The
flogger, in various forms, has played a suprisingly vital role
in shaping the history of mankind. Throughout the centuries,
our ancestors have incorporated it not only into their sexual
practices, but into their spiritual, judicial and even medical
practices as well.
Flagellation in the name of a god is far from being a rare thing.
Nearly all of the mother religions, the ancient mystery cults
of the great Mediterranean civilizations of Greece, Egypt, Rome
and Persia, and even the religions of Islam and Christianity
have, at some point in history, incorporated flagellation into
their spiritual rites and practices.
In pagan Sparta, for instance, each year, during a festival
called 'Day of Flagellations', young men were brought before
an altar dedicated to the goddess Diana where they were whipped
for from dusk to dawn. People would turn out from all over the
countryside to view the whippings and to cheer and encourage
the boys to 'bear the pain with fortitude.' Priests, who would
bear witness to the entire ceremony, would, at the end of the
day, examine the wounds on each of the boys, and, according
to the sizes and shapes of the wounds, would predict the young
men's futures. I might also mention, that it was not uncommon
for some of the boys to die from the terrible wounds inflicted
upon them during this ceremony, often without ever having uttered
a sound.
Syrian priest, like countless other religious leaders, believed
that the gods could be appeased by the use of scourges and would
spend hours whipping themselves profusely with an instrument
made of twisted woollen cords armed with small bones. And, even
today, Shiite Muslims indulge in the practice of public self-flagellation.
The Church adopted it's use of the scourge from a tribe of monastics
who settled in small communities in the Egyptian Desert in the
year 381 AD. These 'desert fathers', who believed that any sort
of physical pleasure was sinful, were avid practitioners of
self-flagellation. They were of the opinion that pain and discomfort
blunted cravings for the sensual pleasures of the flesh and
proved the insignificance of the body. Following their lead,
the Church, even in it's earliests ages embraced the practice
of flagellation, both self inflicted and otherwise. Indeed,
the tales of flogging within the church are numerous.
By the eleventh century, the Church had even begun promoting
flagellation as a form of penitence for it's parishioners, much
like the modern day 'Hail Mary' (and doled out equally as often).
In the twelfth century, St. Dominic Loricatus (who carried his
scourge with him everywhere and flogged himself every night
at bedtime, where ever he might be) even established a scale
of equivalents, 1,000 lashes being considered as the equivalent
of the reciting of ten penitential psalms. The priests would
usually do the whipping themselves, in a place attached to the
church, with the penitent, more often than not, being entirely
nude. There are a great number of tales of confessors making
use of their powers of absolution to force their parishioners
to beat 'them'.
The Church neither promoted nor regarded flogging as a sensual
act, though the numerous stories of and the zeal in which these
floggings were given and received causes one to believe that
the participants derived at least some pleasure from the act.
In Spain, young men imparted a tone of gallantry to their discipline,
by flogging themselves beneath their beloved's window. The young
lady would then reward her suitor by lifting her veil for a
brief moment.
Flagellation for punishment's sake has been practiced throughout
the world. In ancient Rome, judges would decorate the walls
of their courtrooms with various types of scourges in order
to strike fear into the hearts of criminals, many of whom would
be ordered to endure whippings of such severity that more than
just a few of them died from the wounds inflicted upon them;
Austrian soldiers who misbehaved were made to run the terrible
gauntlet; Russia has the knout; China still has the great bamboo;
Turkey governs with the stick; the Siamese have their nightly
birches; and, in Africa, there is 'mumbo jumbo'.
Flogging has also been reputed to have a good amount of medicinal
value as well. At various times throughout history, it has been
promoted as a way of 'stirring up the body's stagnating juices,
dissolving the precipitating salts, purifying the coagulating
humours of the body, clearing the brain, purging the belly,
circulating the blood and bracing the nerves.' It has been used
as a treatment for insanity, laziness, depression, obstruction
of the bowels and even for lockjaw and choking. And, during
the years 1348-1349, when the Black Death was sweeping through
Western Europe, it was promoted as both a preventative and a
cure for the plague.
Though sexual sado-masochism has been practiced since ancient
times, the first known written account was published, in the
fifteenth century, by an Italian man named Pico della Mirandola.
He told of a man who could only enjoy sex if he had first been
beaten to the point of bleeding with a whip which had first
been soaked in vinegar. (Ouch!)
The first overtly pornographic work on the subject of flagellation
was published in the year 1718, and was entitled 'A Treatise
on the Use of Flogging'. With the appearance of this book, flagellation
became a passion throughout Europe, so much so that the French
soon dubbed it 'le vice anglais,' the English vice, a nickname
which would stick for centuries.
By the late 1700's, dozens of brothels, dedicated exclusively
to the practice of flagellation, were erected throughout Europe,
and, I might mention, enjoyed a huge success. In fact, one of
these establishments, owned by a Mrs. Colet, was so popular
that even King George IV made a well-known royal visit. Another
madam, Mrs. Theresa Berkley (who, in the year 1828, invented
a spanking bench known as the Berkley Horse or Chavelet), made
the equivalent of $20,000 American dollars during the eight
years in which she operated her flagellatory brothel, quite
a substantial amount for her time.
There is little doubt that the scourge has played, and continues
to play, more than just a passing role in the shaping of the
history, and the future, of mankind. Even today, many people
still find pleasure at the business end of the scourge. It is
regarded among practitioners of BDSM to be a tool of sensuality...an
intrument of passion and affection. Just know that present day
D&Ser's use their whips with the safety and well being of
their partner in the forefront of their mind. We have developed
safewords to let us know when our partners limits have been
reached and have educated ourselves in 'safeplay' practices
so that we might be skilled in our whipping and thereby be able
to to so without serious injury to our partner(s).
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