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In this painting Witch
Alice is portrayed. Unlike most witches, Alice does not like
using a cauldron nor does she feel at home in a kitchen.
Instead, she feels most at home in a laboratory among her
flasks, retorts, condensers and crucibles. Thus, Witch Alice
is an alchemist...you can observe her glass flask in the
painting.
But Witch Alice is more
than an alchemist, she is also a 'Dominatrix' of the highest
caliber. (Sticks and stones may break your bones but whips
and chains excite you:) Alice is equally at home in both
laboratory and dungeon. Concerning this dual aspect to her
nature, Witch Alice has a very important secret to
communicate to you. If you look at the painting, she is
motioning to you with her finger to come closer. She wants
to tell you:
"The laboratory
and dungeon are one and the same. The only difference
between these two disciplines is their outer
expression."
That is to say, the
processes of laboratory alchemy and the stages
of bondage, discipline,
dominance and submission, which are enacted in
the dungeon, are really the
same thing. If a person is acquainted with
the dungeon, they can't help
but have knowledge of laboratory alchemy
and vice-versa...they will
only lack knowledge of the outer technical
expression. Although the
tools of the trade are different in the
laboratory and dungeon, they
both have an exact parallel purpose....the
purpose of becoming gold.
(More of this will be talked about in the
painting: Witch Alice in Her
Garden). Let us now reflect upon the role
of Witch Alice as
Dominatrix.
Dominance
In the BDSM (Bondage,
Discipline, Sadism, Masochism) tradition, the
'dominatrix' represents and
is the embodiment of nature. What is nature?
In the thought system of
John Scotus Eriugena (810-877), nature is the
totality of things that
'are' and things that 'are not'. The things
that are is our natural,
physical (everyday) world and cosmos, while the
things that are not is any
supposed supernatural world which lies on the
other side of the grave. Now
nature is the totality of the natural and
supernatural worlds. In a
nutshell, nature is all of reality. The
dominatrix, then, is the
symbol and incarnation of all reality. And as
such, the dominatrix not
only touches the physical body of her
submissives (through
bondage, floggings, spankings and even through
physical rewards), but the
mind, spirit and soul of her submissives
also. For if the dominatrix
were limited to touching only the physical
body of her submissives
alone, then her authority would be limited to
the mortal physical world;
and as a result, the dominatrix would not be
the incarnation and symbol
of all reality. For there exists in nature a
far greater dimension than
only the physical. (For indeed, humanity
also has a mind, spirit and
soul which is intelligent, emotional and
creative). And it is into
the realm of the mind, spirit and soul that
the dominatrix authority and
influence must extend, for the dominatrix
is the embodiment and symbol
of 'all' nature and not only a portion of
it. In her role as
dominatrix, then, Witch Alice is the embodiment of
all reality and she is
present to both body and mind (soul).
Dominance and Obedience
(Submission)
At this point in my
commentary, it should be recognized that nature
demands 'absolute' obedience
and allegiance from its creatures.
Humankind must obey nature
by necessity; we have no choice in the
matter. For indeed, from the
very beginning of our existence, humanity
has been responding to
nature through obedience. Let us reflect upon a
few examples. For starters,
humankind is obligated to obey the processes
of time. That is, every
person must age and grow old. And although
many people have difficulty
accepting this decree, they must necessarily
obey. Humanity is also
obligated to breath and absorb oxygen into the
bloodstream. The ultimate
choice to breath or not does not lie with man
or woman. Nature demands
that we breath by necessity or else suffer the
consequences. In addition,
humankind must also fulfill natures laws by
eating and drinking,
sleeping, and dreaming. But perhaps the greatest
demand that nature makes
upon us is death. Each one of us must
eventually die whether we
want to or not...there can be no exceptions
(note the skull and bones in
the painting). Often, we are confronted
with situations in life that
we cannot change...an incurable disease, a
failed relationship or
financial disaster. In these instances, we must
come to terms with forces we
cannot control...we must meet the
dominatrix. In brief, the
important point to realize is that nature
exacts obedience from its
creatures. Nature is dominant and its
creatures are submissive by
necessity. In the BDSM tradition, the
dominatrix demands
unhesitating obedience from her submissives. This is
because the dominatrix
assumes the 'role' of nature and its dominant
qualities. Both the
dominatrix and her submissives are role-players in
a great drama (opus), and
they are both fulfilling a philosophical and
religious function through
their joint activities.
