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Whenever I get something new from Jack Rinella, be it a copy of his weekly columns, a new book, a chat at a convention or even a telephone call, I feel I learn more about SM and about the man himself. After several years, several books, and hundreds of weekly columns, I have very high expectations. Does Philosophy in the Dungeon: The Magic of Sex & Spirit meet those expectations?
One of the best things about Jack Rinella’s writing is that he shares so much of his own journey with his readers. It is these honest experiences that give his work so much value to those looking for information and those just looking for affirmation. I’ve come to expect these glimpses into his life. Philosophy in the Dungeon is supposed to be our view of his thought about and journey through BDSM on a spiritual level, so in 12 chapters there should be a great number of these moments from his life.
After an initial introduction, chapter 1 briefly touches on how our experiences and knowledge may set the stage for our own BDSM experiences. Chapter 2 expands this into looking at how our minds and bodies process this information both physically and mentally. These are good introductory chapters to this topic, I think.
In chapter 3 Rinella looks at six ancient civilizations and their religions’ use and opinions of sexuality. His goal is to find alternatives to the Judeo-Christian model that he himself was raised with and which he believes that most of his readers are most familiar with. As a professional ancient historian, I am not convinced that the sources Rinella chose for this chapter are the most authoritative available to the general public, or that quoting from them at length with little comment proves Rinella’s points adequately. In terms of historical accuracy I cannot say that I agree with much in this chapter. As a dominant and an activist in the BDSM community, however, I think it is important to be aware of other traditions, and I urge everyone to investigate these ancient alternatives so that we may each have the healthiest sexuality and spirituality possible.
Chapter 4 looks at how energy and matter interact or affect each other in the human body and how some Eastern religions purposely work to affect them. Rinella offers a twist on the standard definition of “power exchange” to mean “combine their power to effect some kind of change” (p. 69). The diagrams are useful in Rinella’s discussion of his experiences with these practices and the theories behind them. He urges us to seek balance but is vague on how. Chapter 5 does not really stand alone and should be seen as more of a reflection on the book to this point.
Chapter 6 looks at the unity of body and spirit, as well as their separateness. Again, the primary citations are from Eastern philosophy and religion, but Rinella brings out some Judeo-Christian ideas as well. BDSM, or more specifically bondage and SM, are briefly discussed, perhaps too briefly, as ways that kinky people also play with concepts of unity and the various parts of the whole.
More specific examples of the spiritual connections in BDSM and suggestions for experiencing them appear in the following chapters. Chapter 7 focuses on the process or journey of life, the fact that nothing stays the same, no matter how much we may wish to believe that it will or does. Rinella touches on several areas of change: finding ourselves, finding others, the actual experience of sex and SM, and what he believes is the very important ongoing education we get during our lifetimes.
How many of us want it all now? I certainly see it online, at munches, at clubs; heck, I can feel it myself from time to time. Just as many more experienced BDSMers would say “go slow,” so too does Rinella say “go slow” in chapter 8. Just like our lives develop in “stages,” so too does he see our spirituality developing in “stages.” Going slowly and purposefully is never a mistake, so I applaud this chapter.
Chapter 9 begins with one of Rinella’s valuable biographical pieces, leading to a discussion about self-perception or self-image. In terms of SM and spirituality, as we do SM, bondage or Ds we change and grow. We may question why we like or dislike certain things; the reasons why we do things may vary or increase over time, and this affects our beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. Religious or not, Rinella believes that faith and doubt form our beliefs, and our beliefs manifest in our lives. This chapter is heady and intense; you may need to read it twice to grasp its complexity.
To live a full life, to live a spiritual life, Rinella says we must live a balanced life, one that embraces all the ways of knowing in chapter 10. Again, his own experiences with organized religions help show both positives and negatives in trying to find this balance. Often I hear about how bottoms experience profound spiritual feelings or out-of-body sensations, but in this chapter the fact that tops experience similar but not identical revelations is touched upon, as well as the ongoing struggle to interpret all these events.
Chapter 11 tackles “practical spirituality” and how it cannot function if it divides one part of life from another, or divides our minds from our bodies or our souls, which seems to be the case in much organized mainstream religion. Rinella’s “practical spirituality,” however, is not just a do-whatever philosophy. It is guided by virtue, creativity, using one’s intuition and developing a healthy self-esteem. In many ways it seems both goal-oriented and flexible, and therefore realistic.
Magic is a term loaded with negative meaning for much of America today. In chapter 12 Rinella describes magic as a process we use to hasten our achievement of goals. He lists six steps to this process: intent, form, altered state, visualization/declaration, transformation, and close. Rinella uses the rest of this chapter to describe various processes he has used in his own life, including sex and SM, not just traditional religious practices.
Rinella ends this book by encouraging his readers to take their own spiritual journeys. If you do that, then this book will serve you well. It is not a guide for how to live your own life, nor it is an unerring encyclopedia of every form of religion and ritual. It is one man’s current stage in his own spiritual journey.
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