Holding a masque

I am interested in the idea of a ‘Masque’ party, like in Eyes Wide Shut. How do I go about organizing a ‘Masque’ that conforms to Code d’ Odalisque?

Answer: The word ‘Masque’ refers to a typical Code d’ Odalisque party, a celebration of slave culture under the Code. A masque is a party for Slavekeepers and their slaves; typically those who attend wear masks. As you say, something similar is depicted in the famous scene in the film ‘Eyes Wide Shut’. It is a formal party with attendees wearing masks, but it is also, in effect, an orgy where all aspects of Code d’ Ode and odalisque slavery are celebrated.

To hold a masque you need an appropriate number of Slavekeepers and slaves. A party is not a party without people. That is the most important ingredient. If you have enough suitable people to attend, the rest of the organization is easy. You need a time and a venue. You organize food, entertainment, security, just as you would for any party. You then send out the invitations. A masque – since it is essentially a sex party - should be invitation only. It is for people who are practicing Code d’ Ode and who are actively involved in the lifestyle. People who might be shocked or scandalized by sex slave play, who are unfamiliar with the lifestyle, are best not invited. As the Code says, “It is not a public event.”

Section 29 of the Code gives the outlines of a masque under the articles of Code d’ Odalisque. These guidelines should not be regarded as restrictive. Like every aspect of Code d’ Ode it is intended to be an arena for creativity. The Host of the Masque should make it a creative and imaginative event. It should be conducted in good taste, be well-conceived – imaginative erotica - and well organized. A masque should be regarded as an opportunity to explore the themes and aesthetics of odalisque slave play. At very least, there should be a display of naked odalisques for the enjoyment of guests. Better still, a Masque can feature contests of Code etiquette. For example:

*Several judges are appointed.

*Female contestants are tested in demonstrating the canonical slave positions described in Code d’ Odalisque.

*The winner is declared Queen of the Masque.

After the choice of attendees, the most important factor is the venue. A private home is quite suitable but using a special venue can make the event more memorable and imbue it with a sense of class and elegance. We have once attended a masque held in a large private suite on an upper floor of a hotel overlooking London. The venue was hired for the weekend. Guests arrived unmasked and changed into masks and costume upon arrival. Entertainment was an erotic belly dance by an odalisque with a panoramic view of the city’s nightscape as the backdrop. The masque included use of a large spa. Absinthe was served.

A masque should be a special event. They are held rarely rather than often. They should not be casual weekly get-togethers. They should be thoughtfully organized. Good food. Fine wine. Polite conduct. Appropriate entertainment. Games. Sensual surrounds. It is worthwhile spending money on a good venue. Other possible venues:

*Old stately homes and historic mansions especially those with a Victorian or Edwardian ambience.

*Mountain chalets

*Coastal homes with sea views

Of course, given the nature of the event, every discretion is necessary when hiring a venue. A secluded or very private place away from prying eyes is best. Resorts that cater to the swingers sub-culture are ready-made as suitable places for an odalisque masque.

Careful, intelligent planning, imagination, good taste, a strong guest list and a decent venue are the keys to a successful masque.

Third person speech

Question: An issue that I have struggled with from time to time is the issue of the third person speech. It has a very forced feel to it, so much so that I tend to do everything I can to avoid it. Are there ways you have advised your slaves to practice this, or is it something learned simply by using it in conversation?

Answer:

Article 26.5 of the code states that continuity and fluid speech is more important than strict formality. If certain ways of speaking seem forced and are uncomfortable to the extent that you avoid them, you should relax the rules and speak naturally. The Code says:

26.5. - Continuity more important than formality

All players should employ proper titles in all appropriate scenes in a natural, plain and unaffected way. Continuity and ease are more valuable than a strict formality.

Slaves are to avoid the first person in speech. Here are the relevant articles:

26.13. - Use of first person pronouns by slaves

In all speech an odalisque should endeavor to use first person pronouns as little as possible, except where to use alternative constructions would be forced, comical, inappropriate or unnatural.

