Again and again the lightning flashed, the thunder pounded in on me, and the darkness engulfed me once more. And each time I saw what I had seen before. The valley empty. Koroba was gone.

"You have been touched by the Priest-Kings," said a voice behind me.

I spun about, shield before me, spear ready.

In the next flash of lightning I saw the white robes of an Initiate, the shaven head and the sad eyes of one of the Blessed Caste, servants it is said of the Priest-Kings themselves. He stood with his arms in his robe, tall on the road, watching me.

......

"Are you," I asked, "a Priest-King?"

"No," he said.

I looked at this man, seeming to be a man among other men, yet more.

"Do you speak for the Priest-Kings?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

I believed him.

It was common, of course, for Initiates to claim to speak for the Priest-Kings; indeed, it was presumably the calling of their caste to interpret the will of the Priest-Kings to men.

Book 2, Outlaws: pp 40-41

Little is known of the 'Blessed Caste', the caste of Initiates. Dressed in pure white to denote their purity, they interpret the words of the Priest-Kings for the lesser mortals. First in rank of the high caste, they most closely resemble a monk of Earth...taking vows of celibacy.

The Gorean, despite his supposed pragmatic view of life, often lends great credence to the words of the Initiates. This can sometimes border on fear, and gives the Initiate a kind of power no other caste wields. After all, if you have the flame-death on your side, what more do you need? Given the inherent paranoia with which they are viewed, the Initiates obviously have a tendency to become leaches: living off the fat of the land with no tangible effort expended.

It should be noted that most Goreans do not give a great deal of thought to the Priest-Kings. They simply 'are'. Unlike Earthen 'Gods' that must be worshipped, the Gorean lives by the code of his/her caste and with his relationship with his peers and his environment foremost in his mind.