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Gorean Commands and Positions
Tower
This picture depicts the knee position in all forms of
Tower;
another, when not occupied, is to have her wrists crossed on her lap.
She paused for a moment and walked lightly to the side of the
tent. She seemed to hesitate for an instant, then quickly gathered up the slave
whip and a leading chain. She placed them firmly in my hands and knelt on the
tent carpet before me, her eyes filled with a strange light, her knees not in
the position of a Tower Slave but of a Pleasure Slave. TARNSMAN OF GOR; 1;
Page 134 She had not prepared herself a portion but, after I had
been served, had knelt silently to one side, back on her heels in the
position of a Tower Slave, a slave to whom largely domestic duties would be
allotted in the Gorean apartment cylinders.
On Gor, incidentally, chairs have special significance, and do not often
occur in private dwellings. They tend to be reserved for significant
personages, such as administrators and judges. Moreover, although you may
find this hard to understand, they are not thought to be comfortable.
Indeed, when I had returned to Earth from my first trip to Gor I had found
that one of the minor inconveniences of my return was reaccustoming myself
to the simple business of sitting on chairs. I felt, for some months, rather
awkward, rather unsteady perched on a little wooden platform supported by
four narrow sticks. Perhaps if you can imagine yourself suddenly being
forced to sit on rather high end tables you can sense the feeling.
The Gorean male, at ease, usually sits cross-legged and the female kneels,
resting back on her heels. The position of the Tower Slave, in which Vika
knelt, differs from that of a free woman only in the position of the wrists
which are held before her and, when not occupied, crossed as though for
binding. A free woman’s wrists are never so placed. The Older Tarl, who had
been my mentor in arms years ago in Ko-ro-ba, had once told me the story of
a free woman, desperately in love with a warrior, who, in the presence of
her family was entertaining him, and whose wrists, unconsciously, had
assumed the position of a slave. It was only with difficulty that she had
been restrained from hurling herself in mortification from one of the high
bridges. The Older Tarl had guffawed in recounting this anecdote and was
scarcely less pleased by its sequel. It seems she thereafter, because of her
embarrassment, would never see the warrior and he, at last, impatient and
desiring her, carried her off as a slave girl, and returned to the city
months later with her as his Free Companion. At the time that I had been in
Ko-ro-ba the couple had still been living in the city. I wondered what had
become of them.
The position of the Pleasure Slave, incidentally, differs from the position
of both the free woman and the Tower Slave. The hands of a Pleasure Slave
normally rest on her thighs but, in some cities, for example, Thentis, I
believe, they are crossed behind her. More significantly, for the free
woman’s hands may also rest on her thighs, there is a difference in the
placing of the knees. In all these kneeling positions, incidentally, even
that of the Pleasure Slave, the Gorean woman carries herself well; her back
is straight and her chin is high. She tends to be vital and beautiful to
look upon. PRIEST KINGS OF
GOR; 3; Pages 45-47 I realized, suddenly, that my knees were
pressed closely together. That had occurred during, and I had kept them that
way afterwards, the beating on the wagon of the woman, and her screaming. It
had been a defensive gesture, bringing my knees together, tightly, because I
was afraid. Perhaps, too, I supposed, just as a male might find the
spreading of a female’s knees, appropriate, deferential or placatory, so,
too, such a woman might prefer their closure, finding it respectful, or
placatory. Perhaps she might be mollified to some extent by such an apparent
modesty. I did not know. Still, looking down at me, I did not think she
would be likely to be fooled by it. I did not think she would be stupid. She
would probably know what I was, really. It was probably not hard to tell.
