The History and Application of - Cupping

Cupping has a long history and can be traced back as far as 3000 B.C. It was a technique mentioned in The Papyrus Ebers, the oldest known medical book found in Egypt. In Greece, Hippocrates used cupping as a remedy for internal disease and structural problems. In western medicine cupping was considered one of the basic skills a doctor must know up until the end of the 19th century. It is still practiced by many homeopathic health practitioners and in traditional Chinese medicine as a method of applying acupressure.

Cupping is the practice of creating a low pressure area inside a cup that is sealed against a persons skin. The difference in pressure pulls the skin into the cup and draws blood flow to the area. There are many ways to accomplish this and they involve a number of fetishes and this is why it has gained some notoriety in the BDSM community. It was first introduced into the public BDSM and Kink community as an extension to fire play. The low pressure is created in the cup by heating the air inside the cup and then placing it on the skin. When the air cools, it creates a vacuum inside the cup. The next fetish group that was draw to this practice were those connected to blood play. Blood cupping is a form of blood letting and has gained a lot of popularity with this fetish group. A small incision is made in the skin and then the cupping is done over top which draws blood up into the cup. It has reached beyond these two groups and is now quite popular with anyone interested in sensation play or marking. Cupping can leave little red marks where the cups were placed that can last several hours all the way up to deep bruising caused by repeated application to the same area.

There are far too many aspects of cupping to cover in this one post so I will be focusing on vacuum pump cupping and fire cupping. Many look at this as a completely safe activity but keep in mind that it was a medical procedure long before it became a kink and can have many negative side effects and ramifications. First and foremost is it should not be done on pregnant women without a good understanding of acupressure as it can induce labor. Adhere to SSC (Safe Sane and Consensual) Practices and utilize RACK(Risk Aware Consensual Kink) practices. Understand the risks, discuss them with your partner, and make certain it is understood and consented to.

Mechanical vacuum cupping is probably the easiest and safest to get started with even though there is specific equipment that you will need. The first thing to know before you start is how to release the pressure. Most sets have a rapid release system. Be very familiar with it. Test it on gentle settings before you move on to more extreme play. This form of cupping can create far more vacuum than other systems. In a lot of cupping sets there are a number of different sizes of cups. They can be used on different parts of the body for different effects. Some of which can be quite painful. Some cups have pressure stimulating nodes that can allow the skin to be drawn up around them so that they apply pressure to a specific point while creating a vacuum all around the center. Some of these are metal and can also be used in conjunction with electro stimulation.

Fire cupping doesn't create as much suction but is much more dramatic to watch. This one is fraught with dangers though and a firm understanding of fire play techniques, safety, and protocol is highly recommended before you try this. Make absolutely certain that all of the dangers inherent to fire have been addressed before starting this procedure.

Instead of using a vacuum pump, a vacuum is created by air (heated by fire) in a glass cup placed flush against the recipients skin. As the air cools in the cup, a vacuum forms that pulls up on the skin, stimulating the desired effect. There are several ways of heating the air in the cup with fire:

1. One can swab rubbing alcohol (70% or 90%) into the bottom of a cup, then light it and place the cup immediately against the skin. By creating the seal the immediate loss of oxygen puts the fire out, preventing the person from being burned. The smaller the amount of alcohol, and the quicker the flame is extinguished by application of the cup, the better, so long as there is no risk of the cups falling off due to lack of a proper seal.
2.  One can hold the cup inverted over a flame (e.g. a lit candle), heating the air, then place the cup immediately against the skin. Care must be taken not to heat the glass itself. Even so, the person to whom the cup is applied will feel distinctly more heat than in the previous method.
3. One can ignite a flame with a small alcohol-soaked cotton wad resting on a small pad of leather or other insulating material that rests directly on the recipient's skin, then place the cup immediately over the flame, putting out the fire. The quickness with which the flame is extinguished depends on the size and shape of the cup.

Methods 1 and 2 heat the glass to some extent and have a risk of burning the recipient if not carefully executed. Method 3 risks the cotton falling off the insulating pad onto the recipient's skin, and leaves the pad and cotton wadding inside the adhering cup which could be considered cumbersome.
Baby oil massaged onto the skin first causes a better seal to form, making it possible to use this technique with less heating of the cup. It is often possible to slide the adhered cup around on the skin, preserving the suction seal as it glides. Care must be taken not to move the cup over protruding moles, skin tags, scabs, etc. This can prove to be an interesting sensation.

