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You dance with the devil, the devil
don't change. The devil changes you.
~ Joaquin Phoenix in 8MM
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SCENEsubmissions
May 4th, 2003
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IN THIS STEAMING ISSUE
Bodyplay and the Spirit - By Chris M, writer and Emeritus Board Member
of Black Rose
Group Therapy #13 - A Baker's Dozen - Summing up Group Therapy - By Ed,
Leader of White Mountains Different Strokes
Website of the Week
ADMINISTRIVIA
This Newsletter Online with Photos: www.sensuoussadie.com/newsletter.htm
About Sadie and the Mission of this Newsletter
How to Subscribe to this Free Newsletter
Publishing Policy
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New Photos of Sensuous Sadie by David Southwick!
http://www.sensuoussadie.com/photographybydavidsouthwick.htm
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Bodyplay and the Spirit
By Chris M, writer and Emeritus Board Member of Black Rose, Washington
DC
Chris_M39@yahoo.com
http://subbondage.net/chris_m/
Chris M is A Black Rose Emeritus Board Member, artist, writer,
dominant (occasional switch) and SM educator, active with BR since 1990.
He has presented SM workshops and seminars across the country including
BR10, BR '98, BR99, BR 2000, BR 2001, CAPEX, CUFF, ROPE of Richmond
Virginia, the late, great Phoenix Society of Baltimore, Beat Me in St.
Louis 99, 00, 01, and 02 The New Orleans Power Exchange, Leather
Leadership Council, Jacksonville Area Power Exchange, River City Dungeon
Society, TALON of North Carolina, GMSMA (a three weekend seminar in SM
Spirituality), SM101 (A six month 15 lesson course taught jointly by
Black Rose, Men of Discipline, and SIGMA) as a guest lecturer at both
Tulane University in New Orleans and Pace University, NYC.
His SM Educational writings have been published in Prometheus, Petal and
Thorn and innumerable websites where he provides his writings free of
charge. As a leather artist, his work has been exhibited at the
legendary Playhouse Studios of Baltimore MD, and were recently featured
in Joseph Bean's book "Flogging."
What is happening inside us when we do SM? Why does it feel good? What
can we do to make it feel better or more rejuvenating? These are
fundamental questions of SM. When you look at the human animal through
the lens of biology we are all remarkably similar. We all share the same
physical design we all have the same limbs, organs and biological needs
as any human being on earth, as well as our prehistoric ancestors.
Psychology, the world's religions and the amazing relevance of ancient
literature all seem to indicate that we share a common internal
architecture as well. Our bodies need nourishment and exercise, but the
food of the soul is life itself.
One reason so many people have stumbled into the "heaven feeling" during
SM play without even trying, has to do with the physical ordeal of
bodyplay. Much of what we do: flagellation, penetration, bondage…
prompts a powerful physiological response by tactile means alone. In my
own exploration of the spiritual practice of SM,, the light bulb turning
on came when I started noticing (through my voluminous reading) the
intriguing similarities between our favorite activity and the mystical
practices of world faiths. From prehistory forward people have engaged
in rituals amusingly similar to contemporary SM. Examples? Fakirs
meditating on beds of nails. Yogis turning bodily contortion into
sublime acts of worship. The Sadhus going even farther, doing terribly
odd things their bodies like rolling for thousands of miles, or
maintaining a raised arm for years on end. Mother Africa has its
initiatory rites involving scarification and rigorous corseting, and
encumberments. The Mandan Indians of the American plains performed gory
rituals of mutilation and endurance like the Sundance, replicated by
some contemporary SM connoisseurs. The Shakers received their derogatory
name because of their fits of ecstatic dancing, a practice shared by
tribal Africans, Australian aboriginal and Sufi Dervishes alike. The
list goes on and on: the Jewish mystic during a fast, the tribal
initiate in a Micronesian flesh carving, the medieval Christian
flagellant whipping his back into a crimson froth. All share the
principal of bodily ordeal as a path towards higher awareness and
mystical wisdom. When you consider the tingly otherworldly experiences
we find our suburban dungeons can we really doubt the similarity between
us and them?
