How BDSM, Unitarian Universalism, and Norse Paganism all fit into The Queen's life- his thoughts.

First I want to say: yes, I'm not good at separating my personal and professional lives. Maybe I took to heart the feminist "The personal is political" too seriously, even if much of second wave feminism's message has been lost on, or didn't include me. So yes, The Queen is a Unitarian Universalist (UU for short) as I am. It makes sense to me that part of his healing from the religious abuse he suffered would be engaging in spirituality as a UU. What follows is an often rambling, wandering set of thoughts from The Queen on how being a UU-Norse pagan as well as a lifestyle BDSM Dominant fit into his life. Yes, below the Leather & Grace UUs for BDSM Awareness combine the UU symbol of the flaming chalice and the Leather Pride flag, but I wanted to show handcuffs and a bra on my blog :D . The runes- one of the best known things from the Norse Pagan belief.
Leather & Grace UUs for BDSM awareness
symbol. Go here for its story
http://leatherandgrace.wordpress.com/our-logo/



The way I live my UU is with as much of the non-judgmental, open-mindedness as all UUs hope to live or at least should strive to live. I endeavor to avoid snap judgments, even when it comes to the treatment of my slaves, all of whom I know better than most people. Of course, it is more than just being a UU. I am also a Norse Pagan, even if more of the stories, the deity names I feel in touch with of a Germanic persuasion than the better known Scandinavian extraction. Beyond that, I am a lifestyle Dominant in BDSM.
On the surface, some people might struggle to understand how those three seemingly very different things co-exist within one person. We UUs tend to be very politically and socially liberal. It is common enough that those among our number will take political correctness further than I think it should be. As well, in the pursuit of the 2nd principle ("justice, equity, and compassion in all human relations"), it is easy to engage in lazy cognition that promotes a surface level equality- that is a problem for me as a lifestyle Dominant specifically. Yes, my relationships with my slaves do not look like what a feminist might say they should; however, they are completely consensual. Who is some uptight woman who has read too many feminist literature books to tell me... or one of my slaves... that we have made the wrong choices?
But we have gotten off on how BDSM and UU can go together- if you want to know more, I suggest you go to Leather & Grace UUs for BDSM Awareness and read more; Joelle is quite proud of her involvement with that organization and it is is good that it exists- BDSM practitioners deserve inclusion in UU life just as much as any other consensual, alternative (to mainstream) sexuality. That happened in part because I see where my Norse Paganism and BDSM go well together. Among Norse pagans, there are some very important values that serve well in BDSM as well: honor, oath, commitment, courage, just to name a few. There is also the fact that Norse paganism does not ask us to sustain a false equality. Sure, when you see movies about Vikings, more of the warriors are men. Men do tend to be more capable to engage in physical warfare, especially when high tech weapons are not involved. However, that does not mean there were never Viking women; women who were capable were entirely included. (As aside, I loved Erik's wife on History Channel's "Vikings." She was a wonderful and complete female character, as well as a warrior in her own right. And when she defended herself against the man trying to rape her. Not the rape of course, but her defense of herself was amazing to watch.)
Coming back to those values I mentioned (honor, oath, commitment, courage), I want to touch on how the war-like nature of Norse Paganism fits into my life. My 19 slaves, even Mandisa in her way, needed some level of rescue from issues in their lives that were negatively affecting them. My honor is enhanced when I take care of their needs, even if that need be "to serve my Master." While the collaring ceremony language talks mostly about what the slave being collared, what my other slaves will do, within that language, it talks about what I swear to do. If a slave breaks a rule, I have sworn an oath to punish for the rule-breaking. What sort of Master would I be if I allowed my slaves to break their "oaths" without repercussions? With my oath (although unspoken) comes what I commit to do: the train a human being as a BDSM slave. I commit to their care. It can take a lot of courage to do what must be done, especially when it is not fun or easy. And being a BDSM Master is not always easy or fun. I had to carry Vala through some horrendous experiences before she was well enough to make the decision of taking a new name, of begging for my collar.
Please watch for part two tomorrow.