Customer Reviews

Dark Moon Rising: Pagan BDSM and the Ordeal Path

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This is not an introductory text on paganism, or on S&M, nor is it a how-to guide, as evidenced by the fact that the contributors stay well away from the rough waters of defining BDSM in favor of sounding the depths of personal experience and spiritual context. The difficult and necessary work of guiding beginners through the rocky shallows is done well by others, and nearly everyone who wonders "How can I blend my BDSM practice with my pagan spirituality?" will have read and/or thought enough to understand what constitutes their own pagan spirituality and their own BDSM practice.

Instead the contributors discuss frankly their perspectives on reasons for engaging in pagan BDSM, their own experiences, and rituals incorporating pagan spirituality and pain play and restraint. There is a level of honesty here which I think is missing from other books about pagan spirituality, a willingness to engage in confrontation with the animalistic desires all humans have, and which for some manifest as sexual desires to dominate or to be dominated, to give or to receive pain. Although it would be unfair to dismiss all that is bright, light, or joyful as shallow and unimportant, it can easily become superficial without also acknowledging the importance of those aspects of spirituality that really grapple with the truths that the world is often painful and nature requires death, without trying to erase these truths or encourage people to divorce themselves from experiencing them fully. For some, the way into a profound awareness and acceptance of these truths is through willingly accepting pain, restriction, and service to another. If you are one of these, this book is one of only a very few offerings that actually address this perspective.

I liked this book a lot. It focuses on some topics in BDSM that are rarely addressed, including an in-depth exploration of the mixing of spirituality and BDSM, as well as dynamics with D/S in spirituality, god-slavery, and comfort zones for tops and bottoms.

The rituals included in the book were a nice touch that can give people some good ideas for rituals that they can use. I felt like I could take most of those rituals, and with a few personal touches, incorporate them into my own practice.

With that said, I do want to emphasize that this book focuses on spirituality based approach to BDSM. Practical magical applications, beyond personal transformation magic, aren't explored in depth. This isn't a bad thing, just part of an on-going trend in BDSM/occult books that is focused on that particular venue, as opposed to other venues.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for inspiration and also spirituality in how they approach BDSM. Raven is an excellent writer who will make you feel as if you're chatting with him.

If the reader is seeking insight into modern pagans who offer profound sacrifice this book will act as a communion with the experiences of practitioners on the Ordeal Path. For those who are moved to offer the flesh of our bodies, the blood that flows within, the flower of our pain, and the fruit of our endurance Dark Moon Rising provides a framework to begin to understand why we are moved to do so.
The mental health industry and religious reformers would have us believe many ancient spiritual practices are no longer appropriate for modern spiritual needs. Yet countless people seek union with the Divine through body modification, BDSM play/work, and difficult and exhausting physical tasks. There is a strong connection between the exertion of the body and altered states yet the use of these techniques are looked down upon by many people as inappropriate and abusive.
Raven Kaldera presents an array of experiences involving the sacred use of the body, mind, and soul as conduits of transformation. The rituals themselves are not the focus of the book as much as the compassionate exploration of how and why many of us are called to worship in this way.

Raven Kaldera has given the world an amazing gift. In this book, he draws on his many years of first-hand experience to guide those of us who are called to BDSM and spirituality. His writing is intelligent, intimate, and eloquent. Explaining both "why" and "how," the book includes enlightening essays and useful suggestions for spiritual practice. I have read several books that promised to explore these issues. This is the one book I wish I had when I started along this path, and one of the most life-changing books I've read.

I like this book. A lot. It's not the usual chapter-by-chapter explanation of things; rather, Kaldera has collected a number of his essays, as well as a significant number of guest essays from such folks as Mistress Damiana and Morning Glory Zell. The topics are far-ranging, including everything from BDSM spirituality in service to the gods, to practical considerations both mundane and magical. Some ideas are presented in a very straightforward manner; others are personal accounts used to illustrate the concepts therein. There are even some rituals presented, including rites of passage, and some lovely poetry that could easily be worked into a ritual context such as an invocation or evocation. In short, it's full of variety.

