The Eightfold Paths of BDSM and Beyond Read online

  Notice

  Personal responsibility is a basic tenet of adult activity. Like any adult activity, the information contained herein contains risk of both physical and emotional injury. Any information or safety guidelines provided in this book are simply ideas to weigh out for yourself. By deciding to engage in any adult activity, including those mentioned or detailed in this book, you are taking on physical and emotional responsibility for your own actions, and agree to hold harmless all individuals associated with the creation, publication, and sale of this book.

  Sacred Kink: The Eightfold Paths of BDSM and Beyond

  © 2016 – Second Edition – Lee Harrington and Mystic Productions Press

  © 2009 – First Edition – Lee Harrington

  All rights reserved. With the exception of brief excepts for reviews, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage or retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, artist or their estates. Please contact us for permission.

  Published in the United States by Mystic Productions Press, LLC

  603 W. Tudor Rd. Anchorage, AK 99503 | www.MysticProductionsPress.com

  All text by Lee Harrington, except where otherwise noted www.PassionAndSoul.com

  “The Eightfold Path to Altered States of Consciousness”

  by Raven Kaldera | www.RavenKaldera.org

  Cover Art by Scott Stansbury | www.ScottStansburyPhotography.com

  First Edition Cover Art by Leon Grossman | www.MonkeyFetish.com

  Interior and Exterior Layout by Rob River | www.RobRiver.com

  Pictures of Lee Harrington by Darrell Lynn www.KiltedPhotography.daportfolio.com

  ISBN – 978-1-942733-90-4

  Ebooks: MOBI – 978-1-942733-92-8

  ePub – 978-1-942733-93-5

  PDF – 978-1-942733-91-1

  First Edition – ISBN 978-0-557-21176-0 – 2009

  Spiral-bound edition available upon request from Mystic Productions.

  For Bear.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Exploring The Eightfold Paths

  Accident, Tool, Truth

  How to Use This Book

  Why Eight Paths?

  Altered States of Consciousness

  Why the Quest?

  You, Too, Are a Psychonaut

  Tales as Old as Time

  Chapter 2: Crafting Your Journey

  Sacred and Profane is in the Intent

  Negotiation for Sacred Kink

  Aftercare

  Why Won’t It Always Work?

  Eight Tales Begin

  Chapter 3: The Path of Rhythm

  Dancing Into the Infinite Rhythm

  The Path of Rhythm

  Traditional Tools

  Kink Tools

  Catharsis on the Dance Floor

  Cathartic Flogging

  The System and Process

  Dedicated Tools

  Top Trance and Two-footing

  Ending Rhythm Scenes

  Brainwaves and Changing Your Mind

  Bellydancing to Bliss?

  Back to Hungry Mouths

  Chapter 4: The Ordeal Path

  Trials of Rope and Balance

  The Ordeal Path

  Traditional Tools

  Kink Tools

  Witness to the Journey

  Consensual Ordeals?

  Ordeal Ethics

  Initiations and Earned Leather

  Power of the Ordeal Witness

  Triggers and Being Squicked

  Exercising or Exorcising Demons

  Beatitudes as Christian Ordeal

  Yes, You Can

  Chapter 5: The Path of the Flesh

  Embracing Flesh and Desire

  The Path of the Flesh

  Traditional Tools

  Kink Tools

  For the Love of the Lash

  Solitary Sensuality and Masturbation Magic

  Divine Consort

  Energetically Transmitted Diseases

  What is your FEE?

