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It is the Holidays Season once again. A time of year full of rituals both religious and pagan, a time of thanksgiving, singing and giving. Holidays is characterized by certain rituals that bring memories through out the years. Rituals anytime are repeated ways we go about doing something that has a meaning, or purpose which when done in a specific way or at a specific time centers us in who we are and what we are about. It brings certain spirituality to our lives and brings a joy to the lives of those performing rituals. Rituals bring us back to how we go about doing what we do.
Some people don’t understand the need for rituals in BDSM. This extends to their lack of understanding of other lifestyle facets such as protocols, etiquette, and manners. They simply don’t see what they are missing by not incorporating ritual and practice into the art and form of BDSM. For them it is just a way to spice up the bedroom and add excitement to a relationship or erotic experience.
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From prehistoric days mankind has needed, used and hated the stinging nettle. An enemy of the farmer and gardener, the bane of children’s bare knees, and an instrument of torture with which medieval monks flagellated their bare backs, the plant has been reviled by one generation after another. Since the discovery of the holly leaf being a great torment to submissive and slaves alike… the idea of the stinging nettle came into question in the BDSM world.
In places where stinging nettles are abundant, such as Northern Europe, every child learns quickly to fear and avoid this plant. When fighting or doing nonsense, a child may sometimes chase or fling another child into nettles – a possibly traumatic experience which can amplify a fear into a phobia. The concept of being deliberately punished with stinging nettles is therefore extremely fearsome.
Hot, intense burn of a nettle can last for up to 24 hours. The sensation takes a long time to cool and you’re aware of it the entire time due to the almost electric tingle through the area effected. Reactions vary, but most spankees show an intense burning irritation, which is also visible as reddening, and a series of little lumps, like small mosquito bites is common. The effect is very similar to the warm feeling that comes just after the sharp pain of a whipstroke fades. This is wonderful for longterm BDSM sessions or verbal and light play in public. However there is an opinion that regular use of nettles for many spankees seems to lead to a partial immunity.
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The CineKink Film Festival in San Francisco (November 19–21) is a one-of-its-kind film festival exploring various forms of alternative sexuality. This sex-positive festival culls the most erogenous, fleshy, smart, libidinal, and artful titles available, from fetishes to painful BDSM torture porn. BDSM, transsexual sex and all manner of kink, major movie chains are not exactly lining up to show these kinds of works. CineKink founded in New York by Lisa Vandever, a New Jersey-based writer and producer. CineKink San Francisco, a touring version of “the kinky film festival,” which is held annually in NYC. Cutting across orientations to celebrate and explore a wide diversity of sexuality, the six screenings in this traveling showcase range from documentary to drama, camp comedy to hot porn, mildy spicy to quite explicit – and everything in between.
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The Supreme Court will delve into the sadomasochism world in early 2010 as it looks into the case of a sex trafficker, known as the “S&M Svengali”, whose criminal conviction had been set aside. The justices agreed to accept the government’s appeal of a case involving Glenn Marcus, who had been sentenced to nine years in prison for the sexual abuse, physical mutilation and psychological humiliation of a woman who had agreed to be photographed as his “sex slave“. Glenn Marcus was convicted of sex trafficking in 2001. It’s a case that has potential ramifications for trafficking victims everywhere.
Marcus had a BDSM-themed website in the late 1990s which featured photos of women who were his “slaves” undergoing various levels of physical abuse. He met a woman who court documents just call “Jodi”, and she agreed to be on the website. At this point, two stories diverge. Jodi claims Marcus took the relationship too far — that he forced her to do things she didn’t want to do and then write about them for the site. She couldn’t escape, and was effectively a slave in real life, although she started out only portraying one on a website. Marcus, on the other hand, claims that everything was consensual and part of Jodi’s employment contract. Apparently, even the parts where he carved the word “slave” into her stomach with a knife, shaved her head, and whipped her brutally were part of her contract.
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