Examples of correct form:

To "I understand Keeper" prefer "It is understood Keeper."

To "Keeper, my feet are cold" prefer "Keeper, your slave's feet are cold."

To "I am all cunt for you, Keeper" prefer "A slave is all cunt for her Keeper."

To "I will do it, Keeper" prefer "It will be done, Keeper."

To "I submit to you, Keeper" prefer "Your slave submits to you, Keeper."

26.6. - Indirect forms of address preferred

All players shall prefer indirect forms of address including indirect forms of self-reference, avoiding the first person where appropriate, underlining wherever possible the function and title rather than the person of the player.

Examples of correct form:

Slavekeeper: Your Slavekeeper wants to see you. (Rather than "I want to see you.")

Slave: Your slave will obey. (Rather than "I will obey") 


But if this is difficult and it leads to stultified or artificial, forced discourse, there it is better to be natural. The same applies to the use of French words and phrases. If it sounds forced and artificial – or ugly or silly – then it is best to leave it aside and speak naturally. Ease before formality. Ease AND formality is best, but if that is not immediately possible then ease before formality.

From a training point of view, changing a slave’s speech to conform to the etiquette of Code d’ Odalisque usually should be done gently over time. The slave is slowly habituated to the required formalities. One of these is avoiding the first person, which means systematically deflecting her thoughts away from herself. It is part of the slave’s etiquette because it teaches her to not think of “I”, to not be an egocentric being, to defer in her thoughts to her Master. Avoiding the first person in speech creates a desirable habit of mind in a slave. But it can be adopted as a habit over time. If it feels forced, be natural and use “I” instead. Introduce third person speech slowly.

Odalisque

Cock god

Question: I have trouble thinking of cock as my god. Truly, j’adore le phallus! I love it. But not as a god. I have a background in paganism, worshipping the Mother Goddess, so this is hard for me…

Answer:

Mademoiselle,

The dedication of the odalisque to serving male (phallic) pleasure is presented in Code d’ Odalisque as “cockworship.” This is because the slave must be devoted to cock. She is a cock slave. Her vocation is to serve cock. And the devotion required is religious in depth and dimension. By disposition, by training and by command, an odalisque has a devotion to cock. She loves cock. She is obsessed with cock. It is the focus of her slavery. She “worships” cock.

All the same, this “cockworship” is not a “religion” as such. It is only religious-like. Religions inspire devotion, passion, blind dedication, obedience, obsession – all qualities that happen to be desirable in a cock slave. A slave needs to be a cock fanatic. Slavery, in fact, is a metaphor in many of the major religions. The title given to God in those religions, “Lord”, signifies the believer’s submission. It is a strong theme in the Moslem religion. The prefix “Abdu” in common names means “slave”. Example, “Abdullah” = slave of Allah. Slave, in this sense, is a religious state requiring a religious degree of obedience. Devotion makes slaves.

But there is no theology involved. An odalisque is free to understand this religious metaphor any way she likes. What is important is how she serves, not what she believes. She can understand the idea of “cock god” any way she likes. And she squares it with her other religious beliefs – if any – any way she can.

Phallic worship is very ancient. It persists in some religions, such as Hinduism (lingham worship). It is included in some schools of tantra. This dimension of Code d’ Ode is “tantric” in a loose sense. But it need not be understood literally. “Worship” is just a way of describing the level of intensity of an odalisque’s service to cock. To say that cock is a “god” merely means that it is the focus of devotion of a religious intensity.

The level of intensity required in a cock slave goes far beyond average every-day lust. Again: she is a fanatic. The lifestyle and the training of an odalisque make her exceptionally cock focused. By nature she loves cock. Her training develops this, strengthens it, amplifies it until the love becomes adoration. J’ adore le phallus! = “I ADORE cock!” Odalisque slavery is all about the exploration of such amplified levels of desire. A woman becomes an odalisque because she is smitten with a lust that goes beyond the normal range. Her training develops this into a monomania.