  Eight Components of Great Sex

  Birthing Dreams Between Growls

  Chapter 6: The Path of Ritual

  Into the Rituals of Life

  The Path of Ritual

  Traditional Tools

  Kink Tools

  Layering of Meaning

  Creating Ritual Play Spaces

  Rituals That Serve Us, or Serving Our Rituals

  Protocol Power

  Fetish as Fetish

  Collaring, Cords, and Uncollaring

  Becoming a Magus

  Embracing Chaos

  Strengthening the Bonds of Service

  Chapter 7: The Path of Breath

  Breathing in our Potential

  The Path of Breath

  Traditional Tools

  Kink Tools

  Processing the Circuit

  Chakras and Energy Movement

  Blockages

  Dialysis of Desire

  Left Hand Breath, Right Hand Breath

  Pain Processing

  Sensory Meditation

  Eight Limbs of Raja Yoga

  Sweeping Out the Depths

  Chapter 8: The Path of the Horse

  Riding Into the Storm

  The Path of the Horse

  Traditional Tools

  Kink Tools

  Confessions in the Temple

  Role-playing and Role-being

  Donning Archetypes

  Conscious Shapeshifting

  Astral Shapeshifting and Emotion Shifting

  Working with Spirits and Deities

  Horsing Tools and Techniques

  Connections and Concerns

  Objectification for Animists

  I-Ching Inspirations

  Back from the Abyss

  Chapter 9: The Path of Asceticism

  The Call to Erotic Monasticism

  The Path of Asceticism

  Traditional Tools

  Kink Tools

  Release of Attachment

  The Calling of Slavery and Mastery

  Of Slavery and Service

  Of Mastery and Service

  Training, Punishment, and Atonement

  Tribal Witness: The Sacred Voyeur

  Noble Eightfold Path

  Gift of the Journey

  Chapter 10: The Path of Sacred Plants

  Consuming Our Fate

  The Path of Sacred Plants

  Ecosexuality

  Traditional Tools

  Kink Tools

  Unlocking the Gates

  Kink and Chemistry Ethics

  Spirit of the Smoke: A Journey

  Profound Piercing

  Dr. Leary’s Circuits

  Dawn Breaks

  Chapter 11: Your Path in Sacred Kink

  More Paths than Eight

  Tools for Finding Your Path

  The Call to Awakening

  Acknowledgements

  Appendix 1 – The Terminology of Sacred Kink

  Appendix 2 – The Eightfold Path to Altered States of Consciousness by Raven Kaldera

  Appendix 3 – Sole/Soul: The Conscious Art of Leather by Lee Harrington

  Appendix 4 – Additional Reading and Resources

  Appendix 5 – Study Questions

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Exploring the Eightfold Paths

  Accident, Tool or Truth?

  We each come to Sacred Kink from different places on our journey.

  Some of us have had a moment in the middle of delicious sexual exploration that led to connecting with the divine, o
r having had an epiphany about life that was far from expected. Others have been drawn to the possibilities of finding universal truths between the sheets or in the extremes of the dungeon for all of their lives. Some are aware that their bodies hold the key towards knowing their spirit, but don’t know which doors of desire to unlock. There are those that are drawn by the academic possibilities in the crossover between sex and spirit. Still others have glimpsed the limitlessness of existence where they have been told that only debauchery lives, and are looking to go back for more. This and more is Sacred Kink.

  This term comes from two concepts that are often thought of as opposites in the culture-at-large. By “Sacred,” I am referring to the things we find holy, full of energy, spirit, passion or universal truth. It is the things our higher selves knows to be valid, true, useful or valuable. By “Kink” however, I am referring to the great big world of sexual adventure that lies outside of lights-off missionary-style sex. This includes voyeurism, exhibitionism, fetishism, fantasy role-playing, cross dressing, erotic power exchange, swinging, “naughty sex” and BDSM. In turn, BDSM (sometimes called S&M) refers to a series of partnered concepts: bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism, and erotic slavery and mastery.

  This is a very broad list of concepts, and clearly, their intersections vary greatly. If these concepts are new to you, please find the glossary in Appendix 1 that will help guide you throughout this book. If these concepts had you nodding your head at every single one and recalled a happy memory with each—welcome home, my friend!

  Wedding the concepts of Kink and the Sacred seems difficult for mainstream faith and sexuality, but Sacredness and Kink have been partners for much longer than most people are aware. The tools of Kink have roots that go back into Shamanism, Christian monasticism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religious/spiritual paths of seeking wisdom and faith around the globe. In turn, explorations of the Sacred have been loaded with sexuality in a wide variety of spiritual traditions, even if it is only alluded to.

  Sacred Kink is an awareness of long-used tools and techniques used in sacred exploration that have been taken on by oftentimes unaware erotic adventurers. It is using modern tools of sexuality for exploring the spirituality and energy. It is the moments of glimpsing something more when we only expected getting sexy and sweaty. It is finding sexual awareness between the breaths of the prophets. It is anywhere the Kinky and the Sacred intersect.

  There are many other terms for this work. These include:

  Deborah Addington, author of Fantasy Made Flesh, refers to this work as exploring Erotomancy.

  Qadishti BDSM is the terminology used by sexuality educators and pagan clergy Dan & dawn for incorporating sacred sexuality and energy work into your BDSM scenes, and the dramatic effects possible therein.

  Sado-Erotic Ecstasy was coined by Chris M. as a way to explore all that is spiritual and kinky.

  Leatherman and Metropolitan Community Church theologian Master Skip Chasey refers to this journey in many ways in his work, including becoming artists in PsychoSpiritual Energy and the calling of being a Priest in Black Leather.

  Shamanadom was the terminology developed by Sacred Marks Sanctuary for transforming sexual activity and BDSM into a practice that transcends the physical into the spiritual, and exploring the spaces in between.

  Michelle Belanger, author of The Psychic Vampire Codex, speaks of this work as Sado-Shamanism, where the Top or Dominant can act as a conduit for the energetic journey of their Bottom or Submissive using the tools of BDSM.

  Do not be fooled. Though it may come in the forms of play, sensual exploration, and bliss, this is the work of our souls. This journey has the potential for turning the flax, the straw, of our beings into the gold of our potential.

  True, not all explorers of Kink are looking for profundity in their sex games. Some are quite happy tying their lovers down to a bed for a night of strawberries and whipped cream, and others are there because their body hungrily calls for connections that make their cunts wet and cocks hard. But even in those interactions sometimes things happen, things we cannot explain. Moments of depth and delight that become a key to things we’d locked away. Thus, even the most fun of kink games has the potential for becoming Sacred Kink. If this has happened to you—breathe. It’s okay. You are not alone.