The Physiology of Pleasurepain
Let's take a brief, look at the physiology of the SM encounter. Over the
eons, our nervous systems evolved, at least in part, to rescue us from
bad situations. Upon injury, the nervous system jabs the brain with a
message guarantied to grab attention. Pain. It jolts the human beast
into immediate action - a roaring scream, sudden spasmodic motion, fight
or flight - all good things if, lets say, a saber tooth tiger takes an
experimental bite of your posterior. Here's why it matters to us: To
keep pain from crushing your ability to react, the brain floods the body
with pain fighting natural opiates, hormones, enzymes, and adrenaline.
And as any well-seasoned bottom knows, this response produces all sorts
of fun. Feelings of excitement, arousal, clarity, even out of body or
dream states. In short, the body's natural response to injury can be
harnessed to create intense and mysterious sensations. When framed and
emphasized by rites and rituals these natural responses would naturally
be ascribed to supernatural powers.
A Calliope of the Senses: Types of Bodyplay
Just for fun I put together a table (I started with a shorter one by
Fakir) clustering various SM techniques with activities from spiritual
practice.
SM
Other Activities
Impact Play
Spanking, flogging, paddling, face slapping, caning, sting toys, thud
toys
Religious flagellation, corporal punishment, boxing, football, rugby
Compression
Plastic wrap, mummification, bondage, tight rubber-lycra-latex,
Japanese rope harnesses
Corsets, stockings, girdles, hobble skirts, tight jeans, kiatsu,
acupressure massage, scalp massage, hugging
Adornment (Temporary)
Drag, uniform fetish, leather-rubber-latex fetishism, femme/butch
Dieting, Bulimia, make-up, hair styling, Halloween, costume parties,
school uniforms, dunce caps
Adornment (Permanent)
Tattooing, body jewelry, scarification
Silicon implants, tummy tucks, circumcisions, nose jobs
Penetration
Fisting, dildos, tit play, ass plugs, enemas, vibrators
Vaginal and/or anal penetration, cunnilingus, masturbation, fellatio,
Tantra, Ben-Wa balls
Contortion
Suction play, hog-tie, clips, pillory, the stocks, clamps and clothes
pins
High heels, Chinese foot binding, torture: the rack, piercing
enlargement, Yoga
Sensory Deprivation
Blindfolds, mittens, gags, hoods
Chastity belts, solitary confinement, bread and water, giving up
pleasures for Lent, asceticism, hermitage, celibacy, fasting, vows of
silence and/or poverty
Encumberments
Metal bondage, manacles, parachutes
Pumping iron, bustiers, hoop skirts, primitive heavy bracelets and
anklets, Chinese weighted collars
Temperature Play
Ice, fire, wax, hair dryers, mentholated ointments, pepper,
toothpaste, cinnamon oil
Ben Gay steam baths, sauna, tanning, Finnish ice bathing, walking on
hot coals, tight rubber, Japanese "Okyu" treatment, Sweat lodge
ceremony, hot baths, cold showers
Cutting
Body piercing and/or cuttings, scarification
Circumcision, infibulation, Kandavi spear bearing, body piercing,
tribal scarification, bed of nails, acupuncture, the Okeepa
Abrasion
Wartenburg wheels, body shaving, knife play
The hair shirt
Tickling
Tickle torture
Wedding night rituals for 19th century brides, the bath of flies
Gravity Play
Suspension harnesses, St. Andrew's cross, slings, inversion
Sky diving, swimming, SCUBA, roller coasters, swing sets, tree
climbing
Electricity
TENS units (recreational), cattle prods, stun guns, violet wands
TENS units (it was a medical device before it was a toy), the
electric chair
Physical Exertion
Military training drills, hard labor, boot camp, fraternal pledge
hazing, body building
Marathons, sports, martial arts, the whirling dervishes, the
Aboriginal walkabout
Repose
Aftercare
Rest from exertion, relaxation, sleep, breaks between bench press
sets
Purging
SM water sports
Scat, basic bodily functions
Breathing
Breath control
Screaming, crying, laughing, Yoga breathing exercises, Kiai,
hyperventilation, speaking in tongues
Chemical Intoxication
Social drinking, white wine enemas
Alcohol, controlled substances, Native American rituals involving
psychotropic drugs
Sight
Erotica/Pornography, voyeurism, exhibitionism
Girl watching, boy watching, the visual arts
Hearing
Verbal humiliation
Dirty stories, music, beautiful language, phone sex
Scent
Raunch, scat, leather, rubber, perfume
Potpourri, Lemon Pledge, natural body smells
Ingestion
Dog dish training
Food, drink, sacraments, nourishment
Hypnotic Inducement
Prolonged bondage, flagellation (for the top)
Mantras, breathing exercises, TM, pinball, video games, dance,
Buddhist chanting, Gregorian chants, drumming, knitting, painting, house
work, crochet, chopping wood, Japanese tea ceremony
Fairly eye opening isn't it? How many SM activities have direct
analogies in religious, spiritual, or curative practice. Notice also
that the difference between bodyplay perceived as torture, religious
ecstasy, or good clean fun is largely a matter of context and degree.
