sakinah@alurofmaine.org  
www.alurofmaine.org  
ALURofMaine@hotmail.com  
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Sa Kinah: "As with any lifestyle choice there are a thousand different ways to live the Gorean lifestyle. There are, of course, some basic principals that are put across in the books. These basic principals are not filled with reality much of the time. For instance in the books by John Norman, slaves can be killed. We all know that is against the law here in the world of real people. Slaves on Gor have no rights whatsoever. Here, at least in America, slavery is against the law and all are guaranteed certain rights under the law. It is important to understand these differences, especially if you are going to try to follow a 'Gorean philosophy.' I am still very much a Gorean slave in training. The realities of life often times slow this progress down and gets in the way of being able to practice what I have learned. When there is a child in the house, you can’t always serve your Master his meal in the way that I was trained. It is only in rare cases when I can kneel before him and present his dinner in a traditional Gorean serve."

SK: "I view role-playing as a scene that has a beginning and an ending time frame. That time period could be a few hours to a few days. It is a time when the participants ‘step into’ a persona in order to create a particular experience and/or atmosphere. Master and I do not 'create' an experience we live it. It is there every day, it is part of who we are, it is our lifestyle. Even though circumstances don’t permit us to always be able to express who we are, he is still Master and I am still his property."

SK: "It is my belief that it is the people within the alternative lifestyles are the ones who determine SSC, not the lifestyle choice itself. In other words and unsafe dominant is an unsafe dominant whether he lives the Gorean lifestyle or not. What people have to realize is the works of John Norman were not meant to be a lifestyle to live. He wrote the series for pleasurable reading. They are science fiction. With that in mind, Safe-Sane-Consensual was never in his realm of thinking when he was writing those books. In fact, the concept of SSC didn’t even exist when the books were written. Even if the credo did exist it wouldn’t have mattered because he was not writing the books to be used as a lifestyle bible to be followed. It is the people who practice the lifestyle that protect themselves, not the lifestyle."

SK: "I remember way back when I first visited a Gorean chat room. My first response is these are a bunch of people living in a fantasyland and they have no grip on reality at all. That was my first reaction to what I was seeing. It was my second reaction and my third! In fact, I continued to have these feelings for quite a long time. Yet, something kept pulling me to those rooms. I hardly ever participated in the chats I simply wanted to watch. Although I felt these people were playing in a fantasyland there was something beautiful to be seen here. There was for me a hidden message that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Something that drew me to the beautifully simple world of D/s and the mental dance that takes place between a Master and his slave. The Gorean lifestyle also intimidated me. I wanted to be a Gorean slave, but I was afraid to let myself become ‘one of those people.’ My response to others who feel I am one of those people living in a fantasyland is simple. You have to go beyond the books; beyond the chat rooms and beyond every preconceived notion you have ever had about this chosen path of lifestyle to truly understand it. There is so much more to it than crawling across a tavern in silks."

SK: "For me it is a state of mind. It is something more than a bedroom game. It fulfills my need to be owned by someone. Could I get that in a D/s relationship without the Gorean aspects? Probably, but Gor brings to me a sense of formality, a constant learning ground, a way for me to communicate with Master in an artistic way and a plain on which I feel I truly connect with. Do I feel Gor is superior to other forms of BDSM and D/s lifestyles? No, it is simply what works for our relationship. It’s not for everyone. It is superior for me because it meets the needs that I have."

SK: "What I am about to say relates to all forms of power exchange not just the Gorean lifestyle. It is important to know your partner well before you decide to enter into a power exchange with this person. Limits and safe words should be discussed beforehand, not after-the-fact. You need to determine if this is someone you can trust, someone who you can literally lay your life in his or her hands. Pertaining to the Gorean lifestyle and the slavery aspect of all of this there is one thing that people tend to forget. Because I am a slave does not mean I have absolutely no rights. What it does mean is I have the rights my Master allows me to have. Master allows me to discuss issues with him, as well as my feelings and fears. If he didn’t allow me to discuss these things with him we would have no chance at all for a healthy relationship. Even a Master/slave relationship requires communication for it to flourish. The difference between our relationship and a regular vanilla relationship when it comes to communication is how these discussions take place. They are done with respect and on his time frame, not mine. He allows me to do lots of things. He allows me the privilege of sleeping in a bed, he allows me to eat at the table, he allows me to have money. He does all of these things because he is aware of the reality of life. Can those privileges be taken away from me at any time? Sure! Through training I am learning to appreciate these privileges he has given to me. What I like most about our relationship is there are no games. I know what the rules are and I don't have to guess. Master does not try to play head games which is a huge factor in trust in any relationship in my opinion."

SK: "Intelligence is not the deciding factor, where the heart lays is the deciding factor. Most slaves are very intelligent. Intelligence makes a slave more valuable to their Master. We have to keep in mind that the Gor books are equally about warriors and men battling each other. These are not modern day battles. These are set back in a setting almost equal to those during cave man days. These battles take place when there is physical hand-to-hand combat and physical power is important. Sending a woman to do the kind of battles Norman created would probably mean her demise. What Norman created in his books is what he considered a 'man’s world.' It is simply his chosen path for his books and has very little to do with those that have chosen to live this lifestyle."