You mention paganism and the Mother Goddess. Even in paganism and the wiccan religion the Goddess has a male Consort. The celebration of the masculine principle is not missing from paganism. It should be possible to appreciate the phallus as a male principle, complementary to the female, in this context. But how you construct this is up to you. There are no theological dictates in Code d’ Ode. Every odalisque can attach whatever beliefs she likes to cockworship.

It so happens that we know of at least two women in the odalisque lifestyle who have Christian beliefs. How do they think about the “cock god”? Not as God with an upper case G. Instead, for them, they must think of the phallus as an expression of their God, or as God’s creation, or as a power, or the embodiment of a life-force, or whatever. How they reconcile this with their Christian beliefs is up to them. The point though is that this "cock god" need not be one's High God - it is merely one's particular god.

There is one theological distinction to be made. Historically, there are two types of phallic worship. The phallus has been revered as both an object of fertility and as an object of ecstasy. In odalisque slavery, it is only phallus as agent of ecstasy that is involved. The phallus isn’t revered as bringer of fertility. An odalisque isn’t enrapt in cock worship because the phallus can impregnate her – she adores cock because it rocks her world; the phallus is the agent of delight, ecstasy, transformation. There is nothing else in the world that moves her in that way and to that depth – that is what she reveres about cock. That is its power. Ecstatic power, not procreative power.

The Mother Goddess of paganism is a fertility goddess – goddess of fertile nature. So cockworship under Code d’ Ode has a very different focus than that type of paganism because it is not concerned with fertility. Code d’ Ode is closer to the spirit of Dionysus than to the spirit of Demeter.

In any case, “cockworship” is not about beliefs. It is about serving cock with passion and dedication, love and lust. It is called “worship” because it is passionate and intense, transcending, all-absorbing. For the odalisque, it is not necessary to believe in anything. All that is necessary is that she applies herself – body, heart, soul – to her task, namely serving cock.

In answer to your dilemma, Mademoiselle, it is probably best if you do not “believe” anything. Think less about it. Instead, devote yourself to, absorb yourself in, your duties. When you are fully, completely, involved in your duties and have given of yourself totally you will suddenly realize that you are “worshipping” and that the object of your worship is this “cock god.”

Just for fun, the Code does attribute a formal quality to this cock god: a name. It is presented as a secret. But it is no secret that the name of the “cock god” is unintelligible. When, through orgasm and anguish, an odalisque is so absorbed in cockworship that she is mumbling incoherently, those sounds are the cock god’s name. That tells you something about the nature of this ancient “god” and how he is to be worshipped.

What is an ejacaline?

The word “ejacaline” refers to one of the sexual specializations that may be claimed by an odalisque. Every odalisque may nominate up to two areas of sexual expertise – “ejacaline” is one such specialization. An “ejacaline” is a technical term for a woman who excels in all forms of semen play; she specializes in sexual activities and sexual games involving semen, cum, jizz, male ejaculate.

Even a casual glance at contemporary erotica and pornography demonstrates how common it is for men to be fixated upon semen. At the climax of nine out of ten porn movies is the so-called “money shot” where the hero ejaculates over the heroine. Men love spraying their seed around. And they love seeing women enjoying it. They love women who love cum. They love women who love having cum on them – their face, their breasts – and women who love to have cum in them – cum-drinking, creampies, etc. Semen fetishism. It is a common obsession of the contemporary male, an important theme in male sexuality.

Among women there are, of course, a range of responses to men’s semen. Some women like it; others find it gross. Some women spit and some women swallow. There are women, though, who have a genuine love of semen and who are happy partners in men’s semen fantasies. Such women are ejacalines. They are willing, lustful participants in all types of cum play. They are happy to let men spray them in cum and they are happy to drink it and play with it and be filled with it. An odalisque with these skills declares herself an “ejacaline” and her Slavekeeper knows to use her for this purpose.

