8

THE CHAMBER

 

THE CHAMBER AND EQUIPAGE

Activity as sacred as Carnal Alchemy or Sado-Magic is often thought to deserve a special place in the home or apartment set aside for it alone. Having a chamber, or “dungeon,” just for this part of one’s life has a special purpose as well. It is usually the case that partners do not live out the dominant/submissive lifestyle twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week—and in such cases it is valuable to have a space set aside that symbolizes that part of their lives together. It is also true that entering such a space can trigger certain responses in the souls of the participants, which allow them greater psychological freedom—both from within themselves and with regard to their partners—to live out their innermost fantasies to the fullest.

Such a chamber can also be a place where the artistry and imagination of the participants can be expressed—not only in the activity there but also in the actual design and equipping of the room. And since it is unlikely that you will be offered a videotape deal on cable TV telling you how to outfit your home dungeon, we will just have to provide some basic help in this chapter. Also take advantage of the material offered in the resources section at the end of this book.

A word of warning though: all the fancy equipment in the world won’t make your magical and erotic adventures something they wouldn’t otherwise be. The equipment can only enhance what is already there. If the spirit and empathy are not right, no amount of furniture or “infernal contraptions” will help. But because these arts are so involved with a fairly complex set of aesthetic rules and ceremonies, and because there is often the need to be able to move smoothly through a wide variety of physical sensations, the equipping of at least a minimally furnished chamber is highly recommended.

PURPOSE OF THE CHAMBER

The initial purpose of the chamber or dungeon is to set your activities apart from the rest of your life. This is not a means to “protect” your everyday life from the results of your Sadean practices—for we know the effects of such scenarios are almost universally beneficial—but rather the intention is to intensify the feelings and energies generated by such activity. The chamber functions in a way similar to that of the laboratory for scientists or the studio for artists or the temple for magicians. It contains and focuses the activities that they may be more pure, more intense, and more powerful.

If you go back to our discussion of how transformations are made you will see that there must be an act of separation, of isolation of the subjects from outside influences: this must take place before the transformational play is enacted. It is after this that the subjects are reintegrated, reincluded, into the mundane world. The chamber is meant to enhance this process and this experience.

The “chamber effect” can be obtained in several ways. You can, of course, have a special room set aside to serve exclusively as a “playroom,” or you can make some modifications to a room being used for some other purpose that can be converted quickly and easily into such a room. A cellar, garage, or attic space is ideally suited for the “multiple-purpose room.” Many will find it necessary to make their own master bedroom into the chamber. In such an event the importance of certain symbolic or ceremonial actions and/or objects becomes relatively more important.

When a room normally used for more “mundane” purposes is to be temporarily transformed into a Sadean chamber, don’t forget to take some time to figure out how to transform the entire atmosphere of the room into something special. Fabrics can be used to drape over furniture; pictures or other decorations not conducive to the atmosphere should be removed or draped. Candles or perhaps red and/or blue lightbulbs can be used for illumination. (Such dim lighting may be hazardous for inexperienced dominants who must often gauge the severity of some of their activities by alterations in the skin tone of their submissives, since especially red light makes red marks on the skin virtually invisible!)

As we have said elsewhere, the dominant and the submissive should perhaps both have certain symbolic signs of their relative positions that they put on, or have put on them, at some point before or at the very beginning of a session. Often this is a collar and/or cuffs for the slave and perhaps certain articles of clothing for the master/mistress. The particular aesthetic choice is, of course, entirely up to the persons involved. However, the point of bringing this subject up here is to emphasize this act as an act of separation—of creating of the “chamber effect.”

The use of symbols—especially highly discreet ones such as finger rings—can be very useful in creating “chambers beyond chambers” when sessions are to be enacted outside the playroom or over extended periods of several hours or even days. This is the importance of the triskelion signet ring given to O before she leaves Roissy for the first time. In reality she did not leave Roissy—for through the ring it surrounds her always.

DESIGN OF THE CHAMBER

Any well-equipped chamber should have the means for positioning (and restraining, if necessary) the submissive in at least three basic postures: standing, lying, and bending (over an easy chair, horse, etc.). It will also, by whatever means, have, or be capable of taking on, a very special atmosphere. This atmosphere is gained through a combination of interior design principles (furniture, wall hangings, wall color, etc.) and other sensory tools such as mirrors, music, lighting, even incense and special drinks. All the senses are to be considered—to enhance them, subject them to pain or pleasure, or to deprive them.

Certain pieces of equipment are best built into the structure of the chamber or room. There should be a way to fix the submissive in a horizontal or lying position (a bed or bedlike rack is ideal for this), and a way to fix him or her in a standing position.

The vertical position can also easily be achieved with a minimum of alteration to the room by anchoring a large eyebolt into a brace in the ceiling. This should be secured and tested to be sure that it could bear the entire weight of the person who is to be secured to it. This should not, however, be used for actual suspension of the person’s full weight. Suspension has special requirements and should not be tried by beginners. Also you should consider using “panic” snap hooks, which make it easy for submissives to release themselves and allow dominants to release submissives very quickly in case of an emergency.

The easiest way to create a horizontal surface is, of course, to modify an existing bed. Four-posters are ideal for this. Eyebolts may be added to the posts, or leather straps looped around them (to which perhaps short lengths of chain have been attached) to allow for tying the submissive in a spread-eagle position. Such chain-straps are also useful for fixing submissives either in or over chairs and other pieces of furniture.

