Whimpering softly, the need so great to serve. Even though at times her heart broke or emotions were high. Always trying to strive for perfection. To lead by example, a beacon in the night.
Vera (Kitywity Watts): /me humming with the music, tawny slave taps her foot to the music. Spinning in a circle enjoying the music. Pauses her jumbled thoughts thinking about today’s theme. You Can’t Be a beacon if your light dont shine. What does that mean? Hmm to this dancing slave it means to always let her heart shine through in everything she does. From serving a simple brunch menu, or to dancing here with her sisters in chains, to even tavern night and letting her need to be pleasing to the Free she serves letting them see how happy it makes her to be pleasing to them.

Casual Sex

Tal and greetings

There is a movie that was released quite a few years ago called “Quest for Fire.”

Desmond Morris, the author of “The Naked Ape”, who has been mentioned in this seminar from time to time was the technical advisor on the film.

The story is set way back in prehistoric times when our species was still struggling against another groups of humanoids for survival. In a battle against a very ape-like tribe called the Wagabou, the tribe loses their glowing coals that enable them to start a fire for warmth and protection. Since they have no idea how to make fire, they must send some young men out to try to steal it from another group.

It is an interesting movie, beautifully photographed.

I am mentioning it today, however, because of one scene that was on my mind as I prepared this talk. The three young men have rescued a young girl from a more advanced group. The leader is sort of love struck over this girl, and when she runs away to return to her own people, he follows her to bring her back, much to the disgust of the other two men who have stolen fire now and are ready to return home.

The leader’s foolishness turns out to be good luck because the advanced tribe teaches him the secret of actually making fire by rubbing sticks together.

On their way home, they are sitting around a fire at night, when the young girl’s needs come upon her, and she starts moaning and twisting around in obvious sexual arousal. One of the men sees her and he reacts with arousal, and grabs her, pulling her to him for sexual release.

The girl pulls away, and goes the leader, who, also being aroused, begins to position her for his use. The other two men show their unhappiness, but acceptance of this, but when the leader goes to consummate the act, the girl insists on turning around. For those familiar with operating Second Life pose ball menus, she doesn’t select “doggy style”, but rather what is known as the missionary style.

When the two men see this , they react with total disgust and shake their heads sadly.

In appears to them that the leader is so confused about his feelings that he can’t even remember how he is supposed to have sexual intercourse.

I could definitely see Desmond Morris’ influence on that amusing scene.

He believed sexuality in primitive humans was most likely such a natural biological function that it was treated as casually as eating or drinking, or the removal of bodily wastes.

No one would have made a big deal out it, but if it wasn’t a strong and persistent urge in us, we would not have been reproducing enough to give our species a chance to survive.

Reproduction is an essential element of life as any beginning biology student will tell you.

This act of turning around during the sex act, so the man actually had some idea of who he was with was symbolic of the changing of sex from a basic biological urge into something totally different.

Although it appears other species have mates that they remain with for life, we humans have turned basic reproduction into something totally different.

There have been several good documentaries done on “The History of Sex” and when you watch them, you can see a continuing trend even in the historical period of our feelings and attitudes on sex and reproduction changing and evolving constantly in a direction where we were taking it much more seriously, and seeing it much less as a biological function.

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Many factors played into this. Many religions began to make chastity a virtue. The idea of “bloodlines” and the passing on of titles and such led to the importance of a man insuring that a child was actually his child. Even the idea of family which seems to be natures way of making sure the human child is cared for long enough to develop the large brain that would enable us to become the dominant species on the planet, seems to have had an influence on how we viewed sex and the sexual relationship between males and females.

You would think that after millions and millions of years of steady progress, we would have really refined sex to the point we have it right now.

But, we don’t.

It is really in total chaos. It has become so confused in modern society that we are debating the number of possible genders and each month seems to bring a new letter onto the LGBTQetcetcetc. letter train.

Divorce rates are staggering. Single parent homes are way too common. And most insidious of all, sexual attraction has moved to the top spot in the “what really matters” list replacing such less important items such as trust, and respect, and responsibility.

