"I looked up and saw the three moons of Gor, the large moon and the two small ones, one of the latter called the Prison Moon, for no reason I understood." Assassin of Gor
The night was now moonless.
Even the Prison Moon was no longer visible.
I did not know why it was called the Prison Moon. It had a grayish look at dawn and dusk, almost, interestingly, as though it might be a sphere of metal, and not a natural moon. Mariners of Gor
In the first book, Tarl says all three moons are "small" but this might be in comparison to Earth's moon. They usually seem to be full but do have individual phases and there are lunar eclipses.
On the other hand, the High Castes, specifically the Warriors, Builders, Scribes, Initiates, and Physicians, were told the truth in such matters, perhaps because it was thought they would eventually determine it for themselves, from observations such as the shadow of their planet on one or another of Gor's three small moons during eclipses, the phenomenon of sighting the tops of distant objects first, and the fact that certain stars could not be seen from certain geographical positions; if the planet had been flat, precisely the same set of stars would have been observable from every position on its surface. Tarnsman of Gor
I wondered at the things she said to me for they seemed strange, perhaps more so to my ears than they would have to one bred and raised from infancy as a Gorean, one as much accustomed to the submission of women as to the tides of the gleaming Thassa or the phases of the three moons. Priest-Kings of Gor
Well, much later on in the series Tarl finds out why the Prison Moon is so named. Book 28 actually begins on this very moon of Gor, the one of its three moons, and its smallest, that called the Prison Moon. It is refered to as the Prison Moon, because it really is a prison. A prison maintained by the Priest-Kings.
"She bespoke herself kajira on a satellite of Priest-Kings, the Prison Moon," said Cabot. Kur of Gor
We also learn the Prison Moon is the smallest of the three and is also the closest to planet.
They must know the security of the Prison Moon has been breached. How long does it take to bring ships to this orbit, with their technology, the closest of the three moons? Kur of Gor
Evidently, in their orbits they move across the sky fairly quickly for they are said to be hurtling, rushing, coursing, swift, and having fled across the black sky.
The man who had boasted that he had drank Kal-da three times in the mines of Tharna wept as he gazed upward and caught sight of one of the three hurtling moons of Gor. Outlaw of Gor
As here on Earth, the moons appear to be larger when close to the horizon and then smaller when overhead since it is said that the moons were down to being looming, large, dominating, seemingly close enough to touch to being high in the sky.
Bright in the dark, star-strewn Gorean sky, large, dominating, seemingly close enough to touch, loomed the three moons of Gor. Captive of Gor
They are described as being white and bright, to being faint, pale white disks. But another time as the light of the yellow moon.
The three moons were faint now, like pale white disks in the brightening sky, and the sun was half risen from the throne of the horizon.
Outlaw of Gor
For a long time I, and the others, stood there in the windy night, almost knee-deep in the flowing, bending grass, and watched the knoll, and the stars behind it, and the white moons above.
Priest-Kings of Gor
The light of the yellow moon, high to my right, broke through some clouds.Swordsmen of Gor
Given the three moons, and the differences in their phases, moonlight is frequent. However, there are occasions when the night sky is moonless.
The night was now moonless.
Even the Prison Moon was no longer visible.
I did not know why it was called the Prison Moon. It had a grayish look at dawn and dusk, almost, interestingly, as though it might be a sphere of metal, and not a natural moon. Mariners of Gor
And finally, the largest of the three is evidently the one used to count lunar months and affect breeding cycles.
I looked up at the moons of Gor. They have, it seems, an unusual effect on women. Sometimes female slaves, or captured free women, are chained beneath them. I do not know the nature of this effect. Perhaps it is merely aesthetic, for surely the moons are very beautiful. On the other hand the logical approach the moons may have a profound subconscious symbolism, in its waxings and wanings, clearly suggestive of feminine sexual cycles. But even more interestingly the effect on the female is possibly biological. There are many biological vestiges in the human being. One which is typical and interesting is the tendency of the skin to erupt in tiny protuberances, "goose bumps," when it is cold. This response presumably harkens back to a time when the human animal, or its forebear, had a great deal more hair from the flesh, thusly forming an insulating layer against the cold. So, too, the sight of the moons, and their rhythms, and such, so interestingly approximating the periods of feminine sexual cycles, may at one time have played a role in mating cycles. Perhaps the female came out into the moonlight, in her need, where she might be located and appraised, thought not in the harsh light of day. Perhaps in the moonlight, away from darkness, with its dangers of predators and such, she cried out, or moaned, her needs, attempting to attract attention to herself, calling for the attentions of the male. Perhaps those which would seek to mate in the fullness of light distracted the group from feeding, or were too much fought over. Perhaps those who sought the darkness were not as easily found or succumbed to predators. Perhaps, in time, as a matter of natural selections, operative upon a relatively, at that time, helpless species, those tended to survive whose mating impulses became synchronized with the moons. This might explain why, even today,, and doubtless numerous genetic codings later, codings obviously favoring frequent and aperiodic sexuality, some women are, so to speak, in addition, still "called by the moon." It would be a vestige, like the rising of hair on "goose bumps." Aside from this, it might be noted, of course, that the sexual cycle of various species do tend to be correlated with the cycles of the moon, presumably through one natural (pg. 59) selection or another. The Kurii, for example, seem to have retained some vestiges along these lines, for in that species, as I understand it, it is not unusual for females to go to the mating cliffs in the moonlight, where, helpless in their sexuality, they cry out, or howl, their needs. Magicians of Gor
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