Culture and Traditions
Bajoran tradition places the family name before the given name; thus, 'Kira Nerys' is properly addressed as 'Major Kira', not 'Major Nerys'. During the series, emphasis was placed on the Bajoran's spiritual life, centering around the Orbs—objects of an alien origin believed to have been sent by the Prophets (Bajor's gods), each of which possess a unique ability (such as the 'Orb of Time', which allows those viewing it to revisit past events).
The Bajoran people were originally divided into castes, called d'jaras, that dictated a person's place in Bajoran society; members of a lower-ranking d'jara were expected to defer to those of a higher caste. When the Occupation began, the d'jara system was abolished and most of the planet's population became slave laborers.
Bajorans wear large, chained earrings and ear cuffs called d'ja pagh on their right ears, as symbols of their religious faith. Before the war against Cardassian occupation, the earring also symbolized one's d'jara.
Read more about this topic: Bajoran
Famous quotes containing the words culture and/or traditions:
“Culture is the suggestion, from certain best thoughts, that a man has a range of affinities through which he can modulate the violence of any master-tones that have a droning preponderance in his scale, and succor him against himself. Culture redresses this imbalance, puts him among equals and superiors, revives the delicious sense of sympathy, and warns him of the dangers of solitude and repulsion.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Napoleon never wished to be justified. He killed his enemy according to Corsican traditions [le droit corse] and if he sometimes regretted his mistake, he never understood that it had been a crime.”
—Guillaume-Prosper, Baron De Barante (1782–1866)