Today, a man could be in a relationship with a woman and be an abusive, unemployed, low life lying scum bag, and that would be only mildly disapproved of, but let him stick his dick in another woman, and that is the deal breaker, and everyone would finally start to boo and hiss and advise the girl to leave him and go out and find another scum bag, but one who won’t “cheat on her.”

And this is why sex is so casual in Gor. We are the Counter-Earth. I have pointed out before that this expression doesn’t really just mean it is on the other side of the Sun. It means that it is taking the worse things about Earth culture and showing alternatives.

And our Earth attitudes about sex are one of the worse things about our culture.

However, we are not a struggling species fighting for survival anymore, and such things as sexually transmitted disease, and unwanted pregnancy still shape our behaviors despite birth control and protection. So, an open casual free sex world is not possible on Earth.

What made it more possible on Gor was the advancement of medical knowledge because the Priest-Kings insisted they concentrate on that rather than making faster tanks or more powerful guns. Slave wine was an easy and fail proof birth control, and disease had been almost eradicated.

Second Life Gor.that wonderfull fantasy world that is not really Earth, and not really on another planet, has given us our Counter-Earth chance.

When a man is sitting in a tavern and sends his slave girl to serve a friend a bowl of paga, that friend might very well throw the girl over his shoulder and take her to an alcove and screw the hell out of her, and then, when finished, bring her back, with a happy smile on her face, and send her back to her owner.

You certainly don’t see that happening in your friendly neighborhood bar.

When you first think of this interaction, you might think it is many things. It seems very degrading to the slave. She is just a piece of meat obviously, causally shared. Also, how can there be any kind of “love” or “affection” between a Man and his slave if he is not wanting to beat her up, or kill his friend, because she had a happy smile on her face coming from the alcove?

This scenario is so Counter-Earth, that we view it solely as a sort of soft porn role play that shows how this unfeeling Gorean assholes would act, but do not see any symbolic meaning in it, nor do we see how it can also be a positive thing available to us in Second Life Gor.

Because if Earth Culture is making sex the be all and end all of every relationship, then Gor will make it casual and not that big a deal. With sex leading the list on Earth, people are forgetting that honor, respect, trust, responsibility, loyalty, commitment, and a host of other noble things are more important then the friction of flesh against flesh.

In the Gorean world, with sex being casual, we are cut loose from the trap and begin to think a bit more on the other things that matter way more, and are much more lasting than physical attractions.

This has not worked perfectly here. We bring our baggage with us. Jealousy and possessiveness, and even the inability of some to treat sex, even pose ball cyber sex, as something casual and detach themselves a bit from the emotional responses have led us to create a sort of Earthy Gor that misses the mark in this area.

We complain that Gor is “all about sex”, or we complain that we aren’t getting enough sex. Everything negative about sexual relations on Earth is too often used to structure and understand sexuality in our Second Life Gorean interactions.

We have a chance to really recreate something here. We can lower sex back to its proper place, and enjoy the hell out it, without letting it become the guide and compass of our life.

We can do this is relative safety. No one gets and unwanted child or a venereal disease from cyber sex.

I say relative safety, because emotional responses can still be very strong, until you learn to do it with the right perspective. and people can be hurt emotionally even in the role play of this loose sexuality.

But, as we continue to repeat here in the seminar, Second Life is the big kids playground, and you better be prepared. All your confusion and past experiences, and conditioning, and baggage will be with you here, and you have to be tough to not only navigate it safely, but to actually learn something positive about yourself, and about what really matters.

And the truth is, beauty fades, passion based purely on sex burns out, but trust and respect, and maturity, and loyalty are the real building blocks of a lasting relationship

The man in the tavern above, could lend the pussy of that slave to his friend, for a short time of fun, but he can not lend her love,,,, he can command her to go to the alcove and serve him, but he can not command her to respect him while she is there, or to feel trust in him.

I don’t think Second Life Gor is ‘all about sex.” But, I am glad there is a lot of it and I encourage you all to engage in even more. When we put it back in its natural place, we will be free to spend more time examining the important things again.

Maybe, we will find that the happy smile on the slave girl’s face when she returned from the alcove was that she was returning to the feet of the Master who she loved, trusted, and respected, and who she knew trusted her as well.

Wouldn’t that be a nice Counter Earth feeling.