Obsidiansnamaste

namaste's parable for those seeking:

There once was a seamstress who created the most beautiful of quilts. The quilts were composed of the finest cloths, gathered from lands far and wide. The threads were gold and silver, the beads of precious stones. All of this and yet the seamstress was not wealthy, and had never sold a quilt.  When she brought the quilts to the market she covered them in inexpensive burlap for she had two competing fears. The first was of her art being rejected and so she feared for the eyes of Men to see it. The second was of being robbed, and so she feared of Men to know it's value.  At the market men came from far and wide, the wealthy and educated as well as the poor and ignorant. They came to look and buy that which would be most needful to them. The seamstress sat day and night and all those that came into her booth were poor and ignorant inquiring as to the price of her burlap fabric. At first the seamstress was patient and explained that what she had UNDER the burlap was what she was offering, she began to try to describe the luxiourious nature of the fabric, the clarity of the stones...but the poor and ignorant Men could find no value in such things. The seamstress called out to the wealthy and educated Men hoping to gain thier attention, but that had no interest in mere burlap which was all they could see and was far too common for thier households.  The seamstress began to get angry, eventually waving her hands and yelling at the passers by "Why do you keep approaching me to buy that which is not for sale?! What i offer is worth far more than mere burlap you fools!!" A wise Man happened to be within earshot of her tirade and walked forward. The crowd parted and the seamstress quieted as He stopped and looked at the burlap, He untied the ribbons that held it over the quilt and fingered the precious fabric. He then looked at the seamstress and said calmly "My dear woman why do you put on display that which is common and keep the real treasure hidden away? Do not criticize the lowly when you appear to offer what is within thier reach"

she who has an ear to hear...

How selfish of me!

Today i stumbled upon this...this beauty...that spoke so eloquently and caused my soul to feel much too light for the vessel that contains it.

i marvelled that Hafiz could know and give voice to my slave soul in such a way.

And so i share with you...

We have not come here to take prisoners
but to surrender ever more deeply to freedom and joy.

We have not come to this exquisite world
to hold ourselves hostage from love.

Run my dear, from anything
that may not strengthen
your precious budding wings.

Run like hell my dear
from anyone likely
to put a sharp knife
into the sacred, tender vision of your beautiful heart.

We have a duty to befriend
those aspects of obedience
that stand outside of our house and shout to our reason

"O please, O please,
come out and play."

For we have not come here to take prisoners or to confine our wondrous spirits,
but to experience ever and ever more deeply our divine courage, freedom and light!

-Hafiz

Today Master shared with me something He was once taught about networking. He said that the goal was to leave people feeling better about themselves than they felt before speaking to you. ask yourself what you can do for the person you are speaking with...not what they can do for you. 

How apropos to life and esp. to service!  In my interactions i desire to leave others feeling better about themselves. Not to stroke my ego, or my sense of selves but to honor the divine in others. In that vein the question for a slave...is always "How can i serve You". 

Thank You Master for giving this girl this to meditate on. It is surely meat for her.  Ashe.

Here's the new rule: break the wineglass,
and fall toward the glassblower's breath.

 Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky. ~Rumi

"To be completely woman you need a Master and in him, a compass for your life.

You need a man you can look up to and respect.

If you dethrone him, it is no wonder that you are discontented, and discontented women are not loved for long."

~Marlene Dietrich

Hmm... perhaps i should add my essays here? Here's one...

Ownership Defined

One of the reasons i believe there is such a huge discrepancy within M/s is that there is no real definition of Ownership. i believe that when one defines what Ownership is then one can make an informed decision in whether or not they want to be a part of that type of dynamic...to decide if it is fulfilling to them or not.

I have found it very helpful in attempting to understand the Ownership concept to examine the term away from the BDSM subculture and to look at Ownership as it is defined elsewhere. i have found this helpful because there seems to be the odd habit within BDSM of changing the definition of words to fit the user of the term. Many advocate this as language evolving, and yet it causes there to be a lack of any real shared language of understanding and so brings about a break down of communication. The purpose of using a specific term should only serve as being a way of sharing with others one's dynamic...the goal being not to alter the relationship to fit the term...but to find the term that most closely resembles the dynamic one is engaged in. So many seem to become enamored with the terminology itself and so toss it about without real meaning.

