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[Dept of PMM Castle Life]

Q. What do you mean all rights and privileges?
A. A legitimate question, in the society in which we live. (For those of you reading outside the United States, the following may or may not apply to your situation) There are some rights that a person of sound mind can’t surrender legally in this country. Others can’t be done in certain states or municipalities. (For example, I am told by those in the know who live there, that in the state of Colorado, to so much as kiss one’s sleeping spouse, since they are asleep and can’t consent to it, is legally classified as a sexual assault.) However, outside of what is directly prohibited by law (and for some people even those things that are prohibited by law, as in the aforementioned example) a Kajira surrenders all rights to make decisions concerning their life. In some instances this must involve legal contracts such as durable Power of Attorney and Healthcare POA’s. This is why we caution girls again, and again. Get to know, really know and take time to thoroughly understand how your potential Master thinks, believes, and acts. You are quite literally, especially in the case of a healthcare POA, handing over the power of life and death to him.

Q. Does this mean all Kajira are micro-managed?
A. No it does not. Now they can be as micro managed as the Master desires. I know of some girls who do not get to make any decisions at all, not even such basic things as when to eat, whether or not to sleep in their Masters bed, or how many tampons to use that month. I hasten to point out, that this is not the norm, most Gorean Men do not desire to have to control a girl that intensely to get the results they want. Again, it comes down to what He desires, so girls, ask, ask, and ask some more before you beg collar, because afterwards, it’s too late.

Q. Suppose that what the Master wants is harmful to the girl?
A. A very good question. Now, a girl is bound to obey in all things whatever her Master commands her, BUT; if He is commanding her to do something that would inflict permanent harm on her, then He has ceased to be a Master. (Remember, one of the 10 commandments of Gor, Master yourself before attempting to Master others) A Master is responsible for the maintenance of His property, and in the case of human property if He ceases to care for it, He ceases to have legitimate claim to be its Master.
Now, let us say a girl has a deadly allergy to shellfish, but she has not informed her Master of this. He gives her a Crab Rangoon at a Chinese restaurant, and tells her to try it. He has no knowledge of her allergy, and she does not think to ask if it contains shellfish and eats it, and must be rushed to the emergency room. Did He do harm to her? Yes, He did. Did He fail to exercise proper precautions in this instance? No, He did not. He did not cease to be a Master to her, and it is not His fault that she became ill. Same scenario, only this time He either knew of her allergy beforehand, or she tells him after inquiring what the delicacy is. She reminds Him of her allergy, and the consequences of ingesting such. He decides to have her do it anyway, as He wants to see the results for Himself. Has He caused harm to her in this instance? Yes. He knowingly inflicted upon her permanent harm, or at the very least the potential for permanent harm, and thus has ceased to be her Master, as He has abrogated His responsibility to her.

Q. Ok, I see that, but suppose now we are talking in physically punishing her, or engaging in S/M activities?
A. Here is where there is an area that is up to a point to be worked out (beforehand girls, remember…ask, ask, and ask some more.) between the Master and kajira involved. Now in many areas, anything of this nature, and many things that are not even remotely of this nature are legally considered abuse, and therefore can’t be consented to. I leave it to the conscience of the individual readers as to how far they feel compelled to obey those laws.
Again, the principle is permanent damage or harm. Unless you have someone with major osteoporosis, or brittle bone disease, or other such medical issues, I do not think it is physically possible to harm a grown woman by spanking her with your bare hand.
As noted in previous columns, BDSM “play” is unusual among Goreans. Now a Gorean can engage in such, just as they can enjoy horseback riding, wine tasting, or Monster Truck rallies. None of those activities are inherently Gorean; they can be things that some Goreans do, but choosing to do them or not has no bearing on the “Goreanness” of the one doing them. A Master usually would only be using physical discomfort as punishment, not play. (And it is by no means the only type of punishment used to correct a girl; in fact it is usually the least used.) If we are talking about someone who inflicts damage causing open wounds, burns, scars, and permanent marks, or other forms of physical harm such as can be rendered by using canes, whips of various types and other such implements; then yes, in My opinion he has gone too far.

Q. So then the girl should leave that situation? What happens as to her standing in the community if she does?
A. That is the subject of the next column ;-)

In closing, so long as a Master is not inflicting permanent physical harm to his property, she, and anything she owned before surrendering to Him and begging collar, are His to do with as He wishes. Our Master, Jesus, of course, places the exceptions upon us by the commandments and principles we are to live by as Believers. For a wonderful example, directly involving the Master/slave relationship, read the book of Philemon
Greetings Masters, Mistresses and slaves,

This post is from the old Lifestyle and Philosophy Forum and brought back for old time’s sake. While we don’t hear the term “failed slave” nearly so much these days, it is still important to define some things regarding slavery and those who choose this path. Perhaps the first step in deciding if one is a slave, or not, should be an understanding of what will be expected…

Greetings sisters,

Cym would like to respond to your questions michele, she will start out by using ariella’s dictionary definitions because it does make it easier to organize one’s thoughts . The only qualifying remark cym will make before she goes on is that we are all talking within our understanding of Gorean slavery.

“What is your definition of failure?” As tena has so aptly said several times in several threads, this path we follow is not for everyone. The first step any girl should take before setting out on it, is to learn what it means, what it takes and whether she is willing or even capable of becoming kajira. Not everyone has the personality, the temperament, or the patience for it. Almost as important as knowing the man you beg collar from, is knowing what being kajira means. If one has researched and has an understanding of the demands placed on her, of the work involved, of the setting aside of one’s own personal desires, and then goes on to do her best to become the best she can be, then there is no failure. Sometimes the greatest success is admitting that the path is not the one for you.....just a thought. There is no failure in recognizing one has made a mistake...the failure is in continuing to try to mold yourself into something you were not meant to be.

Based on her statements above, cym feels that one cannot fail until one chooses to stop trying. As long as one is doing her best to learn and adapt, to get in touch with what it means to become kajira, she cannot be considered to have failed. The failure comes on the day one chooses to say “I will not do what is expected of me”, “I will not adapt to expected patterns of behavior”, “I will not grow beyond this point”.

Although this is one of the definitions of failure, in the context of Gorean slavery, cym sees it more in the line of the learning process. Each and every one of us has been insufficient at times or has fallen short in our growth. The success comes from learning what one did wrong, or where one was insufficient and determining never to allow it to happen again. Its merely a fact of our growth as kajira, just as it is with growing children, the most effective way to learn is to try. The girl that fails and doesn’t care why or try to fix the failure is not a kajira, but only playing at it. (may I insert here, that this woman should then realize that slavery is not for her)

cym is placing these together because they are very similar in int...