Religion vs.
Magick
The first step in
worshipping and showing devotion to Witch Alice
is through unhesitating
obedience to her will. The worshipper of Witch
Alice should carry out her
decrees and orders as if they came from
nature itself. Since Witch
Alice is a reflection and embodiment of
nature; therefore, she too
demands the respect and the necessary
obedience afforded to
nature. Witch Alice is in command not you.
Witch Alice desires to be
worshipped in a religious manner not
through magick. This is
because magick is contrary to Witch Alice's
authority. Let us consider
this subject in more detail.
Although both religion
and magick use precise rituals and
ceremonies, they have
different objectives. And although people often
mix the two together,
religion and magick are not the same. Magick is
used for the purpose of
compelling natural and supernatural powers to
act in certain ways. Thus a
magician or sorcerer uses ceremonies,
formula's, spells or potions
to control and manipulate all of nature,
the Gods or Goddesses, an
event, the fate of others, the weather, etc,
in accordance with their
wishes. But this magical attitude does not
work with Witch Alice. This
is because you cannot control or manipulate
Witch Alice in any way. She
is in control of you; you are not in
control of her. Remember,
Witch Alice is a Dominatrix Goddess of the
highest caliber, and she
does not tolerate anyone trying to 'TOP' her!
Contrary to magick, the
purely religious approach stresses that
people 'are not' in a
position of dominance over nature like the
sorcerer assumes. Nor can
people ever achieve this dominance. The
religious approach
recognizes that it is nature that demands absolute
submission from people and
not the other way around. Because the
religious person relates to
natures forces as superior to him, he/she
approaches these forces of
the natural and supernatural world through
the attitudes of humility
and supplication...not through the coercion,
commands and manipulations
of the magician/sorcerer. Therefore, get on
your knees before Witch
Alice! Throw your body on the ground in a full
length prostration as a sign
of humility and devotion to her will.
These are the sentiments
that are truely pleasing to Alice. Never forget
that she is in command not
you. Purely religious people do not view
themselves as possessing
supernatural powers like the magician/sorcerer
claims...they are not that
arrogant. Rather, religious people view
themselves as at the mercy
of these natural and supernatural powers.
And it is only through the
generosity of providence that the religious
person can be thankful for
the limited and meager powers that he/she
has. Prayers, meditations,
sacrifices and supplications play an
important role in the
rituals and ceremonies of the religious; and they
are meant to please the
powers and receive their blessings not to
control them. Religious
people realize that they cannot nor are they in
the position to control the
wind, storms, and the fate of peoples
lives...these forces do not
obey our will. It is nature that giveth and
it is nature that taketh
away.
Personally, I am a
religious person. I do not practice magick.
Now that you know my
position on the subjects of religion and magick, do
not e-mail or write asking
me to post spells, curses or formula's on my
website. I don't believe
that they work! However, if you have any
mystical and meaningful
prayers or devotionals, please feel free to
share them with
me.
Free-Will And Witch
Alice
Although nature demands
absolute obedience from its creatures, humanity
is not merely a passive
submissive puppet in the hands of fate. The
mercy and generosity of
nature has given its creatures a free-will with
which to influence their
destiny. Humankind has the freedom to move,
think, make choices and act
as we desire. In stating this, I am not
contradicting what I said
above that nature demands absolute obedience
from its creatures. What I
mean to say is that when nature demands that
we must eat, drink and
sleep; we do so with freedom. That is, we are
free to eat and drink what
we choose, and we are free to sleep when and
where we want. And although
nature has decreed that each one of us must
eventually die, we have the
choice to prematurely take our own life
(suicide) or to prolong it
through healthy living habits. Nature, then,
grants its submissive
creatures freedom of will.
Acting as a symbol and
incarnation of nature, Witch Alice also
recognizes the free-will of
her submssive worshipers. Just as nature
grants its creatures freedom
of choice; so too, Witch Alice acknowledges
her submissive worshipers
right to choose as well. And although Witch
Alice has the authority to
demand unhesitating obedience from her
worshipers, the mutual
understanding of free-will must always be
manifest. The submissive
worshiper, then, is always free to establish
and negotiate boundaries
with Witch Alice. In a way, I mean to say that
Witch Alice will never 'take
over' your psyche so that your individual
autonomy is swept away. You
will always have the ability to say 'yes'
or 'no' in your mystical
relationship with Witch Alice.
VanJohnstone
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