The longer a cup is left on, the more of a circular mark (like a hickey) is created. The skin pores are more open, and the patient may have a feeling like sunburn.  There are, of course, more techniques and ways to apply this. Which ever way you choose to play, make certain it is as safe as it can be made and that all risks have been assessed. Surprises with fire are never a good thing.

The History and Application of - Figging

Figging is a term unknown by many outside of the BDSM community. Even inside the community it is one of the least known forms of erotic play. For those that are aware of it though, the mere mention of it in a group draws Oooohs and Aaaahs. For those of you that aren't aware of what figging is, it is the insertion of peeled ginger root into the rectum. You might ask "why would some one do that?!!!?" before you think about the kind of people you are talking about. It is an intense experience and shouldn't be discarded or negated off hand. It isn't for the faint of heart but it is unique and frequently dramatic.

Figging didn't originate in the BDSM community though. Many have linked it back to Victorian corporal punishment as documented in many forms of literature of the times. It was used to encourage the relaxation of the buttocks during caning. It actually dates back beyond that and has origin in animal training techniques. There is a phrase still used in horse racing, "in full fig" which refers to a horse that has been given some form of additional stimulation. In the current times it is referring to drugs but originally it was a practice to insert ginger root into the anus of a horse to cause it to lift it's tail and step lively. It was called feague, to feague a horse, in the late 18th century and referred to by Francis Grose in his book Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. He described it as:


Feague
To feague a horse; to put ginger up a horse’s fundament, and formerly, as it is said, a live eel, to make him lively and carry his tail well; it is said, a forfeit is incurred by any horse-dealer’s servant, who shall shew a horse without first feaguing him. Feague is used, figuratively, for encouraging or spiriting one up.

It is hard to tell where it dates back from after this however. The etymology of the word is unclear. Old Dutch had fegōn which means "to cleanse". In German, fegen means to clean but in Proto-Germanic faginōnan means "to cleanse, make beautiful" which can certainly connect with the definition of feague. Icelandic also has the word fægja which means "to polish" and that could suit as well. In any case, the current version of what we do can be related back to animal husbandry.

As with any form of sadomasochistic play safety should be considered. I would always recommend that someone in this lifestyle, and especially those doing the actions, become familiar with the philosophies of SSC (Safe Sane and Consensual) and RACK (Risk-Aware Consensual Kink) to help in being aware of all the risks and taking preventative measures to avoid unwanted damage or repercussions. Other that someone being overly careless with the insertion process, the only real thing to be aware of is that some people do have an allergic reaction to ginger. Be certain that the person receiving this isn't.

Now down to the fundamentals. First you need the ginger root. You can send your slave out to the grocery store to pick it out. I like the emotional torture that this brings. Ginger root has a number of tubers that resemble fingers. Because of this, it is sold as a hand. The piece that is chosen for this should have e section or finger that is at lease 4 inches long. The first time this is tried, I highly recommend using fresh ginger.

To prepare the ginger, choose the finger you wish to use and cut it off of the hand. Don't cut it at the joint, however, unless they are very long. You want the cut to extend into the hand. Try to make it alt least 4 inches long. Take a paring knife or vegetable peeler and remove the brown skin. Take care to remove all of the skin and smooth out any bumps or knots. Be careful to not remove too much of the meat as it will weaken the finger. Don't rush though this. Wash the root under cold water periodically to remove any loose skin.

Now comes the tricky part. Approximately 2/3 of the way down you need to carve out a section of the finger similar to a but plug. This will give the sphincter something to hold onto and keep the finger in place. Be careful with this as you don't want to cut away too much and weaken the finger but it has to be enough to hold on to. The concave ring that you create should be at least 1/2 in wide but you don't need to go very deep. It just has to be enough to hold it in place. If you cut away too much it will break off.

Now for the play. I find that the best position is to have the slave laying on their stomach with pillows to prop their hips and butt up. I like having them bound in this position but that, of course, is optional. Do NOT use lube. It will inhibit the sensations brought on by the ginger. Use cold water to keep the finger wet and take your time.