Looking to the dictionary for a definition of Ownership served as a springboard but did not readily give apparent practical answers. The definitions said things like "to own" "to possess" "to control". How does this apply within the context of a person? Having mulled this around in my mind and discussed it with Master at some length the conclusion i have drawn is that Ownership can be defined as containing 3 defining attributes. Those attributes are

1. Control

2. Authority

3. Responsiblity

i will attempt to further expound on these concepts by using the analogy of an Owner and His dog. No , i do not believe slaves are dogs, however the Ownership dynamic can be understood it seems more readily in that context.

Control: First it would seem that in order for one to Own one must have control. The only identifying characteristic of Ownership in the dictionary that can readily apply to humans is control. The one parmount idea to Ownership is control. Without control what one has is a dynamic whereby one person is subservient to the other. That does not necessarily make it an Ownership dynamic. One could even argue that the other 2 attributes are manifestations of the One Attribute- control. (Thank You for imparting that idea to Your slave Master). To go to the Owner/ dog example the first thing that is relinquished when one gains ownership of an animal is control...from one Owner to the next Owner. In the M/s dynamic this takes the form of the slave relinquishing control of herself and the Owner taking control of the slave. If one does not need and desire to control another person...one does not desire Ownership. If one has no desire to be controlled by another, one does not desire slavery. Whether this control takes the form of active control or passive control is a matter of the preferences of the Owner, because He/She *is* in control, how They exercise that control is up to them...not the slave.

Authority: Authority is the next attribute of Ownership. Authority is defined as: power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior. It is also defined as power. The Owner has Authority over the owned. In the Owner/dog example we see this by the Owner determining how to train the animal, (or if to train the animal), making decisions concerning the animal, disciplining the animal. If the slave maintains Authority over his/herself this means they maintain power over themself. This runs contrary to the relinquishing of control to the Owner. Accepting the Authority of the Owner is something that can be very difficult for slaves...the concept is easy enough, but the practical application can be daunting, esp if the slaves has had a great deal of Authority over her own existance prior to becoming owned. In the Owner/dog example if the Owner did not have Authority it would make it very difficult for the Owner to assume the next attribute which is responsiblity. Without these two there is no control...and without control you can not have the other two...it's all symbiotic.

Responsiblity: Responsiblity is an attribute that the Owner assumes for the slave. In the Owner/ dog example we see this readily. If the animal goes feral the Owner maintains a responsiblity for any damage done to others and others' property by His possession. The Owner is also responsiblie for ensuring the dog receives adequate nourishment, water, medical attention, shelter, interaction and exercise. Lack of any of these known needs is grounds for neglect. Often parents will decline a childs request for a pet based upon the childs inability to be responsible in giving the animal the care it needs. Likewise when One assumes Ownership over a person one is agreeing to assume responsiblity for the care and feeding of the slave. If one does not desire to be responsible for another person, i would dare say that Ownership is not an option they should persue. Just as it is counter productive to gives someone Responsiblity with no Authority, it is also dangerous to give someone Authority without responsiblity. This does not mean that the slave doesnt have to work or anything of that nature, it does mean that the Master will not allow His slave to be neglected, harmed, homeless, without food or clothing. It also means that the Owner can not turn a blind eye to the actions of the slave as being a reflection on His Ownership.

While the above is by no means exhaustive as far as what all is involved in Ownership i do believe that these key charectistics are necessary in Ownership and that having the understanding of them being the basis for Ownership can shed light on many issues within the dynamic. In my observation, it seems as if most concerns relating to the M/s construct seem to invlove a breakdown or misunderstanding in regard to one of these three concepts.

~Master Obsidian's namaste (c)

Clay walls are moulded into a pot,but the usefulness of the pot lies in its emptiness.

-Lao Tzu