A View from the Floor

“Religious practice contains a number of sado-masochistic elements, from penance, confession and forgiveness, to servitude, abstinence and flagellation. The reason BDSM looks so much like a religious act is quite simply that it is a religious act.”
~ J. Mikael Togneri in Spirituality In Slavehood

I call myself a pagan. Mainly because I don’t believe in one true god. I believe in god and goddess. I believe in balance. I believe in the magick and energy of nature.

I don’t practice any sort of formal religion, though. I worship and pray in my own way and I stand firm in my own beliefs.

But mostly…
What is spiritual to me is this lifestyle I live.
It is god and goddess. It is balance and energy and magick. For me, when the pieces are all in their proper places, it is sacred. Holy.

How sacreligious, hmmm?

D/s and S&m have always been this way for me, really.
What is more spiritual…. what more affects the spirit and soul… than being in perfect balance and harmony with your whole self, with your nature and the nature of your chosen partner?

I suppose this is why I get so occasionally irate when confronted with those who see only play in BDSM.
Arguing this lifestyle with me is like arguing religion with a Catholic.
It’s very hard for me to give people enough room to be themselves, to have BDSM be what it is to them when it feels like they’re lessening my experience.

I don’t think I’ve ever thought about that before.