Be patient now. Take your time and begin to slowly insert the finger into the slaves anus. Don't rush it. Wet ginger has enough lubricant if you take your time. When the anus opens and begins to accept the finger, slowly slide it in up to the ring that you created. Let the sphincter close around it. The effect of the ginger builds so you have time to do this slowly. The effects aren't instant.

When it is in place, sit back and get prepared to enjoy the show or, as was popular in the Victorian era, begin your caning. Slave can become quite vocal as the effects of the ginger grow. If the ginger is decent the burning sensation can be pretty intense. Of course perception of pain is relative and there are a few slaves that don't find it overly intense. They are few and far between though. If you find the need, or just desire, to enhance the effects, I like to spend some time squeezing the butt cheeks together.

The effects of the ginger last about 20 min and ease off fairly rapidly. One of the nicest things about this procedure is that, no matter how intense the sensations for your slave can be, you will not cause damage to your slave by doing this. This is where I mention how to add additional sensation :D. Old ginger tends to lose it's potency so you always want to buy it as fresh as possible. However, if you have any fingers of adequate size left over, put them in a sealed plastic bag and put them in the vegetable drawer of your fridge for a couple of days. Check on them and if the bag has moisture in it and a little mold on the skin you are ready for fun. If not put it back in the fridge for a couple more days. Don't worry about the mold as you will be taking all of that off. The mold is harmless and doesn't penetrate the skin.

Peel and prepare the ginger as normal but when you play the result is going to be dramatically enhanced. Make certain to discard anything that is left over at this point.

Master and slave BDSM relationship - Can there be love?

Over the years I have seen many people ask whether or not there can be love in a Master and slave BDSM relationship. Much of the old school thought is anything that can take away from the lines of authority will be detrimental to the relationship. It is this belief that causes a lot of Masters to say that love detracts from a Master and slave relationship. They believe that their capacity to love inhibits their authority. If this is their belief then it will certainly come to pass. It isn't true though. There are also a lot of Masters that just have emotional issues and use BDSM as a way to avoid dealing with them. I won't be going into this thought pattern or belief system here.

Love is an essential part of ANY healthy relationship. This goes for all BDSM relationships as well. If love is understood, and not mistaken for something that it is not, it can only be beneficial to a relationship. When you truly love someone, you want them to be happy, healthy, and secure. In a M/s relationship is is the Masters job to look for a way to accomplish this. It is the responsibility of the person in the Dominant role to see what is beneficial for the person in the submissive role. If you love them you will want the best for them. If the Master is truly dominant, they will not look to the submissive for guidance on what is beneficial. The Master will guide.

The only place that this seems to get questioned is in a Master and slave BDSM relationship. No one asks if a parent should love their child. No one would suggest that love is detrimental to a parent and child relationship and yet there is a very defined line of authority there. Animal owners are known to love and care for their animals without any detriment to the line of authority. This whole thought process comes from fear and not love. Love enhances things and fear tears them apart.

Some aspects of a deep and meaningful M/s relationship can only be achieved through love. Love is a natural feeling for all humans and it is only through closing off and walling up those feelings that we keep them at bay. If all that you want out a BDSM lifestyle is to be able to boss someone around then love doesn't really matter to the relationship. You don't allow yourself to have something more than physical and thus cannot attain it. There is MUCH more available, though, through a Master and slave BDSM relationship. There is a connection that can go far beyond the bounds of the physical. A unity in purpose, direction, path, and life that cannot be found without the defined authority structure found in this lifestyle. It doesn't matter if you call it BDSM or not and was around long before this term was coined.

In order to have this kind of spiritual and emotional unity, a great trust and bond must be built. The greater the trust, the greater the bond. If there is a defined structure of authority, which can be easily determined in this lifestyle, than it is merely the resistance against this structure that causes a lock of unity and harmony. If the submissive trusts the Master to be right, loves their Master, and loves themselves, they will not resist this authority. The more trust and love they have, the less they will resist. This extends to a depth that is inconceivable to many. It can go far beyond romantic and become devotion. It can even extend beyond devotion to become worship.