It's pretty obvious that Raven and fellow essayists have quite a bit of experience. The various BDSM and fetish techniques utilized cover a pretty decent range of possibilities, and many of them are not for the (relatively) faint of heart. You may find yourself squicked; I am in no way, shape or form a fan of *anything* that pierces the skin (even hypodermic needles) and I found myself literally covering pictures of hook suspensions. Still, this is what works for others, and despite the not-my-kink factor, I found even the personally squick-worthy parts to be valuable additions. Regardless of what your particular tastes are, there are some great ideas that can be adapted to just about any consensual kink in a ritual context.

Much of the material seems to be oriented towards spirituality and service to the Divine, though there are some practical magical techniques as well. The concept of god-slavery is covered in decent detail here, and both it and the concept of service in general are presented not as unhealthy obsessions, but as spiritual dedication. I was particularly fond of the essay by Raven's boy, Josh, about serving the shaman, and Raven's own explanation of the archetypes and roles that may be found in a D/s relationship. Good food for thought whether you're in a 24/7 lifestyle or not.

Overall, this is definitely a worthy endeavor, and a good addition to the bookshelf of anyone who has any interest in BDSM and fetishes in a spiritual and/or magical background. As with any book on either BDSM or spirituality, it's not the do-all and end-all of the topics at hand (but what book is?) but it presents one very superb and well-developed approach to the combination thereof. Highly recommended.

This is a book that is not for the beginner in either BDSM or Paganism, but for those who are more experianced with both it is a wonderful book that I would suggest for everyone who would find this interesting. The chapter on catharsis is a wonderful view on how BDSM can be used as a spiritual "wash" and can help heal old trauma. This is a MUST buy

any pagan who walks the path of a dark deity will love this book. It deals with the spiritual side of BDSM and how it relates to our pagan path of working through expirence with some of the more extreme and personal issues. As a lifestyle D/s and pagan, it helped to bring an understanding to my role in both my relationship and my path. A good place to start if you walk both of these worlds.

For many BDSM is more than sex and pleasure, it is deeply Spiritual. As a sub myself I can attest to that there is something religious in surrendering to another person. There is off course also the matter of subspace and other altered states of consciousness which can occur during play. Dark Moon Rising is about combining magick, Paganism and BDSM and it do this in a very informative manner.

Pain have been a method by which shamans and magicians have altered their consciousness and done magick for many thousands of years Kaldera teaches new generations to walk the ordeal path. But more than just pain magick the book is about how to incorporate dominance and submission into a Pagan lifestyle. It contains ideas for rituals, ideas for roles of power dynamic, like magician and magickal object, master and apprentice or priest and servant. The book is filled with philosophy and and explains how you can not just make BDSM magickal, but make it a part of your Pagan practice.

Off course this book is not for everyone, but for those of us who are both Pagan and BDSMers it is a blessing as it teaches how to combine the two. I think also allot of shamans or people who are generally interested in using pain as a magickal tool can have allot of use of this book, also it do hold allot of philosophy and ideas which would speak to any Pagan, but for the most part this is a guide for those who want to combine BDSM and Paganism.

Now the focus of this book is more those that are in a 24/7 BDSM relationship, there is not allot of just kinky spells and sex magick in here, there are some but not allot, however this would also work well for those which are not 24/7 but only takes on the roles of Dominance and submission for pleasure and/or rituals. Dark Moon Rising is just a treasure trove of information.

This book is probably on my top 20 list of favorite occult books ever. I can not praise it enough. If you have any interest at all in either Paganism or BDSM then I think you would like this book and if you are interested in both and you will love it. However the BDSM part is rather big so if you are hostile to BDSM then this is not the book for you, also I would call this a sort of advanced book, this is probably not a good choice for someone's first book on Pagan subjects, but for those who have been practicing Paganism for a while it is brilliant. I truly recommend it. Also there exists a small handful of other occult BDSM books, but Dark Moon Rising is by far the best I have seen so far.

The best book by Raven Kaldera that I've read so far, although I wish he had gone into more detail on the subject of energy work. But I love that he doesn't shy away from any issue, especially those near and dear like BDSM and Paganism. I'm grateful for this book and others that open up the subject to others. While I do have some Pagan-kinkster friends, I also know that BDSM is very taboo among many Pagans, so yay for exploring the topic and discussing how they can both coexist and intertwine within a single philosophy.

Raven's grasp of the nuances of the spiritual aspect of the path is exceptional. The Ordeal path is one which is traveled alone,for many. This book is a wonderful message telling those who do travel the path that they are not alone and it validates their calling.