Consensual Enslavement
A Slave’s Compass
This essay is designed to give some imagery and thoughts about where a slave should be focusing her attention and to some extent, why. It is also a springboard for your thoughts about how you might implement this concept in one or more specific tools. It is very loosely based on an old essay by Zeb called “The Vector of Pleasure”. In that essay, Zeb said that the direction in which pleasure and focus should flow is always from the slave to her Master. If you can find it, it is well worth reading.
I have thought for a long time that his essay was incomplete. It was written almost 20 years ago. I have come to understand that there is more involved than just pleasure or where the slave’s attention should be. My thoughts finally solidified around a different image.
I want you to imagine a small, clear ball of a size you can comfortably fit into your hand. Floating free inside this ball is a compass needle. One end of the needle says “MASTER” and the other end says “SLAVE”. Like any compass needle, which always points one end towards the magnetic north pole, this compass always points in one direction. It’s not the magnetic pole. The direction it points is always towards the slave’s Master. It is a slave’s compass after all. When the slave holds the compass in her hands, she always knows where her Master is. When she is close enough, you will notice that the needle can point up and down as well as back and forth. It’s in a globe for a reason. The needle does not just point towards her Master, it also points down to her place, kneeling at her Master’s feet.
The slave’s compass points to where the slave’s attention and focus should always be. First, at any distance, it points to her Master. Second, when she is close, it points to her place with her Master. Pleasure, however you define it, is only one aspect of the slave’s service to her Master. Like Zeb’s essay, slave’s focus should be on him rather than herself. What he wants, over time, becomes what she wants. Her happiness is based on his. Her needs, beyond what is needed to serve him, is what he needs and wishes. Her life is based on his. It is life and the entire person which is pointed in one direction. It starts with focus, pleasure and service and grows from there.
If this selflessness seems extreme, it is. It is also, admittedly the ideal towards which a slave should strive and grow. It is not where a slave will be on all parts of her journey. Such selflessness is sometimes seen in religious orders or sometimes in saints. What is inward turns outward and all expressions of self are focused on another. The Master, despite many comments to the contrary, is not really a deity. However, to some, they might as well be given the level of devotion that can be directed towards him. Many slaves will touch on this state at times when they cross this path as they wander back and forth on their way towards the goal. Very few can stay at this level, this straight and very narrow path for long. Too much of the world still impinges on our lives to do that. Like any Platonic ideal, it is still the goal to reach towards. It is the slave’s compass that keeps the slave on the path.
The MASTER end of the needle points not just to her Master but also to her place at his feet. Why there and why not beside him? The simple answer is that the slave is always by her nature in a subordinate or lower position and kneeling at his feet is the best outward expression of this state. Therefore, it is the image I use. This is a place where many slaves feel safe and protected as well. The Master shelters and protects his slave from the world and is her shield against the outer world allowing her to focus on him, rather than herself and her place in that outer world.
This is all very nice, and one could even say romantic imagery. It certainly would be to some. The question that remains is how does the slave acquire her compass? First, and perhaps most obvious, is that she must have someone to whom her compass can point and who has enough force as a Master that it will attract the MASTER end of the needle. Second, she must be enough of a slave, the opposite pole of the magnet, to balance his force and keep the compass needle steady. The lines of force between Master and slave, like the magnetic lines of force around a magnet must be there for this to work.
The Master’s strength and power come from what he is and does. His intentions and actions to create and strengthen the submission and enslavement of his slave create his pole. The slave’s strength and power come from her submission, obedience and focus on her Master to create the opposite pole and strengthen it. When the two poles are perfectly balanced, the needle is steady and never waivers in its ball. A weak pole on either side will cause the needle to waiver and be attracted to other sources of attraction. Strength of will and intent on both sides of the needle are needed as the base on which all other sources of attraction for the needle are based.
The exact how is best left for other writings and for each person, Master and slave, to develop as suits them. My intent is to convey the idea and imagery, but not to detail all the tools and actions which could be employed to get there. The most important thing is to concentrate on the concept and the goal, not so much the exact image, although you are welcome to use my image of a slave’s compass.