Virtually any of these activities could be used as torture if they were
done against ones will by an oppressor. The greatest sex in the world is
still horrible - and criminal - if inflicted against someone's will.
True, true, scuba, phonesex, and potpourri are not traditional regarded
as spiritual practice. But they are human experiences that produce human
awe, the kind that leads to spiritual awakening. Lets return, for a
moment to that lone flagellant in a side chapel of the Vatican, seeing
visions and whipping his back into a massacre of welts. There's nothing
in scripture about Jesus encouraging people to beat the daylights out of
themselves. More likely, he is being visited by opioids than the Holy
Spirit. But what is he doing right? Well, he is breathing deeply, for
one thing, and he is concentrating on the object of his devotion. He's
wailing the snot out of himself, and that helps too. Perhaps he knows
that he's enjoying it too much, and that contributes to that deliciously
nasty feeling of being bad. Perhaps he's meditating on his trespasses
and feels the forgiving joy of the pain as it absolves him. But most
importantly, he is forging a link with a higher spiritual power, a
two-way link up between himself and the object of his worship using the
language of pain. Now think for moment. In an earlier time, before our
knowledge of psyche, physiology and the natural chemistry of the body,
would we have any reason to doubt he was having a vision from God?
Religious fundamentalists will probably hate me for describing the
hobbies of true bad leatherfolk as spiritual devotions. But what kind of
sadist would I be if I were shy about popping a deserving balloon.
Grabbing a submissive woman's ass, especially someone in at ease with
her compliant side, and goosing her while her mouth lolls open and her
eyelids flutters, is a sort of call to prayer. And If the serving of Tea
can be made spiritual through mindful focus why not the tender-savage
caress of my single tail, in a candlelit dungeon?
© 1998-2002 Chris M. All rights reserved.
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Group Therapy #13 - A Baker's Dozen - Summing up Group Therapy
By Ed, Leader of White Mountains Different Strokes
e-mail: wmds@valley.net
website: http://wmdifferentstrokes.com
listserv: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wmds
EDITOR'S NOTE: In my travels in the BDSM world both as a leader and
participant, I've discovered that most people don't realize the
incredible amount of work it takes to run a BDSM group. From the guest
perspective it's just a party or munch now and again to go to. But
behind the scenes there are many people who work very hard to make this
happen. I asked Ed, Leader of White Mountains Different Strokes to write
a monthly column for SCENEsubmissions that would help our readers
understand what goes on behind the scenes. You can read past articles in
this series on the epe dominion site: www.epedominion.com/library in the
leader's speak section.
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In this final installment of Group Therapy, I will suggest that now is
the time to apply what you have been exposed to here (and in your own
experiences) if you want more from your BDSM experience. And there are
several ways of, as Bob Dylan said, "Bringing It All Back Home:"
a) If you have suggestions to make to the manger(s) of your group, do so
- they would welcome more input from members if they are at all
conscientious. But, be willing to assist in whatever way you can: people
who put time and effort into a group feel like the Little Red Hen
asking, "Now, who will help me bake the bread"? "Not I", said the horse.
"Not I", said the cat. and so on. Be willing to help them get it done.
b) If there is a more active role needed, volunteer for it! You may wish
to seek to be a member of the management team - ask, and you just might
be taken up on it. Even if you cannot (or do not want to) become part of
a governing board, but are up for one specific task (such as tracking
finances, checking party attendees, etc.) ask away. In many groups, they
will be so surprised to find people volunteering for *anything* that you
may be welcomed with open arms.
c) Perhaps you are considering a much more bold move - starting your own
group (either due to a lack of a group in your area, or breaking away
from an existing one). I have written of the resources available to you
before - by all means, use them. Staking out new territory can feel
daunting - and so it may do well to publicize the forming of a new group
ahead of time.