If this is understood then it is only a matter of understanding how to achieve this. If there is going to be a bond that extends beyond the physical, the walls to the emotional must be eliminated. The less impedance to emotional connection the easier and more completely it happens. Emotion is the bridge between the physical and the spiritual. Without it there is no connection. Develop the love but develop a pure love. Don't place conditions on it. Don't limit it to romance or any other physical quality. See the slave for all that they are. Only in doing that can you have all that they are. When the Master can remove all internal barriers to the slave, the slave can be taught to remove their barriers as well. The more this emotional bond is built, the greater the trust the slave has in their Master, the greater and deeper the bond will be. Love will start the journey that can then progress to devotion, and if it is desired, worship. I love my slave freely, openly, and without limit. She, in turn, listens to me, is devoted to me, and worships me. This isn't what everyone desires but it is certainly available to all that want it. Love does not hinder it but is actually fundamental to achieving it.

Using BDSM To Achieve Altered States

Throughout history man has attempted to attain altered states of consciousness through the use of intoxicants, emotional stimulus, and meditative trances. This has been a major focus in the spiritual path of many mystics and religious groups but has certainly not been limited to them. In the 60's an entire drug culture grew up around it that is still integrated into our society and belief system. Ecstasy, known as the love drug, is considered one of the most dangerous drugs threatening young people today. Man has an instinctive drive to connect to something greater than he is. I use "man" here in reference to human without gender recognition. We are all the same here and, in this, gender is insignificant.

In the late 18th century, the Marquis de Sade published a number of books showing the joys of inflicting and receiving pain. This was his obsession and greatest contribution to society. Here he began to show the transcendental states that can be attained through the use and implementation of pain. Before this, it was primarily the Monks, mystics, and religious zealots that used these techniques to bring them closer to their god. The Marquis showed that this could be used just for pleasure without any greater meaning. The term sadism is based on him and, to many, he is considered the father of sadomasochism. Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Other Writings a novella, by the Marquis de Sade, is widely considered to be a masterpiece of eighteenth-century French literature. The Marquis de Sade was not the first to use this, however, as a form of sexual and emotional pleasure. The Kama Sutra, in the 2nd century CE, told of consensual face slapping as a form of arousal. In the late 1400's, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, wrote about a man that needed to be flogged in order to become sexually aroused and in 1886  Krafft-Ebing wrote Psychopathia Sexualis: The Case Histories (Solar Books - Solar Asylum). The book is well known for coining such terms as sadism, masochism, and fetish.  There have been a lot of references to sado-sexual pleasures throughout history.

Meditation has long been know to stimulate an altered state. This has been around as long as sex itself. In prehistoric times, man used chanting as a form of meditation. This is still being used. Meditation and religion have always been closely related. Tantra is a great example of this. Neotantra or Tantric sex was a natural evolution of this philosophy.

How does all of this relate to BDSM, Dominance and submission, or TPE relationships? It's simple really. All of this throughout the centuries has been about achieving an altered state. In the modern BDSM lifestyle subspace is a common term and many also relate to Dom or Top space. This is a floaty kind of sensation that many strive for. It satisfies that urge for an altered state of consciousness that so many seek and so few find. Unfortunately, without understanding it fully, there is the tendency to have undesirable results. Sub crash is also a well known term. If the altered state is not managed consciously and knowingly, it can easily go in an undesired direction.

If an altered state of consciousness is something that we seek to attain through BDSM then how can we achieve it safely and reduce the risk of unwanted repercussions? As the use of drugs is illegal in most places I won't discuss that in detail but, if this is the route you choose, please be careful. The dangers are tremendous. Sadomasochism is well documented and the first thing I would recommend is becoming familiar with SSC (Safe, Sane and Consensual ) and RACK (Risk Aware Consensual Kink). These philosophies can help to make your journey manageable and help everyone get what they desire from the adventure. Next, become knowledgeable of any form of torture or sadistic treatment you desire to give or receive. Learn from someone you trust or from books but know the dangers and risks associated with whatever you wish to do. Finally, understand the psychology of what you seek.

Subspace is frequently triggered by a sympathetic nervous system response brought on by the pain being received. This can lead to the release of epinephrine into the system and cause, what is sometimes known as, ego reduction. Freud coined the term ego to describe the conscious adult self. This reduction allows us to release our focus on the physical self, to the point where many report a reduction or elimination of the sensation of pain, and reach for something beyond or greater than themselves. A slave can become the canvas for the Masters work.