Usually, an ejacaline will be open to multi-man sex play because her tool of trade – semen – is otherwise in short supply. She will play with her Master’s semen but any one man can only produce a few tablespoons of the stuff per day. Wilder, more adventurous cum games require the semen of several or many men. Typically, an ejacaline will submit to cum-baths, multi-man facials, cum guzzling and scenes where she is filled, sprayed and splattered with the warm, white, sticky cum of numerous men. She lusts for it, thirsts for it, loves it. Her job, as sex slave, is to be a willing, compliant toy in her Master’s cum fantasies.

There are, however, certain dangers in semen play that need to be considered. Semen, as a sexual fluid, may be a vehicle for the communication of diseases. Semen, too, is the bearer of life: it will impregnate a fertile women. A Slavekeeper who owns an ejacaline must take all necessary steps to ensure that she is kept safe from disease and from pregnancy.

In the case of this particular sexual specialization, there tends to be more demand than supply. Semen fixation is a common male obsession. There is lots of demand for ejacalines. There tends to be a shortage of odalisques who nominate this as their specialization. True ejacalines – odalisques with genuine cum-lust – are highly prized.

Caging

14.16. - Permission for temporary use cages and cells 

A Keeper may place an odalisque in cages, cells or restraining containers for the temporary purposes of handling, discipline, display and enjoyment.

14.17. - Prohibition of permanent caging 

An odalisque shall not be kept caged indefinitely nor treated as a caged animal and kept in feeding cages on a permanent basis.

An odalisque lives in captivity. She is a captive slave. Although she enjoys certain privileges denied to lesser slaves (memlooks) and might even be called a “luxury slave” who is relatively pampered, she is a captive slave nonetheless. She is not a freewoman. She belongs to her Master; she is his property, kept to be used for his sexual enjoyment. This is something she should never be allowed to forget. It is important that an odalisque appreciates her predicament and that she develops the habits and mentality of a captive. Occlusion is a state of imprisonment. Her Master keeps her as a captive prisoner, hidden from the world, a submissive toy for his personal use.

The first step in training an odalisque is to teach her the difference between a slave and a freewoman and to firmly establish in her mind that she is a captive. This process is called “discalcing”. A slave is “discalced”. This means, for a start, that she is stripped of her clothes and her footwear. A freewoman wears clothes and shoes. An odalisque is naked and unshod. This nakedness signals the slave’s captivity. Her nakedness is her leash. She is kept naked and unshod as a way of keeping her captive. Being kept naked, with no access to clothes or footwear, helps to cultivate the captive mentality that is appropriate to an odalisque.

Another way to reinforce the captive mentality – another method in discalcing - is caging. An odalisque, like other slaves, can be placed in a cage. Captivity, imprisonment, restriction, bondage: these are Code d’ Ode themes and so a cage is a natural device for use in odalisque slave play. Nothing illustrates how her life differs from that of a freewoman than placing an odalisque in a cage. It is good practice, especially in the early stages of her occlusion, to cage an odalisque for a period of time every day or every few days – she must develop a captive psychology and give up the mental habits of a freewoman. Time spent in a cage helps shape the odalisque’s responses. She will gradually develop a ‘slave mind’, a closed, submissive psychology that comes from the experience of restriction.

A cage can also be adapted to sexual play. The slave can be made to her offer her body for sexual use whilst caged. Caging is then a form of bondage sex. This has proven to be a popular game among Code practitioners. The slave is placed in the cage. Her Master – and/or his male Guests – then feed her cock through the bars or through holes and apertures made for the purpose.

The articles of Code d’ Odalisque provide guidelines and limits for the use of cages. Again, in this, the odalisque has privileges not forthcoming to lesser slaves (memlooks). For instance, she is not to be treated like a caged animal. She is not to be fed her food in a doggy bowl for instance. She is not a dog. She might be caged but she retains the status and dignity of an odalisque – she is not to be treated as sub-human.

