Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
and
and
darkness.
terror.
sensation in another, of whatever type. Other roles might involve fantasy play without physical
contact as witches, we might think of this as ritual theater -- which involves a variation on
the roles of dominant and submissive.
For the purposes of this article, I will use "top" to describe those taking on the active role: be
that sadist, dominant, or some other topping role. I will use "bottom" to describe the
participant who is being directed, by that in a masochistic, or submissive, or service role, or in
some other way. As someone who switches between these roles myself, I am more likely to
think of these as verbs that describe doing rather than nouns that describe being. (A full
description of the roles of BDSM top or bottom could take an entire book - and has! I strongly
recommend The Topping Book and The Bottoming Book by Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy
for further thoughts on these roles.)
Certainly the use of BDSM or any! roles without thought or intention could be seen as
acting from a dismembered world. With intention, however, we can reclaim pieces of ourselves
embedded in these archetypes and our desires. With intention, power exchange can allow us to
explore consciously roles that we would not choose in our everyday life, and to re-member all
of our desires and our full capacity as erotic beings. As with all things magickal, intention is
key.
BDSM practitioners largely describe their play as "safe, sane and consensual". Others call their
play "risk-aware consensual kink," acknowledging more explicitly that while we aim for work
that is ultimately safe, this work -- like the work of Feri -- is dangerous, not least in the sense
that it is life changing. Both terms draw a firm line between the fully informed consent of
power exchange and non-consensual abuse. In both models, our task is to create strong
containers in which to do edgy work as safely and intentionally as possible for those involved.
In Feri, one of the best such anchors is the Iron Pentacle. Daily work with the birthright powers
of Sex, Pride, Self, Power and Passion keeps us grounded and centered and serves as an
anchor for the rest of our work.
Seeking a way to integrate my BDSM work with my magickal practice, I created the Power
Exchange Pentacles as a working tool. These pentacles stack on top of and beneath the Iron
Pentacle to initiate and anchor a shift from ordinary consciousness into 'topspace' or
'bottomspace' for BDSM play. Because of the way topspace and bottomspace play off one
another in scene, one danger of scening is becoming reactive instead of embodying action and
choice within our roles. (This danger might seem more intuitive for the bottom, but is true in
either role.) These pentacles keep us in the realm of action rather than reaction. They anchor
both topspace and bottomspace as a conscious choice, fully connected with our Will and our
Iron birthrights, allowing for deeper and more intentional travel into the altered spaces of
scene play.
grounded in these energies, and then run once more around the body to seal the pentacle:
From Sex to Self, to Passion, to Pride, to Power.
At the head, feel the spirit of Sex shift into Circumference. Running the energy to the right leg,
feel Pride shift to the role of Domination. Running the energy up to the left arm, feel Self shift
into Guardianship. Running the energy across to the right arm, feel Power shift to Control.
Running the energy down to the left leg, feel Passion shift to Compassion.
Continue run the energy across the body. As you do, feel the Iron energy begin to cool slightly.
From the molten Iron, which connects you to the earth, allow these energies to transform,
through your cool-headedness, into an iron cauldron in which you can contain the energies of
BDSM work. Feel your ability to hold the circumference and spirit of the work, your pride in
holding a hot role that will please your bottom, your expansive ability to guard your partner's
safe journeys to the edges of their Self, your ability to competently control and ground the
energies of the scene, and your deep compassion for the emotional changes that this work
brings.
Circumference, Domination, Guardianship, Control, Compassion. Run the pentacle across your
body until you feel the cool power of the compassionate and competent top, fully grounded in
the connection of this iron cauldron to the life force in the heart of the earth. When you are
ready, run the pentacle once more around your body, as God Herself would draw it onto you:
Circumference, Guardianship, Compassion, Domination, Control. Anchor those energies into
your body, knowing that you can reconnect with these points as needed to facilitate your
scene.
Passionately open to the deep waters of trust for your partner and the intensity of your desire.
Center, Submission, Edgewalking, Release, Trust. Run the pentacle across your body until you
feel the liquid force of yourself as a fully empowered and willing bottom, fully grounded in the
connection of your molten iron energy with the life force in the heart of the earth. When you
are ready, run the pentacle once more around your body, as God Herself would draw it onto
you: Center, Edgewalking, Trust, Submission, Release. Anchor those energies into your body,
knowing that you can reconnect with these points as needed to relax fully into your scene.
In order to exchange power, we must first have power to exchange. I cannot exchange power
with you if I don't have any. BDSM is best suited to those who have a strong sense of their
own power, and who are able to remain fully grounded.
One priestess has told me that she doesn't care for the term "power-exchange," because
power is not truly exchanged through this work if done well, but is increased for both partners.
Perhaps another way of looking at this point is agency exchange.
The bottom consciously releases agency within a negotiated set of parameters that they would
presumably not agree to out of scene. "I will allow you to tie me up," or "Please spank me with
a wooden paddle," or "Please order me to serve you." Within those parameters, the top
controls the direction of the scene. On the meta-level, the bottom retains several measures of
true agency: by participating in pre-negotiating the scene, and by holding 'safe words' that will
allow them to stop or pause the scene if needed. Within the container of the scene, the bottom
has the freedom to release their agency, knowing that their top will competently exercise
control.
iron together, then shifting into the respective pentacles to create the container for the work.
These pentacles are especially helpful for those who switch roles for different scenes, taking on
a topping or bottoming role situationally rather than sticking to one or the other. For several
years, I exclusively played as a bottom, so it is very easy for me to release into that headspace
without too much work. When I operate as a top, I find running the Topping Pentacle very
helpful. It allows me to ground myself in my role from a place of pride and intention.
After the scene is completely finished, it's a good idea to fully release the topping and
bottoming roles. BDSM can lead to intense altered states, and as with any magickal work the
energy raised needs to be grounded and released. I like to first give a breath to my sacred
dove to align my souls, and often like to spend some time enjoying the energy of the role for a
little while before coming back to my day-to-day mindset. Once thats done, though, its
important to come fully back to normal awareness. Running the iron pentacle in tandem or
alone is a good way to come fully back to everyday consciousness and roles after this work.
Conclusion
For many witches and magicians, BDSM contains deep tools for healing, personal
transformation and ecstatic magick. BDSM can be used with intention to fully explore our full
capacity as sexual human beings, and to know ourselves in all of our parts - including parts
that in everyday life are considered taboo or forbidden.
Using our magickal tools -- including alignment, kala, and pentacle work for this and all our
lifes work reaffirms the sacred nature of our forays into beauty and darkness.
May we know our selves in all our parts.
________________________________________
FURTHER READING
Easton, Dossie and Janet W. Hardy, Radical Ecstasy: SM Journeys to Transcendence (Greenery
Press, 2004). A book explicitly on the magickal and spiritual possibilities of BDSM from longtime writers in the BDSM field.
Miller, Phillip and Molly Devon, Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns: the Romance and Sexual
Sorcery of Sadomasochism (Mystic Rose Books, 1995). While this book is not explicitly focused
on magickal practice, Miller and Devon treat a wide range of BDSM play practices with valuable
information and a sense of humor.