Topspace is similar but works in the opposite direction. Instead of epinephrine being released, adrenaline is poured into the system. The top becomes hyper focused on the bottom to the point that they can sense them. They have the sensation of extending beyond themselves and becoming more than the ego tells them they are.

Sadomasochism is the most common way of achieving this altered state in a BDSM relationship but there are others. When you think of what happens through giving and receiving pain you can see that the release of the chemicals is merely a trigger to what is actually sought. It is the state of being and consciousness that those chemicals help us to attain. These can also be achieved without chemical intervention. Meditation has been used longer than anything else to stimulate these states of awareness and being. Transcendental meditation has actually become it's own religion. Before that, though, was Tantra. All forms of meditation, however, rely on ritual. The BDSM lifestyle is littered with rituals that can be used to accomplish this state of being. Understand that this state of bliss and euphoria comes about through the reduction of ego. When you focus on a ritual to the point of blocking out all other awareness, you become one with the ritual and more than your sense of self. At this point, through practice, that state of being can be achieved.

There are many different alternative lifestyles out there but few have as many ways to reach Nirvana as BDSM. Many see it for just the fetish and kink aspects of it but there is so much more. The opportunity for spiritual awakening, altered awareness, total bliss and perfect harmony is everywhere you look in this lifestyle. You simply need to be willing to see beyond the surface.

What slave training means to me

I look around on sites and I see a LOT of Dominants talking about training slaves and slaves talking about unsatisfactory training by their Dominant. Some of the things I see listed as required training or things that Dominants have had their slave trained at are questionable in my opinion. How much thought goes into training your slave for golden showers. Is there a technique on being pissed on that is so complex it requires training? How do you teach a slave spanking? I have heard of slaves being trained in spanking. Is there a highly sophisticated set of procedures involved in bending over and presenting your backside to be spanked? Maybe the problem is in what people consider requires training.

I have a tendency to look at training as something of value. An education that will benefit the slave in their life or in their ability to provide value and service to their Master. I tend to begin training in the mind and heart of the slave. The hardest thing that a slave can learn is how to learn. Very few slaves, possibly because of their submissive nature, learn how to control their own thoughts, feelings, and actions. The first thing I find is needed is to teach them how to BE submissive. Our society clutters their subconscious with all sorts of conflicting teachings that leave the slave unfocused and always second guessing what they are doing. They need to be taught to recognize thoughts, beliefs, and emotions that are not beneficial to what they are trying to accomplish and then how to deal with them in a beneficial fashion. In the process of doing this, the slave and the Master learn how the slave learns and the processes that are necessary to accomplish the transformation into being a slave. When a slave is in control of the way they think and is able to give the authority for their thoughts, beliefs, and feelings to their Master, the behavioural training can begin.

In my estimation, behavioural modification is a greatly misunderstood area of BDSM training. Many look at it as changing the physical actions that are undesired. This teaches the slave to suppress the natural tendency to act out this behaviour.  That doesn't truly modify behaviour it is behaviour suppression. To modify behaviour you need to look at the reason it is happening and change that. When you change the beliefs, motivations, and reasons that lead to a behaviour, you change the behaviour. Behaviour modification starts on the outside, focuses inwards, and then changes the outward expression of these beliefs, feelings, and desires.

This part of the training is frequently a tumultuous process to say the least. There is a lot of emotional baggage and unconscious beliefs to deal with but it is the essence of where a slave is built and trained. In my experience, if a slave is trained internally first then any external expression of that training can be expressed at will. If you ask a slave to do something that they don't know how to accomplish, they will be frustrated and feel unfulfilled. This is usually why a slave will complain about inadequate training. If you teach the slave how to learn, they can learn how to do anything that they are capable of. This is the dichotomy of slavery. Through teaching them how to surrender ALL that they are to you they are freed to become the greatest grandest version of themselves.

Once they are free of their baggage and restraints, the external training can begin. This is used to accentuate and reinforce the beliefs that have been set in place through earlier training. Rituals can be developed and protocols can be learned and practised. These are the teachings and the training that the slave craves. These are the fantasy and romantic vision that they have of their life. If all of the other restraints are gone and they are taught how to build and create what they desire, these fantasies and romance can be achieved for the rest of their lives.

Free a trapped slave and have devoted one for life.