  Others are drawn towards Sacred Kink as a tool for personal exploration: a scheduled scene specifically built to dive into the self and come out changed or informed of something the universe has to offer. And then there are those who are called to this journey as a full path for their own life—those who have chosen Mastery as a way to serve the divine, those who have come to understand that channeling their archetypes in erotic exploration can empower them in their day-to-day lives, and use these tools as a full practice and for personal devotion.

  All three—those who have found accidental sacredness in their kink, those who use the tools of Sacred Kink only on occasion, and those who are called to follow a specific path of sacred truth through their kink—will find information in this book that is of value to them. For those that are simply curious about what all the fuss is about, wish to examine the intersections from a theoretical framework, and are wondering, really, are people tapping into the universe and personal connections to spirit through erotic sex games…Welcome! You may be surprised at what you’ll find, and the tools used consciously and unconsciously that have existed since time immemorial.

  How to Use this Book

  In your hand is a tome. There is a lot of information in it, and it may not all match what you are looking for. It may seem overwhelming. Or you may be excited to read every last page. Either way, remember to pause, process, and absorb.

  There are many choices on how to read this book. You can flip through the whole book and find everything in italics at the beginning of each chapter—the erotica. Each path features an erotic teaching tale in three parts to help those who learn through erotica understand how the technicalities of what we are discussing applies to actual scenes.

  Perhaps you are an academic and have no interest in such things. Each Path has a “Traditional Tools” section as well as a “Kink Tools” section, exploring techniques that have been used by classical sacred explorers and modern erotic adventurers in turn.

  If you just want information on your subsection of desire, flip back to the table of contents and see which titles catch your eye. If you do this, please also make sure to read the first two chapters, as the discussions around negotiation, desire, and the why of what we do are incredibly important.

  And you can, of course, read the book cover-to-cover.

  For consistency of voice, some stylistic choices have been made in this book. This includes but is not limited to capitalization of all appearances of Top, Bottom, Master, Slave, Dominant, Submissive, Journeyer and Guide whenever they appear to differentiate between these labels and the nouns, adjectives or descriptors they resemble. In some cases, Slave has been written in lower case at the request of the individuals whose quotes appear in the text. The stylistic choices and definitions within this book are my own, and are not necessarily representational of the Kink community-at-large.

  At the end of the book you will find a series of Appendices. Appendix 1 is a terminology and definitions guide for many of the major concepts brought up in this text, to explain how I am using some of these concepts in the course of this book. Appendix 2 is the essay by Raven Kaldera that inspired this project. Appendix 3 is an essay that I felt needed to be in the book but did not fit well inside the chapters that explores leather as not only a material, but a spiritual concept. Appendix 4 is a collection of places to go from here—more books to read, events to attend, groups to join, online discussions to explore and more. Appendix 5 is for all those who are classical students at heart—a series of essay questions for each chapter, to use for truly diving deeply into the book or forming a study group with your friends.

  Now that you know better how to use t
his book, let’s continue on the journey!

  Why Eight Paths?

  When exploring the multitude of routes that individuals use to find ways out of our day-to-day mind, it is easy to see why so many different systems have been created to understand the variety of experiences we have. “Sacred” means many things to many people, and in examining the Sacred, we are each striving to create a lexicon for that which is beyond words. It can be a very difficult task. How do we explain our experiences after we have come back from a place where words were no longer necessary?

  In Hinduism, the experiences of the sacred are often broken down into the triadic approach of the Trimurti. We gaze into the eyes of Brahma and see creation manifest. We thank Vishnu in all his magnificence for maintaining the structures of our world. We praise Shiva, fearful lord of the Ganges, for being the power of destruction in the world that in turn allows creation to come anew. Triads can also be found by looking at the variety of experience with Christian tradition—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost for example.

  Some prefer exploring our sexuality in the number four—Earth, Air, Fire and Water play into Sacred Kink well—the Earth of boots and surrender, the Air of breath play and single tails, the Fire of wax and spanking, and Water of blood and piss. There are also the 4 S’s of sexual slavery to consider—Submission, Seduction, Service and Surrender.

  In the Feri tradition, brought to modern light by Victor and Cora Anderson, the Iron Pentacle is an amazing tool for breaking down discussions of sacredness, and is easily adapted to kink and alternative sexuality as well. Sex, Pride, Self, Power and Passion light up our bodies, laid out as a pentacle running in the direction of the waters in our veins. However, my examination is not about Three, Four or Five. These powerful numbers hold great meaning, but in the exploration of the sacredness found within the desires at the edge of social normalcy, the number that kept recurring for me was Eight.

  Raven Grimassi in Wiccan Magick speaks of the Eight-Fold Path representing the traditional aspects of magickal and religious training that must be mastered in order to become a Magus. The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism describes the way to the end of suffering, as it was laid out by Siddhartha Gautama, more commonly known as the (historical) Buddha. Dr. Timothy Leary’s Eight Circuits of Consciousness explore the ways we process the world through our nervous system, and how specific chemicals can affect our ability to access those circuits. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra from 200 C.E. explores an eight-limbed path that brings completeness to the individual as they find their connectivity to the divine.