The bending position can be achieved with sofas, chairs, or with the “horse” especially designed for this purpose, which is discussed below.

There should also be a way to store and/or display the various sorts of equipment used in your activities. It is not very masterful, or conducive to concentration, to have to rummage around in a pile of whips and chains to find just the right one at just the right moment.

Although a knowledgeable Master or Mistress can create a minimally effective chamber in a matter of minutes in a hotel room or any living room, bedroom, or den, it is also aesthetically pleasing to have special pieces of furniture created for specific Sadean purposes.

BASIC FURNITURE FOR THE CHAMBER

A repertoire of such furniture would include a rack, ceiling chains, and a “horse.” Each of these is ideally suited to fix the submissive in one of the three basic disciplinarian postures: lying (face up or face down) in a spread-eagle position; standing with arms together or spread, and with feet either together or spread; and bent at the waist over a soft surface.

The most practical kind of rack can be constructed from a wooden frame raised on legs (to an ideal height of perhaps two and a half to three feet). Into the frame can be fitted a mattress (or not depending on the feel you want to give your submissive). This frame can be fitted with eyebolts and a chain run around the edge of the frame through these eyebolts. This creates an infinite variety of points to which the submissive can be bound. Of course, a bed or futon can also be modified as your imagination guides you and similar effects can be attained.

Chains can be dropped from the ceiling toward the middle of the room for freestanding positions, or next to the wall for more support. If these are hung in the room you normally use for some other purpose, you can always hang plants from them when they’re not being used to hang a submissive! But be sure that the chains are always anchored in solid wood and able to bear significant weight—but do not try to suspend your submissive completely off the ground unless you know how to use the special equipment necessary to do this effectively and safely. Crossbars or spreader bars can also be used to ensure that the submissive will not be able to put his or her arms or legs together. These can be easily constructed out of doweling (from half an inch to one inch in diameter) with eyebolts in the ends to which the cuffs can be attached with snap hooks.

One of our favorite pieces of classic bondage furniture is the “horse.” It is basically designed like a “sawhorse” with substantial padding on the top. The submissive can lie either long-wise or crosswise across the horse, be bound or not—to suffer the application of various techniques. Most classically it is used for birchings and canings. A horse can be easily moved around the house or chamber, and even be moved from location to location.

ADVANCED FURNITURE

Among the more advanced pieces of furniture are the so-called St. Andrew’s Cross (an x-shaped cross), St. George’s Cross (a +-shaped cross), and the whipping post. Each of these requires special construction and is usually a permanent feature in the chamber (although clever mobile versions of each have been invented in the past).

Perhaps the greatest initial practical value of these instruments is purely aesthetic—in these arts the aesthetic is the practical. The appearance of these apparati contributes greatly to the atmospheric appeal and aura of mystery in the chamber.

The St. Andrew’s Cross is useful for binding submissives in a standing position with arms and legs spread. Submissives can be comfortably bound to the St. Andrew’s with either their faces or backs to the cross. The cross is often slated or tilted back to about a 45- to 70-degree angle so that the submissives can be bound up so their feet do not touch the floor.

The St. George’s Cross can be free-standing or mounted on a wall of the chamber. Typically the arms of the cross are substantially higher than the head of any submissive that would be bound to it. It is a way to tie the submissive with his or her arms spread and feet together. It is ideal for whipping or any other torment. Actual “crucifixion” (that is, “fixing to a cross”) in which the submissive is tied to the cross by his or her hands and feet in the position usually associated with Christ is an advanced technique, which can cause serious injury, and should not be tried except by those who have been trained.

The whipping post is a freestanding vertical post or column. It, along with the other advanced items of equipment discussed here, is also a popular feature in outdoor “torture gardens.” When submissives are bound to the whipping post their hands are usually bound together stretched straight above their heads, and their feet are usually also bound together at the base of the post, although eyebolts in a platform out of which the post rises are often also used to spread their legs. These positions are ideal for whippings and lashings of all kinds.

These kinds of equipment must always be properly secured to solid anchors in walls, floors, or the ground. If not, such large objects may tip over at the worst possible times, causing a dangerous, not to mention embarrassing, situation.

Let us stress that these few pieces of equipment are only a small selection of the possible variety of devices, but they are among the most basic and pragmatic for all kinds of circumstances.

The present discussion also concentrates on what might perhaps be called a “classic” European S/M aesthetic. This by no means exhausts the possibilities for a chamber for the Working of Carnal Alchemy. Some might have a “medical aesthetic” with white tile and medical furniture and equipment, while others might appear to be an old-fashioned woodshed, a schoolroom, or some other symbolically charged atmosphere that excites the sexual feelings of the participants.

The impressive appearance of the chamber can add a great deal to the overall experience of those working within it. The chamber can become holy space, imbued with its own spirit and power. The creation of a sensory experience in the chamber is not just “smoke and mirrors,” it is a real part of this type of magic. Therefore the elaborate construction of a chamber with heavy crosses, mirrors, black walls, and racks lined with fine whips, canes, and paddles is, if not necessary, certainly desirable—although all this may cause some problems if you ever have occasion to sell your house!