SK: "This is sort of a difficult question to answer when putting it in the light of the novels. D/s was never the premise of Norman’s novels. It is a fantasy world that Norman created for men. This fantasy includes the fact that men protect and battle for their property and home stone and the slaves are there to care for them and fulfill their wishes. Great fantasy huh? Some of these things you can carry over into a lifestyle, some you can’t. There are free-women on Gor and they do have slaves. However, within the infrastructure that Norman created these women are still considered merely women and can be over powered at any time. Men are the rulers of Gor plain and simple. Is it sexist? You bet it is. Living the Gorean lifestyle is not for women who have a dominant personality if you are choosing to live it in respect to the books. My resolve in this is simple. If you are a dominant woman and you are choosing to live the Gorean lifestyle, then you will be open to scrutiny. I have no problem with dominant women that choose to lead this lifestyle because for me it is more about mind-set than what Norman wrote in his books."

SK: "Using this philosophy in real life would be preposterous. I can’t say it has never been done before, but it is not something I would support in any way shape or form. In my opinion, when referring to slavery in the BDSM & Gorean lifestyles, it has to be consensual. A slave must be willing to please his/her Master. That is something that can’t be forced. Sure, you can kidnap someone (illegally) and forcefully collar them, but do they truly have the heart of a slave? Most likely not, they must come to this state of mind on their own. What the Master can do is to cultivate that slave and make them their slave."

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SK: "ALU got started with the idea of uniting people involved in any alternative lifestyle. We felt a need within the community here in Maine for something a bit less formal and more social. Education is a wonderful thing and I support those who want to educate others as much as I support those who seek it. What we were looking for and felt the community needed was a place for other like-minded individuals was a place to kick back and relax and socialize. In the creation of ALU we decided to create ALUR, Inc. ALUR, Inc has the specific goal of providing retreats for alternative lifestylers. So far, ALUR, Inc. has held one retreat with the plans of having several more. In fact, we are having our next retreat in a few weeks. It has been a wonderful experience to be able to provide such a place locally here in New England. My position with the organization is publicity. It’s my job to get the word out about the organization and the events it holds. I don’t do this alone though. There is a lot of behind the scenes work that is done by everyone in ALU/ALUR, Inc."

SK: "Master and I are both part of the group that founded ALU/ALUR, Inc. For the most part we do not discuss the organizational issues and try to keep it separate from our relationship. We do this for a couple of reasons. One of the major reasons is because when we are at shareholder meetings or meetings where we are making some major decisions, for me to be effective I need to be able to speak in a business forum rather than the traditional way of a slave or submissive. In other words, this is business and has nothing to do with our relationship. Otherwise, business could start to interfere with our relationship and we certainly do not want our relationship to interfere with good business. If either of these things were to start to happen I would have to resign my position in ALUR, Inc. Our relationship comes first and foremost."

SK: "My hopes for ALU in the next five years is simple. I would hope that we can continue to provide a safe, relaxed atmosphere for people to meet others. The ultimate dream is of course to own our place to do this in. Who knows, it just may come true. J

SK: "Ah, the cookbook. This is a very slow process! This project is something I see taking more than just a few months to complete. I have received many recipes so far and I am still collecting them. If anyone has a recipe they would like to be included in this book please send them to me at sa_kinah@hotmail.com

SK: "I’d like to add that there are so many people that aid in the progress of ALU and ALUR, Inc. It has been a most wonderful experience getting to know new people. I’ve learned so much from the people I’ve met as a result of being a group leader and hope to continue to learn and meet new people. ALU and ALUR, Inc. are a result of a lot of careful planning and consideration. We meet every third Saturday of the month at Rockin’ Robbin’s at the Promenade Mall in Lewiston, Maine from 4-6 PM. We welcome everyone in any alternative lifestyle as well as those who are just curious. It’s about meeting others, growing with others and simply having a good time."

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SOME GOREAN LIFESTYLE REFERENCES

http://www.silkandsteel.com/

http://www.geocities.com/sammrnc/Sanctuary_of_Voltai.html

http://gornews.thenewmatrix.net/

http://anzwers.net/hot/Gorean/home.html

http://www.goreanwhispers.com/

http://slaveheart.0catch.com/welcome.html

http://www.bdsmrealm.net/article.php?sid=33

http://www.goreansonline.com/cos/slave.html

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quasar/8365/tuchindex.html

ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLES UNITED - ALU/ALUR

www.geocities.com/aluorg

aluorg@yahoo.com

P.O. Box 8012

Lewiston, Maine 04243-8012

ALU meets every third Saturday of the month at Augustine's in Lewiston Maine. This is a social group for people of alternative lifestyles who wish to unite and meet others.

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If you enjoyed this interview, read more SCENEprofiles with BDSM personalities on Sadie's website at www.sensuoussadie.com 

Sensuous Sadie is a BDSM columnist and edits SCENEsubmissions, a free e-newsletter. She is the founder and leader (1999 - 2001) of Rose & Thorn, Vermont's first BDSM group. Comments, compliments and complaints, as well as requests for reprinting can be addressed to her at SensuousSadie@aol.com or visit her website at www.sensuoussadie.com.  Sadie believes the universe is abundant and that sharing information freely is part of this abundance, so she allows reprints of her writing in most venues.