...So how is it that I can claim to be Gorean?

Perhaps the answer lies within me, as with many of the answers to Gorean questions. Living by a Gorean lifestyle is, thank goodness, more black or white than living with honour. The two are, of course, overlapping. Nevertheless, being Gorean is clearly defined; honour is not - even though that will surprise some, I believe it to be true. Even though many will debate, and say that each interprets the books in a different way, I still say it to be true: Norman was never vague in the explanation of his philosophies; he never left the core of what is and what isn't Gorean open to debate. There are no two-ways of understanding slavery; there is no vagueness about the phrase "yes, Master". There is no denying that brotherhood and camaraderie and laws and codes and, dare I say it, honour exist in a man's life. There is no denying that men have manhood, and women have womanhood, and these things are so very different as to make it a mockery of both to rank them as the same. In short, there is no denying that the concepts and philosophies that Norman writes about do exist; one many not deny they exist, one may only be unable to acknowledge their existence within his or her own life.

Honour, on the other hand, is not a black and white subject. I wrote one article on honour a while ago, and I am not going to write another now. Suffice to say (and perhaps all there is to say) is that I can not explain honour to you. If you do not understand honour, nothing I tell you will make you understand; if you do understand honour, your comprehension of it is an internal, individual, instinctual thing, and different to my comprehension of it, and as such, there is nothing for you and I to discuss. If it is true, it is sufficient to say, and perhaps it is all there is to say, that we both understand honour. But it is not a subject I understand enough about to talk about...

...So how can I claim to be Gorean?

Perhaps being Gorean is not about being a Warrior or a Poet, or even honour and the undeniable truths of Norman's philosophy. Perhaps being Gorean is merely being true to oneself, acting as one believes one should act, by virtue of a combination of instinct and individual rational thought, and not by virtue of conditioning or fashion. Or perhaps being Gorean is going that one step further; standing up for what you think is right, not allowing others to pollute and demean that correct philosophy, but instead fighting to show others the way that you believe is the correct way.

(But be careful if it is, for are not such actions those of a tyrant? An oppressor exercising power without consideration for the thoughts and desires of others? Be careful, Goreans, lest you find yourselves labeled the bigot. Be more careful still, Goreans, lest you find yourselves being labeled the bigot, and then discovering that you don't care what title others give you. And what are you then - a tyrant? Ha! But I am not a Warrior, or a Poet - I am surely no tyrant. Yet I have been called both a tyrant and a bigot, and for my faults, I can but laugh as I try to consider myself as either. For a bigot is obstinate and unreasonable, whereas Gorean beliefs are entirely reasonable - and yet, a bigot would say no less about his own beliefs! Oh woe is me! If I am a bigot, than I am obstinate and unreasonable and thus entirely wrong, and the worth of Gor must be all an illusion to us easily convinced bigots. But if I am not a bigot, then I am right, and Gor is the answer to all - but yet I am called a bigot, and not only that, but a tyrant too. And a tyrant I must be, because in all honesty, I do not care if some think me a bigot - I know my views to be correct - the very essence of bitogtry! - and yet I still aim to convince others of them - the very essence of oppressive tyranny!)

So how can I claim to be Gorean?

Perhaps the answer to all of this is much simpler than it seems. Perhaps the answer is a combination of everything that I have said, and being Gorean is simply that which a few of us can claim to be, and a few more of us would wish to claim to be, but in fact are not. Perhaps being Gorean is simply too difficult for all but a few of us, and the rest should be content in achieving what ever aspects of it they can get away with. If they are accepted in their circles as Gorean, then surely they are, indeed, Gorean. After all, being Gorean is not what one believes of oneself, (even if it is, self-delusion is an art-form), it is not even what one man wrote about in a saga of twenty five philosophical - and, lest we not forget, fictitious - novels. You are Gorean if you say "I am Gorean!" and everyone says "yes, Master". Right?

In this article I have spoken much and said little, as I attempted to get some who read this to think. So I will conclude, briefly, with what I believe is the essence of being Gorean. And not even, at that, the whole essence.

[Jarl stands]

The essence of being Gorean is passion. It's about loving you're life and those around you who also love life, and recognizing that to whichever of your comrades you turn to, you will find equal zest and passion and love of life. Being Gorean stems from passion, entirely. It is from that that all else develops - mastery, camaraderie, recognition of the order in which all things naturally fall. Indeed, it is directly from that passion for life that we achieve simple but strong loyalties for things of worth, like Home Stones.

I wish you well.