The Mind And Imagination of Beast Xeno

Devils, Demons, Sex, Magick, BDSM..

The Prose, Poetry, Stories, and Portraits birthed from a wretched place...


Friday, January 15, 2010

BDSM & the Occult

This brief outline was originally posted on Fear the Beast on October 3, 2009 and was intended to aid visually in conjunction with an episode of The Ooze entitled The Devil And Miss Indulgence airing on the same date as previously stated. The purpose of these two occurrences was to attempted to draw a connection between BDSM and the Occult. The outline was composed by Jason Sorrell and he can be found discussing it on The Ooze that day. This is monumental to this site as it was probably the birthplace for it.


I. History
  • “Occult” means “hidden”
               1. any suppressed knowledge is considered “occult”               2. sexual expression was definitely suppressed
  •  Pre-Christian civilization had both mundane and religious sexual practices
               1. orgies and sex-plays where not uncommon in Greece and Rome

               2. The Cult of Isis and others treated sex as a religious experience
                      a. they were basically priestess-whores
                      b. early nunneries served the same function in Italy
                      c. European witch-cults offered the same services
  •  The more something is repressed, the more extreme its expression
               1. a common hellfire sermon titillated with the “sins” of fornication vs. Godly procreation
                      a. packed the pews
                      b. created a society of sado-masochistic deviants

               2. Puritanism was partially a reaction to the excesses of their society
                      a. sexual repression was intensified in the Americas
                      b. “deviant” sex became totally wed to witchcraft and Devil worship
II. Ritualism
  •  BDSM and Occult practices involve ecstatic ritual
              1. designed to seperate the experience of the event from “common” expreiences
                     a. special clothing
                     b. special environment preparation
                     c. special tools

                         1. the scourge is common in both BDSM and religious circles

                         2. elements are meant to highten the over-all experience
                             a. both engage intellectual/emotional centers not normally engaged in mundane practice
                             b. both involve assumed roles that differ from mundane roles

                        3. both can include perspective-altering events
                             a. both can involve restrictive movement, pain-pleasure management, blood/air flow restriction…
                             b. role-playing involves shifts in power: master/slave, hierophant/congregant
                             c. both can be profaned
  • Both provide entry into a sub-culture
                   1. provides a distinct experience uncommon to others
                   2. both include rules/practices/forms that supercede mundane forms when engaged
                   3. the shared uncommon experience creates a new identity in the indivdual

III. Modern Expression
  • Deviant Sexuality wedded with occult
              1. Modern occult used sexuality to attract as in past religions
                    a. Gardner’s “skyclad” Wicca
                    b. sex and rock-n-roll
                    c. Church of Satan

              2. Used to fulfill social expectations
                   a. unusual sex-practices “shock” the perspective loose of its structured past
                   b. outsider accusations give practitioners license to indulge (we’ll be blamed for it anyway)
                   c. provides positive tests of faith and mental discipline (what will you endure?)
  • “Re-discovery” of sexual power
             1. Female genital empowerment
                 a. witches no longer ugly
                 b. devil-worshipers youthful, beautiful
                       1. more capable of BDSM extremes

                 c. males emulate females
                       1. open homosexuality
                       2. efeminate musicians/actors (even in metal…ala 80’s)
                       3. our Puritan roots are baring fruit with increased interest in “alternative” sex

            2. BDSM explores sexual power and art of fornication
                 a. ritualized role-playing creates alternative life-styles
                       1. on-line “virtual reality” communities are overwhelmingly BDSM and Occult focused

                 b. pleasure/pain distinctions given new definition
                 c. “sex” extends beyond actual coitus just as “reality” extends beyond common experience
  • C. Loss of Impact as BDSM and Occult Go Mainstream
                     1. Symbols lose power as they become common place
                           a. Bettie Page could get arrested for spanking photo/ witches get burned at the stake in the past
                           b. Both now seen as common symbols of a progressive mentality
                           c. Novelty/shock value wear thin

                    2. “Posers” become more obvious, but also more prevelant
                         a. occult and BDSM communities become watered down and uncreative
                         b. die-hard adherents revert to secretive and alienist practices
                         c. potential cusp for the next big leap