Expert: arani_CsA - 12/30/2007

Question
Could you walk me through the collar ritual you went through? We may want to incorporate parts of it in our lifestyle. It could serve as a good example of Master-slave relations.

Answer
Hello...

I'm flattered that you want to borrow from our ritual, however after almost eight years my memory of the details is a bit rusty.  There's not much more i can tell you than i already did, but i'll try.  i'm not sure which of the two rituals i described you are more interested in, so i'll talk about both of them.

i'm not sure how familiar you are with the Gorean lifestyle, but it's more of an overall whole-life philosophy than just about the Master/slave relationship.  In the books, what ritual that was used when a woman was enslaved was primarily for the purpose of making her aware of what her new function in life was to be -- that she was nothing more than an animal in the eyes of the law.  Many of these things were done for their shock value, such as having the blacksmith permanently fasten a collar around her neck or branding her.  When a slave was transferred from one owner to another, there was no ritual involved, any more than when a man buys a cow from another man.  Of course, during the course of 26 books, there were a few exceptions.

When i met my current Master/husband, i was actually the property of another man, however i served him on line only and we both understood that this was a temporary arrangement.  Since we Earth-beings do often need rituals to mark events such as collarings, we did put together something done in the presence of a few witnesses, much like a real wedding.  i don't really know how much planning or fore-thought either of the Masters put into it; i was merely a participant.  

i came into the chat room when they were both already there.  My old Master called me to him, and said a few words about how i had been a good slave to him, but it had been arranged that i would now belong to someone else.  He stressed that all of this was being done due to the will of men, implying that my wishes had nothing to do with it.  (Although this was not quite true; if at any time i had stated i didn't want to go through with it, my wishes would have been honored.)  He then removed his collar from my neck and commanded me to go to my new Master.  When i was kneeling at his feet, my new Master inspected me.  Once i had met with his approval, he removed a collar from his pack and showed it to me before he placed it around my neck.  My former Master prepared the branding rack and fastened me to it so that i could not move, while my new Master selected a branding iron and put it in the fire to heat.  When it was ready, he inspected my bonds and then branded me on my belly.  i dutifully tried not to scream, although had this been a real branding that would have been impossible.  When he was finished, he released my bonds and ordered me from the room to change my name to the one he had chosen for me.  When i returned, we then left the room together.  (Of course, all of this was acted out in a role-playing context, because of the distance involved.)

During the ceremony we acted out after our real-life wedding, i was wearing a red silk negligee simulating the red silks that an owned Gorean slave (not a virgin) would wear.  However, in actuality, an unowned slave would be naked as she owns nothing -- not even her clothes or her name.  Master then drew a circle on the floor and ordered me to step into the center of it, where he waited for me.  (For a woman to step into a slave circle means that she is announcing she wants to become a slave, intentionally or not -- at times it was used to trick her.)  i was then ordered to kneel before Master, and i did so while being sure to keep my eyes lowered respectfully.  Master then asked me if i wanted to become his slave, and i replied, "Yes, Master."  He then ordered me to lift my long hair out of the way, and placed a collar on me, locking it in place.  As he did, he said something like, "I claim you as my property, and name you arani."  He then commanded me to go and kneel by his chair, and wait for him there.  (Actually, he allowed me to sit on the floor, as i am physically handicapped and kneeling for very long is very difficult for me.)  When he took his seat, we then conversed for a while with our guests before retiring for bed.

If you like, i can refer you to a couple of quotes from the books regarding the collaring of slaves.  If you have not already done so, i would also suggest that you do some websites about the Gorean lifestyle off line.  Good luck to you, and if you have any further questions, feel free to send them my way.

arani_CsA,
devoted property of Clampius_Arelius