Perhaps we were just different sorts of women. I did not know. I did realize
that such women, in all their frustration and anger, would probably want me
to be like them. That thought horrified me. I found it terrifying. It would
be like going back to the sterilities, the barrenesses, the pathologies, of
Earth. Tears formed in my eyes, in the hood. What was I to do? I recalled
that Ulrick had told me that certain kinds of slaves, house slaves, “tower
slaves,” and such, whatever they were, might kneel with their knees
together, but I had also been informed that I, and the other girls, were not
such slaves. We were some other sort of slave, it seemed, though exactly
what sort I was not perfectly clear. “Masters will teach you,” had laughed
Ulrick. For us, at any rate, for whatever sort of slave we were, the
open-kneed position was commanded. DANCER OF GOR; 22; Page 83
Swiftly we assumed a common form of slave obeisance, kneeling, the palms of
our hands on the ground, our heads to the ground. Many masters, though it
tends to be rather associated, usually, with given cities, require this
position of their girls, usually when they first enter his presence, or find
themselves, as in a room, which he has entered, in his presence. She is
then, usually, when given permission, permitted to lift her head, but is to
remain kneeling before him, beautifully, in a standard position, her knees
closed if she is a house slave or tower slave, her knees open, if she was
the sort of slave I was, whatever sort of slave that was supposed to be. It
is almost universal, as far as I know, that a slave kneels in one fashion or
another, when entering her master’s presence, or if she should find herself
in his presence. She also commonly kneels when spoken to by any free person.
This is simply a matter of respect. To be sure, she can be slain, if she
does not do so. The kneeling position, of course, which the master’s, or the
free person’s, permission, either tactic or explicit, is usually required to
break, is commonly an initial position. For example, after its deferential
assumption, she may be dismissed from it, to other duties, such as cleaning,
shopping or cooking. DANCER OF GOR; 22; Page 114 “That is the position of a tower slave,” I
said.
“Oh,” she said. The position of the tower slave, in most cities, is very
similar to that of the pleasure slave. The major difference is that the
tower slave, whose duties are commonly, primarily, domestic, kneels with her
knees in a closed position, whereas the pleasure slave, in a symbolic
recognition of the fuller nature of her bondage, and its most significant
aspects, kneels with them in an open position. The tower slave, of course,
like any other slave, is fully at the disposal of the master, in any and
every way. The distinction between the tower slave and the pleasure slave,
though honored in some markets, some specializing in girls sold primarily
for housekeeping purposes and others in girls sold primarily for the
pleasures of men, is not really a hard-and-fast distinction; it is not
absolute; indeed, it can even be transitory. A girl who is ordered to open
her knees, or who finds them kicked apart, for example, realizes that she
has now become a pleasure slave. Similarly a girl in one context may
function as one kind of slave and in another context, as another sort.
Serving a supper to a young man and his mother, for example, the girl may
appear merely efficient and deferential. She kneels nearby, her knees
closed. After the mother departs, however, she may kneel differently before
the young man, with her knees open, his. BLOOD BROTHERS OF GOR; 18;
Page 107 “The woman on the curule chair looked down upon me. I
put my head down to the floor. The message tube then, on its thong, was on
the floor as well.
“ ‘Is that how you kneel before a free woman?’ she asked.
“ ‘Forgive me, Mistress!’ I wept. ‘The guards were about!’
“ ‘They are not about now,” she said, ‘and even if they were, it is I who am
Mistress here, not they.’
“ ‘Forgive me, Mistress!’ I begged.
“ ‘You will kneel before me demurely,” she said.
“ ‘Yes, Mistress,’ I said. You can now well imagine how modestly and humbly,
and demurely, I then knelt before her.”
“I warned you about that sort of thing,” I reminded her.
“Am I to be beaten?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “Such knee positions become almost instinctive in a female
slave, and I would not wish to complicate your training by punishing you for
having failed to alter them in a particular case. I do not want your
dispositions to respond to become too complex, or inconsistent.”
“Thank you, Master,” she said.
“Too,” I said, “the guards were men, and had been present.”
“Yes, Master!” she said.
“But for your own sake, when you are before free women,” I said, “I would
advise you to be alert to such matters.”
“Yes, Master!” she said. MAGICIANS OF GOR; 25; Pages 361-362
Kudos to you, Mr. Norman for writing the Gorean series!
A rich, yet utterly simple saga; a world, a time, a people;
those of the Counter-Earth .. the planet .. Gor.
Thank you!
The material presented herein was researched and compiled by me,
naia{Saul}.
The material referenced comes from John Norman's Gor Series, The
Counter-Earth Saga.
This is a work in process.
Please, do not take, copy, duplicate, or use this work as your own.
If you find it valuable enough to share, please .. share the link to this
page.
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