Similarly, every effort must be made to prevent her from suffering cuts and abrasions to her skin. An odalisque’s cage should have a comfortable mat on the floor and should not be made of rough, rusty metal with sharp edges or corners. An odalisque is a rare treasure. A cage for an odalisque should be a safe environment. The objective is to teach her the facts of her captivity, not to harm her or reduce her to a beast.

Slavekeeper’s should invest in a decent cage for the training and enjoyment of their slave. It is a very useful piece of equipment. Cages can be purchased but tend to be quite expensive: it is possible to make a cage which is both cheaper and it can be constructed according to appropriate standards for holding an odalisque.

Sword Play

In much contemporary Master/slave play the whip or crop is used as a symbol and instrument of authority and domination. The Master carries a whip or crop and uses it to assert domination over the slave. Commonly, the slave is struck or flogged as a normal part of play.

This is not the case in Code d’ Odalisque. Odalisque slave play looks to different traditions of slavery and a different symbolism. In Code d’ Ode the symbol of authority is not the whip but the sword – a slave is said to be “under the sword”. Her captivity is “under the sword”. She lives “under the sword”. In this Code d’ Ode looks back to the romance of the slave-taking pirates of the Barbary coast who would raid ships and galleys and carry off captives to the slave markets of the east. Code d’ Ode retains symbols and conventions from this colorful period of history. The whip, crop or cat-of-nine-tails evoke the dungeons of the French Revolution. Code d’ Ode evokes different historical models. There is an element of historical fantasy in odalisque slavery – this is most evident in the use of the (pirate) sword as the symbol of the Master’s authority over his odalisque.

Any sword can be used but the preferred sword is the pirate’s cutlass, the Errol Flynn style swashbuckling sword. When a man determines to become a Slavekeeper under Code d’ Odalisque he should purchase for himself an appropriate sword as the emblem of his authority and as a toy to be used in slave play. It need not be an expensive historical artifact; any credible replica will do. At a pinch, a cheap stage prop will do. It need not be sharp – for safety reasons it is better if it isn’t – but it should be metal and have some weight.

The typical way of deploying the sword is to use it as a threat when forcing the slave to confess her servitude or when instructing her. The slave is forced to the floor on hands and knees. She is then forced to move her hair aside and to expose the nape of her neck. Her Master then lays the cold steel blade of the sword on her neck. In this position of submission he then demands that she confess to being his slave with it implicit that should she disobey she loses her head. He makes her confess: “I am my Master’s cunt!” or other admissions of sexual obedience. The cold blade on the back of her neck tells her of her servitude. She is a captive slave living “under the sword” – the cold blade on her neck tells her that if she disobeys or tries to escape she will be beheaded, the traditional punishment for errant slaves.

This game can be developed in many directions. Sword play can be very creative. The touch of cold metal on the slave’s skin can be very exhilarating. As well as the nape of the neck, the sword can be lain on over parts of her body: her breasts, her inner thighs. This can be very effective if the slave is blindfolded. As well, the slave can be made to do obeisance to the sword. She might be made to kiss the sword, or to lick its blade, for example. Experienced players might also use the point of the blade, gently prodding into the skin, as part of their rituals and play. The point of the sword prodding into the slave’s sternum between her breasts is a very powerful gesture. Sword play is an area of erotic creativity. The sword can be incorporated into many aspects of odalisque play. 

Here is an example: 

A slavekeeper of our acquaintance requires that his slave go to his saray and kiss his sword whenever she returns from sojourn. This is a small ritual he has established for the slave's transition from sojourn to occlusion. When she returns home, she goes to his saray and kisses the sword. 

When the Master’s sword is not being used in play it is customary for it to be mounted on the wall of his saray (play room) or in some other visible place where it acts as an emblem and reminder of the Master’s power and the slave’s predicament. Then, play takes place literally “under the sword”.

In all cases, of course, every care must be taken that no one is injured. Blades can be dangerous. Under no circumstances should a sword ever be used to break the skin and draw blood. The first rule of sword play is to use common sense, put safety first and not  be reckless or stupid.