d) If you are breaking away from an existing group (and perhaps doing so
with others) it does call for certain people skills. Sometimes it is as
simple as a group becoming too big, and it is time for it to divide into
more manageable units. One group I know of did so because people were
tired of traveling long distances, and felt they were ready to have a
"league of their own". Or, as in the old TV show "Kung Fu", they took
the pebble from the other person's hand - "it's time for you to leave".
e) Other times, it is due to more difficult circumstances (substantive
disagreements on policy, personality clashes, etc.). As much as
possible, try to part in as civil a way as possible. After all, the old
group will now become a sister group to your new gathering - although
you may be leaving under somewhat trying circumstances, it need not be
permanent. This way, both groups can share resources and refer
prospective new members to the other group (if they would be more suited
to the other style).
f) There is an in-between choice from volunteering for a specific task -
and beginning a group of your own. Consider forming a small subset group
as part of a larger group. I have read of people in the western U.S.
(living great distances from major cities) who started a small munch in
their local area. But rather than build a management team from scratch
(along with websites, dues, etc.) they simply affiliated with a larger
group. If you live, say, 100 miles from the nearest BDSM group yet are
reluctant to start-up one alone - ask the big-city group if you could
"affiliate" with them. If they have never met you, I'm certain they
would want to do so - but if you simple want to run a munch, they might
very well be glad to have someone expand their territory. Besides, some
of their existing members would be glad you did.
I hope this column has been helpful to you - it has avoided focusing on
what the group I am in does, or to advocate specific actions. Instead,
I've tried to describe situations that are likely to arise, the
background behind them and how various groups have handled them. If I
have at least framed issues the way a law school professor might - and
in a way that you have been able to understand - then maybe this was
worthwhile.
If I could leave you with one thought it would be this: "make it
happen." Many people who seek more from their BDSM lives have all sorts
of reasons why they cannot do it, including: Lack of time, nearest group
is too far away, nearest group is too close for comfort, I'm worried
about my ex, I have children, etc. I understand that several of these
are very real obstacles, and I do not mean to belittle them.
And yet there are others who overcome these handicaps, simply because
they decided to. They didn't have time, for example, but they made time.
When the late Gerry Mulligan was asked why became a jazz saxophonist he
replied, "Because I had to". You may not have to become a public
lifestyle person - but you'll never know if you don't try.
I'll leave you with the words of my pediatrician, the late Dr. Seuss. In
his last book "Oh, The Places You'll Go" (intended for school graduates
of all ages to make their mark in the world) he ended with the words,
"Now, Be On Your Way"!
Copyright 2003
This article is reprinted here with the explicit permission of the
author. If you would like to share it with others, please link directly
to this page or contact the author for permission. It is a violation of
copyright law to distribute or reprint this piece without that
permission, however you may include a short quote from it, not more than
20% of the total text. Please respect the integrity of this work.
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Website of the Week
Tammy Jo Eckhart's Website, Writer & Activist
http://www.kiva.net/~teckhart/
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ADMINISTRIVIA
ABOUT SADIE AND THE MISSION OF THIS NEWSLETTER
I'm Sensuous Sadie, editor and all around diva of this publication. I am
a BDSM columnist, as well as founder and leader (1999-2001) of Rose &
Thorn, Vermont's first BDSM group. SCENEsubmissions is a venue for
information on BDSM and spirituality, exploring BDSM not as a conduit
for toys and protocol, but as an erotica mystica. You can also find more
information about these topics on my website in the BDSM & Spirituality
section.
You can reach me at SensuousSadie@aol.com or visit my website (and see a
hot photo of me) at www.sensuoussadie.com
BDSM WRITERS GROUP
I moderate a Yahoo group for BDSM Writers of fiction, non-fiction, and
poetry. Our goal is to share input and feedback on ongoing writing
projects. You do not need to be published, but we want people who will
be engaged in offering and accepting feedback. To join, just send an
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BDSMwriters-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
QUICHER BITCHIN' - SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Send 'em to me! I LOVE letters reaming me out for my views. Send to
SensuousSadie@aol.com
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As per the United States copyright office, this newsletter follows "fair
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We will treat you with courtesy and respect and we expect the same. Do
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If you have a concern about the newsletter, please write us about it and
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any solutions (such as this male writer offering to write some
articles.)
Copyright 2003 Sadie Sez Publications
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