| The Wagon Peoples acknowledge the existence and great power of the Priest-Kings but they do not worship or pray to them. In fact, they do not worship, in a traditional sense, anyone or anything. Their closest spiritual reverence is directed toward the sky and they beseech the "Spirit of the Sky." In their myths, the rains descended from the sky and formed the earth, bosk and the Wagon Peoples. The men of the Wagon Peoples pray to this Spirit of the Sky only when they are mounted and have their weapons close at hand. They are not craven supplicants but instead pay homage to the sky as a warrior would to an ubar, not as a slave to a master or even a servant to a god. There is an example of Tuchuk who drank and danced to please the sky. The Wagon Peoples hold the bosk and skill at arms as holy items. Their Free Women are not permitted to pray.
The Wagon Peoples are superstitious and enamored with divination. Although they may claim not to have much faith in divination, they actually give such matters great consideration. There are two specific examples provided in the books that emphasize their reliance on such matters. First, an army of 1000 wagons once turned aside because a swarm of rennels, crab-like insects, failed to defend their broken nest, which had been crushed by the wheel of the lead wagon. Second, an ubar lost the spur from his right boot and turned back his attack at the gates of Ar. Omen reading is very common, often accompanied by animal sacrifice. Haruspexes often perform their divinations for food and drink. The haruspexes who perform these divinations also allegedly possess other magical powers and can create items to perform magical spells.
They thus sell items, such as "amulets, talismans, trinkets, philters, potions, spell papers, wonder-working sleen teeth, marvelous powdered kailiauk horns, and colored, magic strings that, depending on the purpose, may be knotted in various ways and worn about the neck." (Nomads of Gor, p. 28)
Omen Year
The Wagon Peoples don't often unite because of hostilities among the peoples, as they consider others even of the different tribes to be beneath them. They also relish their autonomy. Despite these hostilities, every ten years they still gather together peaceably during what is called the Omen Year. This practice is more than one thousand years old. The term "Omen Year" is somewhat of a misnomer as it is not an actual year. It is actually a time period that occupies part of two of their regular years. This period is a time of truce, a time for trading, games and ritual. The period of the Omen Year lasts several months and consists of three separate phases.
The first phase is named the Passing of Turia and occurs during the autumn. During this phase, the four tribes of the Wagon People gather together and move their herds and wagons toward their winter pastures. These winter pastures are located north of Turia but south of the Cartius River. The second phase is named the Wintering and it entails the time the Wagon Peoples spend in the winter pastures, waiting for the season to change. The third phase is named the Return to Turia and it occurs in the spring, or as the Wagon People call it, the Season of Little Grass. The Wagon Peoples then head south, toward Turia, where they will finally end their journey at the Omen Valley.
It is unknown whether the same Omen Valley is used every ten years or whether they choose a different spot for each Omen Year. If it is the same, it may be deemed a time of sacred place. It is also unknown whether some Wagon Peoples remain there to guard it year round, or whether Turians and others know better than to invade or desecrate this area. As the Wagon Peoples are largely nomadic, it may make more sense that the location of the Omen Valley changes every ten years, especially as it is located so close to the city of Turia.
The Omen Valley is nestled within a series of rolling hills. At the valley, there will be a large grassy area, about two hundred yards in diameter, where hundreds of small, stone altars are located. Each of these altars will have a small bosk-dung fire with incense and will be manned by a haruspex, mostly readers of bosk blood and verr livers. At the perimeter of this grassy circle, there will be numerous tents as well as many animals tethered or caged, as future sacrifices. The animals will include verr, tarsks, vulos, sleen, kaiila, and bosk. In the center of the field, there will be a large, circular stone platform and atop this will be a huge, four-sided altar approached by steps on all four sides. On each side, will be the sign of one of the four tribes of the Wagon Peoples. The chief haruspex of each tribe will preside at this central altar.
Over a period of several days, many animals will be sacrificed and the omens will be taken by the hundreds of haruspexes. The animals will not be wasted, as they will be later used for food. In the past, all of the Wagon Peoples would sacrifice male slaves, but that practice has largely stopped. Most of the tribes feel that the hearts and livers of male slaves are not trustworthy. Only the Paravaci tribes sometimes still sacrifice male slaves. They are often not permitted to do so during the Omen Year sacrifices. The primary goal of this entire omen taking is to determine whether the omens are favorable for the choosing of am ubar san, a one ubar, an ubar of all the Wagons, an ubar who would be High Ubar, an Ubar of all the Peoples.
The first omen taken is always conducted to determine whether it is propitious to take further omens. This initial omen taking will begin with an entreaty to the Spirit of the Sky. Each haruspex has a cage of vulos and will toss some grain to them. If the vulos eat the grain, then the omens are considered propitious. This initial phase is successful each Omen Year. This is probably due to the fact that the vulos are not permitted to eat for three days prior to the omen taking. Then, the regular sacrifices may begin. A daily tally will then be kept of the results of the omen taking. Once all of the sacrifices have been performed, a final tally is derived, and it is determined whether an ubar san will be chosen or not.
Because of the normal dissension among the four tribes, it is rare that an ubar san is chosen. That does not usually bother the Wagon Peoples, as they still see value in the Omen Year. It helps unite the tribes, if only briefly, allowing them to engage in trade, such as for bosk and slaves. At the start of the events in Nomads of Gor, there had not been an ubar san in more than one hundred years. This will change as the novel occurs during an Omen Year and the omens state that an ubar san should be chosen. Kamchak, Ubar of the Tuchuks, is chosen to be that ubar san. This may be due in part to the Tuchuks conquering the city of Turia as well as uncovering a traitor within the Paravaci tribe. Kamchak will also free his slave, Aphris, who will then become his ubara sana.
After being told he is now ubar san, Kamchak makes the other ubars pledge, which they all agree:
"Each of you," he said, "the Kassars, the Kataii, the Paravaci, have their own bosk and your own wagons. Live so, but in time of war, when there are those who would divide us, when there are those who would fight us and threaten our wagons and our bosk and women, our plains, our land. Then let us war together and none will stand against the Wagon Peoples. We may live alone but we are each of us of the Wagons and that which divides us is less than that which unites us. We each of us know that it is wrong to slay bosk and that it is right to be proud and to have courage and to defend our wagons and our women. We know that it is right to be strong and to be free. And so it is together that we will be strong and we will be free. Let this be pledged." (Nomads, pp. 334-35)
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